It Really Happened Archives

Belle Livingstone Belle Livingstone George Wingfield It Really Happened James "Jim/Cinch" C. McKay Nathan "Nick" Abelman Prohibition Reno--Nevada The Cowshed (Reno, NV) William "Bill/Curly" J. Graham

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…

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

Frank Sinatra's Hissy Fits

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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 / Killing Gambling Games / Races: 21 / Blackjack Games / Races: Craps Games / Races: Faro Games / Races: Poker Games / Races: Roulette Gem (Las Vegas, NV) It Really Happened Las Vegas--Nevada Prohibition Red Onion (Las Vegas, NV) Sin City (Las Vegas) 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…

Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Robbery / Theft / Embezzling Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Shooting Desert Club (Tonopah, NV) Gambling It Really Happened Nevada State Prison (Carson City, NV) Tonopah--Nevada

Unforeseen Perils of Gambling

1920 It was 3 a.m. on a Monday. About 15 men were gambling in the Desert Club. One who’d been there all night, sitting alone, watching and waiting to make his move was George Strickland.…

Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Cheating / Fleecing Gambling Currency: Coins Gambling Laws / Regulations It Really Happened Nevada Politicians / Politics: NV Governor Charles Russell Sparks--Nevada

Loophole in the Law

1955 When Nevada legislators legalized gambling in 1931, they didn’t consider one significant caveat. The omission came to light in January 1955 when an industrious Las Vegas casino patron was arrested for using Mexican 10…

Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Grafting Gambling Gambling License Games / Races: Panguingue Games / Races: Poker George "Tex" Rickard It Really Happened Rawhide--Nevada The Northern (Rawhide, Nevada)

Lawmen Run Amok in Rawhide

1908 Two deputy sheriffs in the mining camp of Rawhide, Nevada,* were on the take. For a regularly paid fee, they allowed establishments to operate legal games without a license and/or run banned ones as well.…

Agua Caliente Casino and Hotel (Tijuana, Mexico) Casino de Mexicali (Mexicali, Mexico) Casino: Corporations: ABW Corp. Casino: Takeovers Feria Típica (Tijuana, Mexico) Gambling Gambling History Games / Races: Baccarat Games / Races: Bull Fighting Games / Races: Cockfighting Games / Races: Dog Racing Games / Races: Faro Games / Races: Horse Racing Games / Races: Keno Games / Races: Poker Games / Races: Roulette Games / Races: Slot Machines / Fruities It Really Happened Mexico Monte Carlo (Tijuana, Mexico) Movies / Movie Stars / Entertainers / Celebrities Owl Cafe and Theatre (Calexico, Mexico) Politicians / Politics: Baja, CA Governor Esteban Cantu Prohibition Sunset Inn (Tijuana, Mexico)

Americans Head South Para Apostar

1913-1929 With various state bans on gambling and, later, a nationwide prohibition against liquor, many Americans, particularly wealthy Southern Californians, traveled to casinos in Mexican border cities to play and imbibe. “The great hegira* is in,…

Bobby Garcia Carl "Cork" Civella Gambling Laws / Regulations: Nevada's Black Book / Excluded Person List Governing / Regulatory Bodies: Nevada Gaming Control Board It Really Happened Joe Sica John "The Bat" Battaglia Louis Tom Dragna Marshall Caifano / Johnny Marshall Michael "Trigger Mike" Coppola Mobsters / Gangsters / Syndicate Members (Alleged) / Organizations Motel Grzebienacy Murray "The Hump"/"The Camel" Humphreys Nevada Nick Civella Sam "Momo" Giancana

The Original Black Book

1960 A cheap, spiral notebook held great power in Nevada’s gambling world for decades. It contained known U.S. mobsters whose underworld statuses and histories were such that the state gambling authorities didn’t want them anywhere…

Entertainment It Really Happened John Ascuaga Sparks--Nevada

Performing Pachyderm

1962-1999 You’ve likely heard of Dumbo, Horton and Babar, but what about Bertha? Real, unlike the others, Bertha is an elephant renowned for having performed in shows at the Nugget hotel-casino, in Sparks, Nevada, for…