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…
Did You Know?
Gambling
Games / Races: Chuck-a-luck
Games / Races: Fantan
Games / Races: Faro
Games / Races: Poker
Games / Races: Red-and-black
Games / Races: Rondo
Games / Races: Rouge-et-noir
Quick Facts
Quick Fact – Gambling Feast
1887 A newspaper blurb touting the availability of gambling in Reno titled, A Feast for the Gamblers, read: “Those who delight in gambling sports can be accommodated in Reno … no less than thirty-one games…
Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Suicide
Gambling
It Really Happened
John Steinbeck
Newell Benningfield
West Indies Club (Reno, NV)
Mrs. John Steinbeck’s Tale of Woe
1948-1950 Tragedy struck when the wife of famed American novelist, John Steinbeck, was in Reno, Nevada for a quickie divorce from him after 5½ years of marriage. In 1948, while establishing residency in The Biggest…
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1926-present By 1963, major casino owners in Reno, Nevada thought the downtown fixture was outdated and ugly compared to their modern buildings on Virginia Street.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…
Bluebell Girls
Dunes (Las Vegas, NV)
El Rancho Vegas (Las Vegas, NV)
Entertainment
Governing / Regulatory Bodies: Nevada Gaming Commission
It Really Happened
Law Enforcement / Judicial System: NV Attorney General Roger Foley
Bare Bosom Brouhaha
1958-1961 The debut of topless showgirls in Las Vegas roused disapproval — not surprising given it occurred early in the “Leave it to Beaver” era. The Stardust was the first to abandon bras and tops,…
Did You Know?
Gambling
Games / Races: Poker
It Really Happened
Quick Facts
Steamboat Springs (Reno, Nevada)
Virginia City--Nevada
Quick Fact – Steamboat Springs
1860s & 1870s In Virginia City, Nevada’s heyday, gold miners and magnates alike sought out R&R — gambling, hot springs soaking and dining — at the nearby Steamboat Springs resort south of Reno, a stop…
California
Did You Know?
Gambling
Gambling: Shills
Games / Races: Poker
Gardena--California
Quick Facts
Quick Fact – Shill Losses
1952 When Ernest J. Primm owned the Monterey Club, a poker house in Gardena, California (a Los Angeles suburb), he claimed on his state income taxes the losses of his shills, up to $500 ($4,500 today) a…
Gambling
Games / Races: Poker
Horseshoe Club / Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel (Las Vegas, NV)
It Really Happened
The Ramada Hotel Casino (Reno, NV)
United States
Virginia City--Nevada
The Faro Fadeaway
1825-1958 The hottest game in the Old West between 1825 and 1915, faro is pretty much extinct in the United States today. If you’ve never heard of it — and you aren’t alone there —…
Livingstone Taunts Mob With Cowshed
1931 Belle Livingstone wasn’t the typical Nevada gambling club owner. She’d acted on the stage and screen in the 1890s. She’d mingled with royalty and wealth in Europe and the United States. During Prohibition, she’d…
Dennis Day
Entertainment
It Really Happened
Myrton "Mert" Wertheimer
Publicity Stunts / Promotions / Advertisements
Now, That’s A Publicity Stunt
1951 The Irish tenor, Dennis Day, was about to begin a singing engagement at downtown Reno’s Riverside hotel in the summer of 1951. Day is known for his appearances on the Jack Benny comedy show…
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…