Games / Races Archives

Club 86 (Miami, FL) Florida Gambling Games / Races: Chemin de Fer Games / Races: Chuck-a-luck Games / Races: Craps Games / Races: Roulette It Really Happened

Swanky Miami Casino-Fortress

1945-1950 Although gambling was illegal in Miami, Florida, in the 1940s, one lavish casino operated there for five years with the blessing of the local sheriff. Club 86, on Biscayne Boulevard, which belonged to local…

California Did You Know? Gambling Games / Races: Sports Betting Quick Facts Texas

Quick Fact – Train Hustlers

1935 Stanford University’s (California) Indians and Southern Methodist University’s (Texas) Mustangs were to vie in the Rose Bowl football game on New Year’s Day, and this meant trains of people traveling from The Lone Star State to…

Casinos / Gambling Saloons / Card Clubs / Slot Routes / Wire Services / Hotels / Racetracks / Racinos Did You Know? Gambling Games / Races: Bingo Games / Races: Craps Quick Facts

Quick Fact – Playing Incentives

1947 To keep players gambling at their clubs, Las Vegas, Nevada casinos boosted incentives with offerings such as double odds on craps, bingo prizes of $1,000 ($10,900 today), extra slot machine jackpots and brand new…

Gambling Laws / Regulations: U.S. Transportation of Gambling Devices Act Games / Races: Roulette It Really Happened Politicians / Politics: Kefauver Committee United States

Thwarting Mob Activities

1950s The manufacture of slot machines, roulette wheels and other gambling equipment was big business in the United States until the mid-20th century when new federal legislation curbed it. In 1950, the Kefauver Committee, officially the…

Games / Races: Panguingue It Really Happened Law Enforcement / Judicial System: Lawsuit Nevada Club (Las Vegas, NV)

Upsy-Daisy: Negligence Or Greed?

1953-1954 When customer Mrs. Curt Whitney entered the Nevada Club at 3 a.m. on a Sunday in May 1953, her shoe allegedly got caught in a hole in the floor, and she fell. More than…

Canada Did You Know? Games / Races: Faro Quick Facts Yukon

Quick Fact – Yukon’s Faro

1968 The town of Faro in the Yukon (northwestern Canada) was named after the card game of chance, which was popular there during the days of the Klondike Gold Rush between 1896 and 1899.

Ernest Dennison Gambling Games / Races: Chuck-a-luck It Really Happened Nevada

Animals Run Roadside Zoos

1940s A spate of “roadside zoos” opened along various Nevada highways, typically in rural areas, during the late 1940s. The owners were hustlers who lured unsuspecting tourists onto their grounds with the promise of seeing…

Did You Know? Games / Races: Faro Quick Facts Tonopah--Nevada

Quick Fact – Tunnel Thief

1904 An industrious individual tunneled beneath the Tonopah Club in Tonopah, Nevada, cut a hole through the casino floor and stole $1,000 in gold and silver from the box under the faro table – all…

00 (Double-0) Club (Las Vegas, NV) Arcade (Las Vegas, NV) Arizona Club (Las Vegas, NV) Block 16--Nevada California Hotel-Casino (Las Vegas, NV) Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Murder Gambling Games / Races: Craps Games / Races: Faro Games / Races: Poker Games / Races: Roulette Gem (Las Vegas, NV) It Really Happened Prohibition Red Onion (Las Vegas, NV) Sin City Star (Las Vegas, NV) Turf (Las Vegas, NV)

Block 16: Sin City’s Early Days

1905-1941 Imagine in the early 1900s, a block about the length of a football field, in the Mojave Desert in Nevada where gambling, drinking and prostitution prevailed free from law enforcement’s intrusion, and where fights…

Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Grafting Gambling Gambling License Games / Races: Panguingue Games / Races: Poker George "Tex" Rickard It Really Happened Rawhide--Nevada The Northern (Rawhide, Nevada)

Lawmen Run Amok in Rawhide

1908 Two deputy sheriffs in the mining camp of Rawhide, Nevada,* were on the take. For a regularly paid fee, they allowed establishments to operate legal games without a license and/or run banned ones as well.…

Agua Caliente Casino and Hotel (Tijuana, Mexico) Casino de Mexicali (Mexicali, Mexico) Casino: Takeovers Feria Típica (Tijuana, Mexico) Gambling Games / Races: Baccarat Games / Races: Bull Fighting Games / Races: Cockfighting Games / Races: Dog Racing Games / Races: Faro Games / Races: Horse Racing Games / Races: Keno Games / Races: Poker Games / Races: Roulette It Really Happened Mexico Monte Carlo (Tijuana, Mexico) Owl Cafe and Theatre (Calexico, Mexico) Politicians / Politics: Baja, CA Governor Esteban Cantu Prohibition Sunset Inn (Tijuana, Mexico)

Americans Head South Para Apostar

1913-1929 With various state bans on gambling and, later, a nationwide prohibition against liquor, many Americans, particularly wealthy Southern Californians, traveled to casinos in Mexican border cities to play and imbibe. “The great hegira* is in,…

California Gambling Games / Races: Lotteries/Sweepstakes Games / Races: Sports Betting It Really Happened Law Enforcement / Judicial System: Lawsuit San Quentin State Prison (CA)

In the Name of Charity

1937 The Great American Football Pool (GAFP) of 1937 was to be of massive scale and the first of its kind in the U.S. The organizers aimed to sell 3 million tickets at $1 apiece…