Quick Fact – Spurring On Business

1968 During the grand opening of the Silver Spur casino at 221 N. Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada on July 1, 1968, the ribbon was cut with a silver spur that Audie Murphy used in the movie, Billy the Kid. Resembling an early Western gambling hall, the club showcased a $25,000-limit keno game, five 21 tables,…

Quick Fact – The Other Keno

1941 When Maxwell Kelch applied for call letters for his Las Vegas, Nevada radio station, he requested KLVN as a first choice and KENO as a second, certain the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approve a gambling-related name. The FCC apologetically notified Kelch that KLVN already was in use elsewhere so he’d have to accept using…

Bilking of Vegas’ Nevada Club

1961-1966 Early in 1961, Michael Catrone, 60, an apartment complex owner, presented to the Nevada Club in Las Vegas, Nevada a winning keno ticket for $25,000 ($198,000 today). Yet the casino’s general manager didn’t pay it because it was suspicious — the ink on the ticket was lighter than on other ones. An internal inquiry…