Harolds Club Archives

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Harolds Club (Reno, NV) Nevada Quick Facts Raymond "Pappy" I. Smith Raymond A. Smith Sparks--Nevada United States

Quick Fact – Party Palace

1950-1979 The Harolds Club casino, in Reno, Nevada, held an annual winter holiday party for employees at its Harolds Trapshooting Club in the neighboring town of Sparks, on the Pyramid Highway. The fêtes, which featured dancing,…

California Casino History Crimes / Violence / Punishments Gambling Gambling History Gaming History It Really Happened Law Enforcement / Judicial System: San Francisco Police Department--California Law Enforcement / Judicial System: U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Nevada San Francisco--California United States

Draftsman Gets a Wild Hair … Or Two … Or Three

1952 “Someone very dear to you is being held and will be killed if you don’t give me the money.” This was the content of the note, a bluff, Frederick Charles Will, handed to the…

Casino History Charles Mapes Events: Daylight Saving Time Gambling History Gambling: Revenue Gaming History It Really Happened Nevada Raymond "Pappy" I. Smith United States

Gamblers Oppose Daylight Saving Time

1949 Casino owners balked when the question of going on daylight saving time (DST) arose in Nevada in 1949. Gamblers’ Outcries Charles Mapes, owner of the Mapes hotel-casino in Reno, made a few arguments: •…

Casino History Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Firearms Gambling Gambling History Gaming History It Really Happened Law Enforcement / Judicial System: Reno Police Department--Nevada Nevada United States

Gunfire Roils Crowded Harolds Club

1947-1953 Harolds Club bustled on Christmas Eve in 1947 with revelers enjoying the gambling and camaraderie when an unexpected event instantly silenced the din. Panic followed. Since the previous morning, Reno, Nevada police had been…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact – Gambling, Guns and … Dolls

1968 For a few months, Harolds Club expanded its exhibited items beyond antique guns and Old West memorabilia. The Reno, Nevada casino displayed a collection of 150 dolls — including the 1930s Shirley Temple —…

Casino History Gambling Gambling History Games / Races: Craps Gaming History Geographical Areas It Really Happened United States

“Gambling Fool’s” Three-Day Craps Game

1946 A tastefully attired gent in his 40s sat at a craps table around 7 p.m. on a March Tuesday and began to wager with bundles of $1,000 ($12,000 today). After betting Harolds Club’s house…

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 It Really Happened John Ascuaga Nugget Motor Lodge / Dick Graves' Nugget / John Ascuaga's Nugget (Sparks, NV) United States

Pay Up Or Blow Up — Reno/Sparks

1970-1971 In the summer of 1970, a package and suitcase found in a Sparks Nugget Motor Lodge room in Northern Nevada with a note affixed saying to please deliver the items to Nugget owner John…

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Men Please Do Not Apply

1937-1970 Card dealing was a male-dominated profession in Nevada’s casinos until 1937, when Harolds Club, in Reno, put the first woman at a 21 table to deal. Co-owner Harold Smith previously had been hiring women,…

Casino: Financings: Reno Arch Club Primadonna (Reno, NV) Colony Club (Reno, NV) Horseshoe Club (Reno, NV) It Really Happened Poor Pete's (Reno, NV)

Out With The Passé

1926-present By 1963, major casino owners in Reno, Nevada thought the downtown fixture was outdated and ugly compared to their modern buildings on Virginia Street. They even offered to pay for it and its maintenance for…

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…

Did You Know? Nevada Quick Facts

Quick Fact – Harolds Warning

Harolds Club, a casino that debuted in Reno, Nevada in 1935, displayed signs on its property that read: “No one can win all the time. Harolds Club advises you to risk only what you can…