Quick Fact – Preacher Shill
1958 Reverend Maurice D. Tulloch, 50, a Kansas man, gave up his Baptist ministry for shilling in a Nevada casino. Feeling as though his life was suffocating him, a month earlier he’d walked out of…
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,…
Artists / Designers: Philip Paval
Edward "Ed" Levinson
Fremont Hotel and Casino (Las Vegas, NV)
It Really Happened
Marilyn Monroe
Nevada
Publicity Stunts / Promotions / Advertisements
Sandra Giles
The Lady Of Chance … Au Naturel
1956 The Fremont in Las Vegas commissioned a large oil painting that depicted a “lady of chance” to grace a wall in its casino. The hotel’s press agent, Shelly Davis, asked aspiring actress Sandra Giles…
Frank Sinatra’s Hissy Fits
1967 & 1970 Apparently, the beloved crooner had a temper, which he sometimes unleashed when casino operators denied him additional, excessive amounts of credit when gambling. In one instance when Frank Sinatra lost control, he…
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…
Quick Fact – Siegel’s Estate
1955 When presumed-to-be-wealthy mobster, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, was slain at age 41, the estate he left was worth $35,609 (about $314,550 today). Before his murder, Siegel co-financed and oversaw completion of the Flamingo hotel-casino in…
Quick Fact – Sands Silver
1956 As revelers welcomed the new year at the Sands hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, management gave every guest (an estimated 18,000 of them) a brand new silver dollar. Additionally, they gifted each of the 700…
Quick Fact – Playboy Casino
1971 Adult magazine publisher Hugh Hefner announced to the media that in two years’ time, Nevada would be home to a Playboy casino in either Las Vegas or on Lake Tahoe’s South Shore. It didn’t…
Beldon Katleman
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel
Boulder Club (Las Vegas, NV)
Casino History
El Cortez (Las Vegas, NV)
Fremont Street--Las Vegas
Gambling History
Gambling: War
Gaming History
Golden Nugget (Las Vegas, NV)
It Really Happened
Las Vegas Club (Las Vegas, NV)
Meyer Lansky
Monte Carlo (Las Vegas, NV)
Nevada
Sin City
United States
Western Club (Las Vegas, NV)
William J. Moore
Alleged Vegas Gambling War Brews
1949 The article, “Las Vegas Gamblers Arming in Control Battle,” ran on the front page of a Los Angeles newspaper in the third week of December, to the chagrin of Nevada gambling regulators, casino owners,…
Quick Fact – Mint Cake
1964 For its eighth anniversary, the Mint hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Nevada baked a mega, 6,527-pound cake in the shape of the hotel-casino. About the size of 1,363 regular 10-inch cakes, it required: • 12,960…