1958-1962 With their involvement in Nevada casinos behind them, Silver State residents, Clifford “Cliff” A. Jones and Jacob “Jake” Kozloff, together accrued a string of gambling enterprises in and around South America. Who They Were Kozloff (1901-1976), was a Russia-born businessman who’d owned the Lebanon Valley Brewing Company in Pennsylvania for two decades. He’d sold…
Here are some modern day facts about gambling in the U.S., courtesy of southfloridareporter.com. Most Number of Casinos Nevada has the most casinos, 334 of them. The state legalized gambling in 1931. Oklahoma is the runner up, with 134 casinos. Gambling became legal there only in 2004. No Casinos These five states don’t have…
Though its popularity declined since its heyday, panguingue rightfully earned a place in United States gambling history. Great, but what the heck is it? Panguingue, or pan for short, is a rummy-type gambling card game. In fact, it descends directly from conquian, the patriarch of all rummy games. Pan calls for six, seven or eight…
1932-1941 The original owners of The Tavern in Reno planned to open it on Nevada Day (October 31) in 1932, but the economic downturn in the state, caused by The Great Depression, forced them to delay it. “Prior to October 29, Nevada had not felt the hardships of the nation’s worst depression as had other…
1941 In the wee Sunday morning hours of May 4, employees closed The Tavern after a busy Saturday night of patrons gambling, dining and dancing to live music. The place was bereft of people except for the night watchman. Suddenly, around 5:15 a.m., he noticed flames inside. He ran to the cabin behind the club…
1936 Gambling disputes ending in someone’s death typically involved men, were over alleged cheating and happened at saloons or other enterprises offering games of chance. However, the circumstances behind the 1936 case of Paul F. Rohl, 33, in Los Angeles, California differed. Death Comes to Light Police officers responded to a call about a shooting,…
Hi Fabulous Subscribers, How are you all? I hope each of you is doing exceedingly well and life is good. As for me, I’ve been working on my next gambling history book, and today I’m revealing and posthumously thanking its subject — Woo Sing. After all, it is UN Chinese Language Day. Sing was a…
1935 Hollywood movie studios released more than a handful of gambling-related movies in 1935. This seemed unusual given the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America’s (MPPDA) recent re-commitment to ensuring movies didn’t contain content it considered risqué. Impetus Behind the Code The MMPDA — today, the Motion Picture Association — adopted the Motion Picture…
1890s-Today A way to drum up business for a failing zoo in the late 19th century, reportedly, quickly evolved into and, to this day, remains an enormously popular game of chance among Brazilians: jogo do bicho. Zoological Pursuit In 1884, Rio de Janeiro businessman João Batista Viana Drummond (1825-1897) purchased what remained of the Fazenda…
1932-Today Though local, state and federal authorities were working to eradicate all gambling ships moored off of the Pacific Coast, the S.S. Monte Carlo met its demise at the hands of an unexpected interloper, Mother Nature. On a Stormy Night On New Year’s Eve in 1936, the waterborne casino, closed for the winter, offshore of…