Games / Races: Craps

From a Craps Game to the ICU

1934-1935 An argument between two underworld men devolved into violence during a dance endurance competition in Hollywood, California on April 14, 1934. Explosion Of Rage At 7 a.m., the 21th consecutive hour of the walk-a-thon,*…

Series: Car Blast Victim Tied to Gambling, Part III

1950 In the morning, gambler Nelson Harris, 34, telephoned two Fort Worth, Texas criminal attorneys and said he was on his way over to discuss a life and death matter. He and his wife Juanita,…

Early On, The Louvre Suffers Typical Gambling Business Woes

1900-1906 A snapshot of six early years of one popular gambling-saloon in Reno, Nevada spotlights some of the problems these establishments routinely faced: on-site crime, financial troubles, crooked games and changes in both owners and…

Extreme and Dangerous: One Gambling Cheat and His Career

1886-1910 The Harmony Kid made his living as a traveling gambling cheat in the U.S. and was known from coast to coast. While primarily a card and dice sharp, Lawrence Varner (1865-1933) also perpetrated swindles…

Reputation of U.S. Gamblers as Criminals Bears Out in Europe

1961-1966 “When you bring in gamblers, you bring in trained law violators, and to expect them not to break the law is to expect the tides not to rise,” Wallace Turner wrote in Gambler’s Money.…

Historic Droodle Depicts Gambling Euphemisms

1957 Here’s one of Roger Price’s Droodles, funny drawings of everyday objects, called “Sick With the Measles.“ The accompanying anecdote read: “When my landlady Mrs. Goonsgarten saw this Droodle, she made me sign a statement…

Gambler Adds Device to Get Roulette, Craps Defined as Slot Machines

1937 After Florida legalized slot machines in 1935, casino operator Myrton “Mert” Wertheimer, 53, devised a way to also get craps and roulette, unlawful at the time, allowed under the new rule. (Previously, only dog…

Money-Flashing Vegas Gamblers Have Secret

1955-1985 Their behavior at several Las Vegas casinos got them noticed. Then the dominoes fell. Two men showed wads of C notes at the craps tables, tried to exchange some of them for casino bills…

Surprise Event at Incline Village Casino Threatens Its Success

This is the last of a series of posts related to and leading up to the release on Dec. 6 of A Bold Gamble at Lake Tahoe: Crime and Corruption in a Casino’s Evolution by…

Americans’ Crime and Punishment in England

1969 For a week in May, the leader of a group of U.S.-based gamblers rented the Villa Casino, which overlooked Hyde Park in West London, along with two craps tables, the latter for $2,500 (about…

Lawsuit: It’s Not Fair!

1931 Soon after Governor Frederic “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 Lake…

Double The Pleasure, Double The Fun

1949-1979 Harolds wasn’t the only Northern Nevada club with gambling that the Smiths owned for decades. In 1950, the renowned gambling family purchased Jabberwock Gun Club, located on the Pyramid Lake Highway in what today is…