Quick Fact - Wild Justice
1890 Judge Beckley Campbell conducted court in a Benicia, California saloon. After hearing the evidence and deciding on a verdict in cases, he meted out punishments based on the result of tossing two dice in…
Casino, Gambling Saloon, Card Club, Slot Route Owners / Operators / Licensees / Gamblers
Did You Know?
Games / Races: Chuck-a-luck
Games / Races: Faro
Quick Fact - Tinhorn Gambler
Today/1888 A “tinhorn gambler,” according to several dictionaries, refers to a game of chance operator who pretends to have money, ability or influence. The phrase is said to come from people who set up chuck-a-luck games…
Quick Fact - Stevens' Jewelry
1970 When Connie Stevens, entertainer, departed after a stay at the Kings Castle hotel-casino in Incline Village, Nevada, she accidentally left $20,000 ($122,000 today) worth of jewelry in her suite. Linda Cooley, a housekeeping team…
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
Reno--Nevada
Quick Fact - Gambling Feast
1887 A newspaper blurb touting the availability of gambling in Reno, Nevada titled, A Feast for the Gamblers, read: “Those who delight in gambling sports can be accommodated in Reno … no less than thirty-one…
Quick Fact - Holiday Dream
1961 Dick Seller boasted that, within a year, a new luxury gambling resort would be built 100 miles from civilization, on a 100-acre parcel he owned (and named Holiday) in Humboldt County in Nevada’s desert…
Did You Know?
Games / Races: Faro
George "Tex" Rickard
Goldfield Hotel (Goldfield, NV)
Nevada
Quick Facts
The Northern (Tonopah, NV)
Wyatt Earp
Quick Fact - Earp Myths
1905 Folklore has it that Wyatt Earp was the pit boss at The Northern in Goldfield, Nevada for George “Tex” Rickard, the proprietor. But it likely is false, according to Nevada historians, Jeffrey Kintop and Guy…
Australia
Did You Know?
Games / Races: Slot Machines / Fruities
Quick Facts
United Kingdom
United States
Quick Fact - Slots Semantics
Today In the U.S. we call them slot machines and one-armed bandits, but in Australia, they’re pokies and in the United Kingdom, fruit machines. Other names? Photo from freeimages.com: by Tijmen van Dobbenburgh
Did You Know?
Gambling
Games / Races: Poker
It Really Happened
Quick Facts
Steamboat Springs (Reno, NV)
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
Club Primadonna (Reno, NV)
Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Tax Evasion
Did You Know?
Ernest "Ernie" J. Primm
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…
Did You Know?
Gambling
Gambling Laws / Regulations
Nevada
Politicians / Politics: NV Governor Frederick "Fred" Balzar
Quick Facts
Quick Fact - Seer 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…
Bluebell Girls
Did You Know?
Entertainment
Las Vegas Strip / S. Las Vegas Boulevard
Quick Facts
Stardust (Las Vegas, NV)
Quick Fact - Bluebell Girls
1958 Sixteen glamazon, primarily English dancers from Paris’ Lido Club troupe were imported to open Las Vegas’ Stardust hotel-casino. The Bluebell Girls’ show broke all attendance records; about 1,400 people left the gaming tables and…
Did You Know?
Entertainment
Ethnic Groups: African Americans
International Hotel (Las Vegas, NV)
Las Vegas Hilton (Las Vegas, NV)
Las Vegas--Nevada
Natalie Cole
Quick Facts
Quick Fact - Natalie Cole
1976 Natalie Cole made her Nevada performance debut at the Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino (formerly the International Hotel) on a double bill with Bill Cosby in April.
Quick Fact - Dancing Waters
1955 A dancing waters routine at the new Royal Nevada hotel-casino upstaged big-money entertainers — Carmen Miranda, Danny Thomas, Liberace and others — in Las Vegas, Nevada. The five fountains of colored water (30 tons…
Quick Fact - Train Hustlers
1935 Stanford University’s (California) Indians and Southern Methodist University’s (Texas) Mustangs were to vie in the Rose Bowl football game on New Year’s Day, and this meant trains of people traveling from The Lone Star State to…
Casino, Gambling Saloon, Card Club, Slot Route Owners / Operators / Licensees / Gamblers
Casinos / Gambling Saloons / Card Clubs / Slot Routes / Wire Services / Hotels / Racetracks / Racinos
Did You Know?
Gambling
Games / Races: Bingo
Games / Races: Craps
Games / Races: Slot Machines / Fruities
Las Vegas--Nevada
Quick Facts
Quick Fact - Playing Incentives
1947 To keep players gambling at their clubs, Las Vegas, Nevada casinos boosted incentives with offerings such as double odds on craps, bingo prizes of $1,000 ($10,900 today), extra slot machine jackpots and brand new…
Casino, Gambling Saloon, Card Club, Slot Route Owners / Operators / Licensees / Gamblers
Did You Know?
Games / Races: Slot Machines / Fruities
Las Vegas--Nevada
Quick Facts
Quick Fact - Slot Keys
1942 The Las Vegas, Nevada Board of Commissioners ordered all commercial slot machine owners to drop off to the local police station a master key for each of their devices to: • Ensure the devices…