Gambling

Nevada Casino Owner Fixes California Horse Races

1939-1941 Bernard “Bernie” Einstoss was a well-known gambler in Northern Nevada for nearly two decades, between 1947 and 1965.* Prior to that, he masterminded and executed a scheme to fix horse races** in California by…

Quick Fact – Rabid Anti-Gamblers

1907 William Howard Taft (not yet the U.S. president) was in Manila, the Philippines on Secretary of War duties. His wife, Helen, or “Nellie,“ who’d accompanied him on the trip, was at a Saturday morning bridge…

3 Depictions: Gambling at Monte Carlo

1890-1910 The heyday of the Monte Carlo casino resort in Monaco was The Roaring Twenties, but that was due in large part to the solid foundation laid by François Blanc decades earlier, who stepped in…

Accusation: The Fix is In!

1948 The November 22, 1948 issue of Sports-Week roiled Nevada Wolf Pack fans and supporters. Bevy Of Allegations An article in that edition of the nationally circulated digest charged that the University of Nevada* (UN)…

California Gamblers Snub Federal Inquiry

1950-1953 During the 1950 federal hearings on organized crime, two Northern California gamblers — Walter “Big Bill” Melburn Pechart and David “Dave” Nathan Kessel — were uncooperative, according to the questioners. They were Senators Estes…

Despite Ridicule, Nevada Politician Protects Gambling

1933-1954 His unfavorable personal opinion about gambling notwithstanding, Patrick “Pat” A. McCarran (D-Nev.) — U.S. Senator between 1933 and 1954 — acted repeatedly on the industry’s behalf. Had he not, it’s likely gaming wouldn’t have…

Mob That Controlled Early Reno Gambling: Who, How

1920s-1930s Presumably to gain money, power and notoriety, a small clique of men monopolized gambling in Reno, Nevada during the 1920s and 1930s through violence, payoffs, intimidation, threats and other gangster techniques. The industry mostly…

Illegal Gambling Conspiracy in Maricopa County

1937-1938 Within a year of becoming the Maricopa County Attorney, John W. Corbin began work to expose the illegal gambling taking place in the Arizona region. He set his sights on busting the game operators and…

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…

1970s Gambling: England v. Nevada

1976 “Next time try London. The odds are better,” boasted a sign in the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas in 1976. The posting of this ad and possibly others resulted from an agreement between…

Chancy Chaps Champion Chilean Casino

1928-Today Members of English royalty unwittingly helped launch a new South American casino toward success in the 1930s. After Chilean President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, in 1928, authorized creation of a gambling house, Viña del…

Plan: Eject Mobsters from Nevada Gambling

1954 “If the Streeter suggestion should catch fire and the state took over gambling, it would be the damnedest experiment tried in the United States, and Nevada would have more hoodlums per square block than…