1941 The brief union between Tony and Dorothy Stralla ended in a suspicious tragedy. Antonio Cornero Stralla was a colorful, law defying, Southern California rumrunner turned gambler. He was involved, most often as the owner/operator, in a string of casino enterprises, including the: • Meadows (Las Vegas, Nevada) • S.S. Rex (Las Vegas, Nevada) •…
1931 Soon after Governor Fredrick “Fred” B. Balzar approved wide-open gambling for Nevada, three men applied for an initial gambling license from the City of Las Vegas to operate a craps game at Lorenzi’s Lake Park in the Pavilion building. Lorenzi’s, with a pool, dance area, two lakes, rowboats and concessions and an affordable entry…
1931-1932 Actors Clara Bow and Rex Bell gambled at the Meadows in Las Vegas in summer 1931 and racked up a $1,100 loss (about $18,000 today), for which they left an IOU. By December, the two hadn’t paid what they owed (Bow had wriggled out of covering a gaming debt the year before). The casino…