Did You Know? Archives

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Jimmy Durante Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact – Holiday Season Launch

1946 Which famous hotel-casino debuted in Las Vegas, Nevada the day after Christmas in this year? Hint: Jimmy Durante was the grand opening star; while on stage he destroyed a $1,600 piano (a $20,000 value…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Gambling: Vote Gaming History Montana Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact – Montana Votes on Gambling

1941 Ten years after Nevada legalized gambling and shortened the residency requirement for divorce from six months to six weeks, Montana took steps to compete. Bills to legalize gambling and to allow 30-day divorces were…

Casino History Casino: Stock Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Governing / Regulatory Bodies: Nevada Gaming Commission Jerry's Nugget (North Las Vegas, NV) Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact – Taking Stock

1974 The Nevada Gaming Commission, the industry’s state regulatory body, amended regulations to allow employees to own stock in a casino where they worked, without having to get a gambling license, a process that involved…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling Gambling History Gaming History Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact – Curiosity Trumps Motherhood

1931 When a Southern Pacific train stopped in Reno on a Friday in May at about 9:15 p.m., four passengers disembarked to squeeze in, before continuing on, a glance at gambling, which Nevada recently had…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact – Bygone Courtesy

1919 Outside many of Reno’s gambling saloons were benches, on which club-goers, typically men, whether or not they’d been gambling, were welcome to sleep the night. (At that time, some forms of gambling were legal…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Nevada Quick Facts Sonoma Inn (Winnemucca, NV) United States Winnemucca--Nevada Winners Inn and Casino (Winnemucca, NV)

Quick Fact – “Fun, Play and Gaiety”

1947 The Sonoma Inn hotel-casino debuted on May 27, 1947 at 185 W. Winnemucca Boulevard in Winnemucca in Northwestern Nevada, about halfway between Reno and Wells, likely named after the nearby Sonoma Range mountains. In…

Casino History Crystal Bay--Nevada Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Judy Garland Nevada Quick Facts The Garland Sisters United States

Quick Fact – Casino Discovery

1935 Singer and actress Judy Garland (neé Frances Ethel Gumm) was discovered while headlining with her two older sisters at the Cal-Neva Lodge at Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Theatrical agent Al Rosen was in the…

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact – So Done

1946 Mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel’s wife, Esta (née Esther Krakower) filed for divorce in Reno, Nevada after 17 years of marriage. The two had wed when she was 18 and he was 23. In the…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact – Out of Thin Air

1964 When dealer Lue Dennis exited her work, Harolds Club casino, a man descended and hit the pavement in front of her. Reno resident, John Nahirney, age 79, had fallen from the Nevada casino’s fire…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Games / Races: Beano Games / Races: Bingo Games / Races: Creators / Manufacturers: Edwin S. Lowe Massachusetts Quick Facts Tally Ho (Las Vegas, NV) United States

Quick Fact – Beano v. Bingo

1944 “Are you in favor of banning beano when played for prizes?” This was one of Massachusetts’ 1944 ballot questions. By the 1940s, beano — played with beans as markers, hence the name, and popular on…

Arkansas Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Hot Springs--Arkansas Politicians / Politics: Kefauver Committee Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact – Kefauver in Hot Springs

1924 Senator Carey “Estes” Kefauver (D-Tenn.), the driving force behind rooting out illegal gambling and organized crime in the United States in the 1950s with his famous eponymous committee, decades earlier had taught math and…

Accidents: Plane Crashes California Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Nevada Quick Facts San Francisco--California

Quick Fact – Gambling Trip Turns Dicey

1957 In 1957, Club Primadonna chartered passengers to and from San Francisco to the Reno, Nevada casino on “champagne tours.” On the September 28 return flight, delayed from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. due to…