1931 In April 1931, the month after the new, liberal gambling law went into effect (March 19), Washoe County Sheriff E. Russell Trathen, per his job description, collected $20,000 (about $330,000 today) in gambling license fees for the month of April from operators in Northern Nevada. Seeking Piece of the Pie First, Trathen went…
1870s-1920s “I want to go short 1,000 bushels of December wheat, 1 cent on the bushel.” This $10 bet was typical back in the heyday of bucket shops in the United States, between 1870 and 1920. People wagered on the future prices of stocks, securities and commodities — grains, cotton, oil, etc. — without actually…
