Quick Facts Archives

Aladdin Resort & Casino (Las Vegas, NV) Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Games / Races: Beano Games / Races: Bingo Games / Races: Games Creators / Manufacturers: Edwin S. Lowe Las Vegas Strip / S. Las Vegas Boulevard Las Vegas--Nevada Massachusetts Quick Facts Tally Ho (Las Vegas, NV) United States

Quick Fact - Beano v. Bingo

1944 “Are you in favor of banning beano when played for prizes?” This was one of Massachusetts’ 1944 ballot questions. By the 1940s, beano — played with beans as markers, hence the name, and popular on…

Cal-Neva Lodge (Lake Tahoe, NV) Casino History Crystal Bay--Nevada Did You Know? Elmer "Bones" F. Remmer Gambling History Gaming History Judy Garland Lake Tahoe--Nevada Nevada Quick Facts The Garland Sisters United States

Quick Fact - Casino Discovery

1935 Singer and actress Judy Garland (neé Frances Ethel Gumm) was discovered while headlining with her two older sisters at the Cal-Neva Lodge at Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Theatrical agent Al Rosen was in the…

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel Casino History Did You Know? Divorce / Annulment Gambling History Nevada Quick Facts Reno--Nevada United States

Quick Fact - So Done

1946 Mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel’s wife, Esta (née Esther Krakower) filed for divorce in Reno, Nevada after 17 years of marriage. The two had wed when she was 18 and he was 23. In the…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Harolds Club (Reno, NV) Nevada Quick Facts Reno--Nevada United States

Quick Fact - Out of Thin Air

1964 When dealer Lue Dennis exited her work, Harolds Club casino, a man descended and hit the pavement in front of her. Reno resident, John Nahirney, age 79, had fallen from the Nevada casino’s fire…

Aladdin Resort & Casino (Las Vegas, NV) Casino History Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Cheating / Fleecing Did You Know? Gambling History Gambling: Junkets Gaming History Las Vegas--Nevada Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact - Casino Swindlers

1974 It was a successful scam that cheated the Aladdin Resort and Casino out of about $250,000 (about $1.2 million today) … while it lasted. Four men had some friends take junkets to the Las Vegas…

Casino de Monte-Carlo (Monaco) Casino History Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Bombings Did You Know? Events: World War II Gambling History Gaming History Monaco Quick Facts Ships: HMS Sickle

Quick Fact - Miss and Hit

1943 The British submarine, HMS Sickle, fired a succession of torpedoes during World War II, in May, sinking an enemy vessel in Cape Ferrat, southeastern France. But one of the missiles hit a cliff in…

Casino History Casino: Stock Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Governing / Regulatory Bodies: Nevada Gaming Commission Jerry's Nugget (North Las Vegas, NV) Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact - Taking Stock

1974 The Nevada Gaming Commission, the industry’s state regulatory body, amended regulations to allow employees to own stock in a casino where they worked, without having to get a gambling license, a process that involved…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling Gambling History Gaming History Nevada Quick Facts Reno--Nevada United States

Quick Fact - Curiosity Trumps Motherhood

1931 When a Southern Pacific train stopped in Reno on a Friday in May at about 9:15 p.m., four passengers disembarked to squeeze in, before continuing on, a glance at gambling, which Nevada recently had…

Bobbie Gentry Casino History Did You Know? Divorce / Annulment Gambling History Gaming History Harrah's (Reno, NV) Harrah's Lake Tahoe (Stateline, NV) Nevada Quick Facts Reno--Nevada United States William "Bill" F. Harrah

Quick Fact - Third Time's A ... Gamble

1969-1970 Casino magnate, William “Bill” F. Harrah, 58, married country artist, Bobbie Gentry, 27, in St. John’s Presbyterian Church in Reno, Nevada on December 18, 1969 with only members of the wedding party present. The…

Boulder Club (Las Vegas, NV) Casino History Clara Bow Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Robbery / Theft / Embezzling Did You Know? Gambling History Gambling: Debt Gaming History Las Vegas--Nevada Law Enforcement / Judicial System: Lawsuit Louis Cornero Meadows (Las Vegas, NV) Nevada Quick Facts Rex Bell Tony Cornero / Antonio Cornero Stralla United States

Quick Fact - The Hard Way or the Easy Way

1931-1932 Actors Clara Bow and Rex Bell gambled at the Meadows in Las Vegas in summer 1931 and racked up a $1,100 loss (about $18,000 today), for which they left an IOU. By December, the…

Casino History Did You Know? El Rey Club (Searchlight, NV) Gambling History Gambling: Charters Gaming History Nevada Quick Facts Searchlight--Nevada United States Willie Martello

Quick Fact - Desert Getaway

1961 This ad for the El Rey Club invited people to escape one sunny desert town (Palm Springs, California) for another (Searchlight, Nevada), as the enticement ran in the former’s newspaper, The Desert Sun. Owner Willie Martello began…

California Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Gambling: Bookmaking Gambling: Raids Gaming History Pasadena--California Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact - Moonlighting Gig Heats Up

1948 When Pasadena, California vice squad officers got a tip that chef/restaurant owner Paul B. Weston, 56, was sidelining as an illegal bookie, they raided his home and found gambling paraphernalia — where else? —…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Nevada Quick Facts Reno--Nevada United States

Quick Fact - Bygone Courtesy

1919 Outside many of Reno’s gambling saloons were benches, on which club-goers, typically men, whether or not they’d been gambling, were welcome to sleep the night. (At that time, some forms of gambling were legal…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Las Vegas--Nevada Nevada Politicians / Politics: U.S. President John F. Kennedy Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact - Pall of Mourning

1963 On the Monday after then President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Las Vegas casinos went dark for 17 hours, from 7 a.m. to midnight, in his honor. Along with the gaming rooms in all of…

Casa Vegas (Las Vegas, NV) Casino History Casino: Flying Did You Know? Gambling History Games / Races: Roulette Gaming History Las Vegas--Nevada Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact - Flying Casino

1946 Owners of the Casa Vegas gambling club in Southern Nevada, Duke Wiley and Eddie Alias, announced their plan to acquire and convert a surplus, four-engine transport plane into a casino in the air. Slated…

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel Casino History Did You Know? Flamingo (Las Vegas, NV) Gambling History Gaming History Las Vegas--Nevada Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact - Bugsy Siegel's Hidden Safe

1972 Twenty-six years after the gangland assassination of mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and his debut of the Flamingo in Las Vegas, a trap door was discovered in one of the hotel-casino’s offices when the carpet…