Governor Fred Balzar

1930

In December, while vacationing in Southern California, Nevada Governor Frederick “Fred” Balzar — foretelling the future — told reporters that gambling already was wide open in his state and that a bill making it official certainly would be brought before the legislature at its next session.

It did happen; Silver State lawmakers legalized gaming in March 1931.

Photo from the Nevada Historical Society

1931

Even after wide-open gambling became legal in Nevada this year, many of the exclusive clubs continued to vet the people who wanted entry. Someone inside the establishment would look through the peephole in the door and if he spotted a familiar face in the group, he’d allow them in.

Photo from pond5.com: The Man Who Spies by mercava2007

The Willows in Reno, Nevada

1931

Despite an influx of newsmen into town to report what gambling now looked like in Nevada’s biggest city immediately following legalization, a move they described as “reviving the days of the pioneer west,” the status quo endured (Nevada State Journal, March 21, 1931).

“There was no wild rush to the gambling resorts and the Saturday night celebration was but little different from that of other Saturday nights. The only apparent difference … was to center interest of the country on the fact that people gambled in Reno and now may continue doing so, without violating a law,” the Reno Evening Gazette reported (March 23, 1931).

After Governor Frederick “Fred” Balzar had signed the bill into law on Thursday, March 19, 1931, the business-as-usual atmosphere primarily was because some forms of gambling already were legal prior to him doing so and other illegal forms operated, albeit underground. High-stakes and roulette games were new, though, and began to appear.

A Minor Snafu

The recent legislation required any casino to obtain a license and pay the necessary fees in advance for every gaming table and/or slot machine they had on site. Any new enterprises, therefore, had to do so immediately, but those already licensed under the previous law could wait until their existing one, good for three months, expired.

In Northern Nevada, a minor snag, however, prevented the Washoe County sheriff from issuing licenses to anyone who’d applied. He didn’t have the necessary forms because the printing company hadn’t delivered them yet. This delay spanned five work days. Finally, on Thursday, March 26, Sheriff E. Russell Trathen dispensed the first license to the proprietor of the Owl Club. By week’s end, he’d issued 64 to various businesses.

In Southern Nevada, the first Las Vegas city gambling license went to the owners of the Northern Club the day after the new gambling law went into effect. The Northern Club, outside of town, received the first Clark County gambling license. Soon, the first lawsuit concerning licensing under the new law would be filed. 

Sources

1861-present

Since becoming a U.S. territory, Nevada has undergone periods of full, partial and no legalization of gambling. Here’s a timeline of what types of games of chance legislators allowed or disallowed and when:

1861: GAMBLING ABOLISHED: The initial Nevada Territorial Legislature banned the dealing, running, opening, conducting or playing of any game of faro, monte, roulette, lansquenet or rouge et noir or any banking game (where the player bets against the house) played with cards, dice or any other device for anything of value.

1865: Anti-gaming law reiterated: In the first legislative session after Nevada joined the Union in 1864, lawmakers replaced the territorial law with a state statute outlining a similar ban.

1869: Gaming partially legalized: Nevada legalized only the games outlawed in 1861 and mandated operators be licensed.

1873: Lotteries prohibited: Lawmakers banned lotteries, which were defined as any scheme for the disposal or distribution of property, by chance, among paying players.

1875: Additional games legalized: The legislature approved keno, fantan, 21, Diana, and red white and blue.

1885: Legal/illegal games changed: An amendment allowed stud-horse poker, or percentage, with a license. It outlawed roulette.

1901: Slots deemed illegal: The state prohibited the playing or offering of nickel-in-the-slot machines or similar devices.

1903: Bookmaking allowed with license: A new act made it legal, with appropriate licensure, to engage in, conduct or carry on any bookmaking on horse races, prize fights or any games conducted outside of the state.

1905: Slots deemed legal: The state repealed the anti-slots law, thereby legalizing them with required licensure.

1910: GAMBLING ABOLISHED: The anti-gambling act went into effect at midnight Sept. 30, 1910. It disallowed all gambling mentioned in prior acts and amendments along with tan, fantan, seven and a half, hokey pokey, craps, klondike, whist, bridge whist, five hundred, solo and frog.  It also forbade any gambling games in which the operator, for making the game available, received compensation or reward or a share of the money or property wagered. It banned offering or playing slot machines along with all kinds of bookmaking.

1915: Some gambling excepted: The legislature legalized poker; stud-horse poker; five hundred; solo; whist; parimutuel betting on horse races; slot machines for the sales of cigars and drinks; and social games only played for drinks and cigars served individually or prizes up to $2 in value.

“Gambling on casino or old maid is a serious crime, a felony,” noted the Nevada State Journal (Sept. 28, 1930). “But on poker or solo or whist it is all right. Betting on a dog race is felonious, but the same bet on a horse race is clothed with the sanctity of the law.”

1931: WIDE-OPEN GAMBLING LEGALIZED: Lawmakers passed a liberal gaming law that remains in effect today, which legalized all forms of gambling except lotteries and which required licensing of operators. Along with slot machines, the law listed the approved games: faro, monte, roulette, keno, fantan, twenty-one (blackjack), seven and a half, big injun, klondike, craps, stud poker and draw poker. The law permitted slot machines; any banking or percentage game played with cards, dice or any mechanical device or machine; and any game in which the operator receives compensation or reward. It also removed the rules surrounding social games.

Sources