Games / Races: Roulette Archives

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Games / Races: Roulette Gaming History Nevada Quick Facts Raymond A. Smith

Quick Fact – Mice and Men

1936 Soon after Harolds Club opened in Reno, the main attraction, for only about a week, was mouse roulette, “where customers bet their small change on what color or number a scampering rodent would choose…

California Games / Races: Roulette It Really Happened

Tales of Rodent Roulette

1946 Nebraska carnival workers dreamed up a strange variation of roulette, and quickly found themselves in court after police and the humane society objected to it. The game, however, gained at least a few fans.…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

Gambling License Games / Races: Roulette It Really Happened Law Enforcement / Judicial System: Washoe County Sheriff E. Russell Trathen--Nevada Nevada Northern Club (Las Vegas, NV) Owl Club (Reno, NV) Politicians / Politics: NV Governor Frederick "Fred" Balzar

Yes To Open Gambling: No Big Deal

1931 Despite an influx of newsmen into town to report what gambling now looked like in Nevada’s biggest city immediately following legalization, a move they described as “reviving the days of the pioneer west,” the…

Gambling License Games / Races: Roulette It Really Happened John Petricciani Nevada

Gambling License Fees: No Joke

1935 In 1934, John Petricciani regained use of his Reno, Nevada, property he’d owned for 10 years and first licensed his saloon, the Palace Bar, for roulette and 21 games, one apiece. Prior, he’d leased…

Clara Bow Elmer "Bones" F. Remmer Games / Races: Chuck-a-luck Games / Races: Craps Games / Races: Roulette It Really Happened Nevada

Hollywood Sex Symbol’s Missteps

1930 Silent film star, Clara Bow, spent one September evening in 1930 playing illegal gambling games at a Lake Tahoe, Nevada casino. Both winning and losing at roulette, craps, 21 and the dice game, chuck-a-luck,…

Gambling Gambling Currency: Coins Games / Races: Panguingue Games / Races: Poker Games / Races: Roulette Games / Races: Tonk It Really Happened Nevada

Gambling in the Pokey

1932-1967 Inmates strutted around the Nevada State Prison yard and jingled the brass coins or tokens, in their pockets, to boast their elevated status as winning gamblers of the pen. Beginning in 1932, convicts ran…

Did You Know? Games / Races: Roulette Nevada Quick Facts

Quick Fact – Wheel Woods

Early 1900s Manufacturer B.C. Wills & Co. crafted roulette wheels out of one or more woods — boxwood, ebony, rosewood, walnut, Honduras mahogany or satin wood — that were seasoned and kiln dried in a…

Casino History Europe Gambling Gambling Currency: Dominoes Gambling Currency: Pebbles Gambling Currency: Wooden Cocks (Roosters) Gambling History Games / Races: Poker Games / Races: Roulette Gaming History It Really Happened Poland

Poland Seizes on Gambling

1913 During this year, the tail end of the second wave of massive Polish emigration, about 3.5 million people, primarily peasants from poor rural provinces, was taking place. Looming on the horizon was the outbreak…