Gambling History Tidbit
Harolds Club, a casino founded in 1935 in Reno, Nevada, acted uniquely when it came to giving customers money back! Historian and author Alicia Barber explains in her report, Looking Back: The Special Refund Policy…
Casino History
Elko--Nevada
Gambling History
Games / Races: Creators / Manufacturers: Character Manufacturing Co.
Games / Races: Creators / Manufacturers: Frank Polk
Games / Races: Creators / Manufacturers: Sundance Cravat
Games / Races: Slot Machines / Fruities: Animated
Gaming History
It Really Happened
Las Vegas Club (Las Vegas, NV)
Nevada
Nevada Club (Reno, NV)
United States
Reno Company Handcrafts Animated Slot Machines
1950-1956 A novel, animated gambling device began to appear in Nevada casinos in 1950. It debuted in the lobby of Reno’s Mapes hotel-casino in the fall and “got a big play from visiting Shriners,” reported the…
Bank Club (Reno, NV)
Casino History
Crimes / Violence / Punishments
Gambling History
Gaming History
It Really Happened
Nevada
Town House (Reno, NV)
United States
Crimes in Reno Casinos Raise Concern
1945-1946 In the Bank Club, a co-proprietor of a local gambling saloon, Andrew Jackson “Jack” Blackman, shot to death James Lannigan, a small-time thug, on October 30, 1944, an action for which he was acquitted. In…
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
Did You Know?
Gambling
Gambling History
Gambling: Win / Jackpot
Gaming History
Nevada
Quick Facts
United States
Quick Fact – Pure Luck
1952 “One of the members of the Journal news staff stopped in at a [Reno, Nevada] casino one night last week, put a nickel in a slot machine and hit the jackpot. The attendant came…
Casino History
Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Owning Gold
Did You Know?
Gambling
Gambling Currency: Coins--Gold
Gambling History
Nevada
Quick Facts
United States
Quick Fact – Last to Hear
1940 “Apparently unaware that gold has been forbidden as a medium of exchange, a tall, dark complexioned cowpuncher walked into a [Reno, Nevada] gambling club last night and startled the dealer by casually dropping a…
Bank Club (Reno, NV)
Gambler (Operators/Players): Estate
Gambling History
Gaming History
It Really Happened
Jack Sullivan / John D. Scarlett
Nevada
United States
Willows (Reno, NV)
An Inside Look at Late Gambler’s Estate
1951 Canada-born Jack Sullivan, né John D. Scarlett, had co-owned and run the Bank Club for two decades and prior to that, the Willows (it burned down in 1932) — both Reno, Nevada casino hotspots.…
Casino de Monte-Carlo (Monaco)
Casino History
Gambling History
Gambling: Education
Games / Races: Craps
Games / Races: Creators / Manufacturers: B.C. Wills & Co.
Gaming History
Golden Hotel (Reno, NV)
It Really Happened
Monaco
Nevada
Nevada Schools Monte Carlo on Craps
1949 “Eight the hard way!” “It’s the Big Dick!” “Next shooter, please!” “Seven, you lose!” When translated into the French language, these common phrases shouted by stickmen during craps lose their pizazz and bite, their…
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Casino History
Did You Know?
Gambling History
Gaming History
Nevada
Nevada Club (Reno, NV)
Quick Facts
Quick Fact – Select Workers Only
1965 Interesting age and marital status restrictions are specified in this help wanted ad for casino personnel:
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…