Quick Fact – Good Luck Charm
1969 Elvis Presley was one of the first headliners at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. His performances began a record-breaking run of 837 sold-out shows at the spot over the ensuing seven years. In his…
California
Gambling: Bookmaking
Governing / Regulatory Bodies: Internal Revenue Service
Hy Goldbaum
It Really Happened
McNeil Island Corrections Center (WA)
West Hollywood--California
Bookies’ Bookies Not So Good With Numbers
1945-1955 In the late 1940s, three bookies — or commissioners, as they preferred to be called — operated on Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California under the name, Golden News Service. Hy Goldbaum, George Capri…
Quick Fact – Women, Oh, No!
1905 A Las Vegas, Nevada newspaper commented on the increasing popularity of gambling among ladies: “Gambling made fashionable among women is a rather serious matter. It is bad enough among men, but when the mania…
Casino Criminal Loses Control
1954 Late on a Saturday night in 1954, during the peak of business, an unemployed, 27-year-old railroad hand entered the Stockmen’s Hotel, in Elko, Nevada, where townspeople, miners, ranchers and tourists congregated to socialize, drink and…
Quick Fact – Gutsy Granny
1972 A 71-year-old, wheelchair-bound, California grandmother, Susan Ellyn Reid, who had a long rap sheet and various aliases, entered Harrahs Club in Reno, Nevada in July carrying a box. She gave casino personnel a typed…
Gambling
Gambling Laws / Regulations: NV Anti-Lottery Law
It Really Happened
Law Enforcement / Judicial System: Lawsuit
Opportunity Club (Reno, NV)
The Chain Letter Of The Law
1935 Although it was a Ponzi scheme, its lure of big money was too strong for many Renoites to resist. One chain letter business, the Opportunity Club, popped up overnight as part of the nationwide…
Quick Fact – Wild Justice
1890 Judge Beckley Campbell conducted court in a Benicia, California saloon. After hearing the evidence and deciding on a verdict in cases, he meted out punishments based on the result of tossing two dice in…
Desert Inn (Las Vegas, NV)
Gambling Laws / Regulations: Nevada's Black Book / Excluded Person List
Governing / Regulatory Bodies: Nevada Gaming Control Board
It Really Happened
Louis Tom Dragna
Nevada
Nevada’s Black Book: Civil Rights Violation?
1960-1967 Los Angeles mobsters, Louis Tom Dragna and John “The Bat” Battaglia, conversed in a hotel-casino cocktail lounge on the Las Vegas Strip one day in February 1960. But their visit was cut short when…
Quick Fact – Tinhorn Gambler
Today/1888 A “tinhorn gambler,” according to several dictionaries, refers to a game of chance operator who pretends to have money, ability or influence. The phrase is said to come from people who set up chuck-a-luck games…
Emigrant Pass
Ernest Dennison
Governing / Regulatory Bodies: Nevada Tax Commission
It Really Happened
Law Enforcement / Judicial System: NV Police Superintendent Lester C. Moody
Nevada
Politicians / Politics: NV Attorney General Alan Bible
Politicians / Politics: NV Governor Vail Pittman
Roadside Zoos (Nevada)
Too Cozy With Illegal Gamblers
1948 A real or perceived protective relationship with illegal gambling operators got Nevada Police Superintendent Lester C. Moody fired. Governor Vail Pittman, who’d appointed Moody to the position two years before, terminated him in May…
Quick Fact – Stevens’ Jewelry
1970 When Connie Stevens, entertainer, departed after a stay at the Kings Castle hotel-casino in Incline Village, Nevada, she accidentally left $20,000 ($122,000 today) worth of jewelry in her suite. Linda Cooley, a housekeeping team…
California
Embassy Club (Gardena, CA)
Gambling
Gambling Laws / Regulations: CA Anti-Gambling Act
Games / Races: Poker
It Really Happened
Law Enforcement / Judicial System: CA California Attorney General Ulysses Webb
Law Enforcement / Judicial System: Lawsuit
Monterey Club (Gardena, CA)
United States
Webb’s Wacky War On Poker
1936-Present If it weren’t for gambler Ernest J. Primm’s nerve and fortitude, California’s nearly 90 card clubs wouldn’t exist today. With a gambling license from the City of Gardena (in Los Angeles County), he opened…