Geographical Areas Archives

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.

Caesars Palace (Las Vegas, NV) Frank Sinatra Gambling Games / Races: Baccarat Howard Hughes It Really Happened Las Vegas--Nevada Sands (Las Vegas, NV)

1967 & 1970 Apparently, the beloved crooner Frank Sinatra, Sr. had a temper, which he sometimes unleashed when casino operators denied him additional, excessive amounts of credit when gambling. In one instance when Sinatra lost…

Did You Know? Entertainment Las Vegas--Nevada Quick Facts Royal Nevada (Las Vegas, NV)

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…

Club 86 (Miami, FL) Florida Gambling Games / Races: Chemin de Fer Games / Races: Chuck-a-luck Games / Races: Craps Games / Races: Roulette It Really Happened

Swanky Miami Casino-Fortress

1945-1950 Although gambling was illegal in Miami, Florida, in the 1940s, one lavish casino operated there for five years with the blessing of the local sheriff. Club 86, on Biscayne Boulevard, which belonged to local…

California Did You Know? Gambling Games / Races: Sports Betting Quick Facts Texas

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…

Gambling It Really Happened Nevada

Gambling Addiction Support: The Early Days

1958-present Las Vegas, Nevada resident Howie C. had gambled so much during the 1950s and ’60s that he owed banks, finance companies and loan sharks. He often had borrowed money from his mom and even…

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…

Gambling Laws / Regulations: U.S. Transportation of Gambling Devices Act Games / Races: Roulette Games / Races: Slot Machines / Fruities It Really Happened Law Enforcement / Judicial System: U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Politicians / Politics: Kefauver Committee United States

Thwarting Mob Activities

1950s The manufacture of slot machines, roulette wheels and other gambling equipment was big business in the United States until the mid-20th century when new federal legislation curbed it. In 1950, the Kefauver Committee, officially the…

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…

Gambler (Operators/Players): Minors Gambling Gambling Laws / Regulations It Really Happened Law Enforcement / Judicial System: Lawsuit Rhyolite--Nevada Sixty-Six (Rhyolite, NV)

The Right to Life, Liberty … and Recovery of Gambling Losses?

1906-1909 An allegedly underaged young man, Master Wadell, gambled at various games from poker to faro and lost big over the winter of 1906-1907. His preferred playhouse was the Sixty-Six casino in the mining town…

Casino, Gambling Saloon, Card Club Fronts / Workers / Bookmakers / Dealers Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Robbery / Theft / Embezzling Crystal Bay Club Casino (Crystal Bay, NV) Did You Know? Gambling Currency: Chips Lake Tahoe--Nevada Quick Facts

Quick Fact - Lingerie Caper

1966 A 34-year-old 21 dealer at a Crystal Bay, Nevada casino at Lake Tahoe slipped $100 worth of gambling chips into her bra each day for a week before getting caught. Once busted (pun intended),…

Dennis Day Entertainment It Really Happened Myrton "Mert" C. Wertheimer Publicity Stunts / Promotions / Advertisements Reno--Nevada Riverside Hotel (Reno, NV)

Now, That's A Publicity Stunt

1951 The Irish tenor, Dennis Day, was about to begin a singing engagement at the downtown Riverside hotel-casino in Reno, Nevada in the summer of 1951. Day is known for his appearances on the Jack…

Did You Know? Gambling Gambling Currency: Chips Las Vegas--Nevada Quick Facts

Quick Fact - Chip Deposit

1948 A guest of the Flamingo hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Nevada accidentally took home a $5 ($50 today) gambling chip then deposited it into the Bank of Arizona. The bank mailed to the Flamingo the…

Games / Races: Panguingue Harolds Club (Reno, NV) It Really Happened Law Enforcement / Judicial System: Lawsuit Nevada Club (Las Vegas, NV) Reno--Nevada

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…

Canada Did You Know? Games / Races: Faro Quick Facts Yukon

Quick Fact - Yukon's Faro

1968 The town of Faro in the Yukon (northwestern Canada) was named after the card game of chance, which was popular there during the days of the Klondike Gold Rush between 1896 and 1899.

Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Cheating / Fleecing Ernest Dennison Gambling Gambling Laws / Regulations Games / Races: Chuck-a-luck It Really Happened Nevada

Animals Run Roadside Zoos

1940s A spate of “roadside zoos” opened along various Nevada highways, typically in rural areas, during the late 1940s. The owners were hustlers who lured unsuspecting tourists onto their grounds with the promise of seeing…