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

Quick Fact – Matrimonial Diss

1947 Hollywood actress Mildred Jenkins testified in court about her wedding night in Nevada. After marrying A.Q. Bonner, Jr., a Northern California rancher, the two had breakfast and went to a casino. “A.Q. lost all…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling Gambling History Gaming History Kansas Law Enforcement / Judicial System: Lawsuit Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact – Gamble Gone Really Wrong

1921 Two Minnesotans each wagered $5,000 (about $67,000 today) on a new Fort Scott, Kansas oil well not producing 25 barrels the first day. Twenty-seven Kansans pooled the same amount and bet the opposite. The…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Games / Races: Bingo Gaming History Governing / Regulatory Bodies: Nevada Gaming Control Board Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact – Detrimental Game of Chance

1956 The gambling licensees of the Dunes and Silver Slipper casinos applied to restart bingo on the premises, but the Nevada Gaming Commission denied their request, stating that the return of the game to the Las…

Casino History Death Valley--California Did You Know? Gambling History Gambling: Coin Toss Gaming History Quick Facts

Quick Fact – Life Staked on Coin Toss

1909 Businessman David Eldridge and self-described “desert rat,” Malapai Mike, traveled 40 miles across Death Valley in California to investigate a proposed power site for the Brockington Company in Boston, Massachusetts. On their return, they got…

Did You Know? Gambling Nevada Quick Facts

Quick Fact – Seer Balzar

1930 In December, while vacationing in Southern California, Nevada Governor Frederick “Fred” Balzar — foretelling the future — told reporters that gambling already was wide open in his state and that a bill making it…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Gambling License Gambling: Prizes Games / Races: Tango Gaming History Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact – Bonus of Hosiery

1946 Some Las Vegas, Nevada casinos handed out women’s nylons as slot machine and tango game* prizes. When the city’s board of commissioners found out, they banned it, threatening repeat offenders with losing their gambling…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling Gambling History Gambling: Ban Gaming History Gold Hill Mining District (Utah Territory) Quick Facts

Quick Fact – Early Gambling Ban

1859 Before Nevada became a state (1864), a few hundred miners at Gold Hill — in what then was the Territory of Utah — passed some anti-crime laws. One forbade gambling: “No Banking games, under…

California Casino History Did You Know? Gambling Gambling History Games / Races: Lice Fighting Gaming History Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact – Serious Boredom

1800s To amuse themselves, some miners — California ones, as reported in this case — staged lice fights and waged large sums on the outcome. They placed two Pediculus humanus face to face on a…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Games / Races: Keno Gaming History KENO Radio Nevada Quick Facts United States

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 wouldn’t approve a gambling-related…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Games / Races: Burro Gaming History Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact – Creature Game Creation

1962 How ’bout a game of burro? Fred Carrier, a Stateline, Nevada accountant, developed a gambling game with this name, the concept for which came to him in a nightmare. Based on magnetism, it featured…

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

Quick Fact – Gambling, Guns and … Dolls

1968 For a few months, Harolds Club expanded its exhibited items beyond antique guns and Old West memorabilia. The Reno, Nevada casino displayed a collection of 150 dolls — including the 1930s Shirley Temple —…

Casino History Cecil Lynch Did You Know? Fortune Club (Las Vegas, NV) Gambling History Gaming History Golden Slot (Las Vegas, NV) Law Enforcement / Judicial System: Lawsuit Nevada Quick Facts Robert Van Santen United States

Quick Fact – Casino Name Beef

1957 After Robert Van Santen and Cecil Lynch’s business partnership in the Las Vegas, Nevada Fortune Club soured (Lynch broke off to open his own gambling club at the Golden Slot site), the two fought…