Quick Facts Archives

Did You Know? Gambling Currency: Chewing Gum Gambling History Games / Races: Slot Machines / Fruities Gaming History Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact - BAR Symbol Origin

The BAR symbol commonly found in slot machines today evolved from the early 19th century logo of the Bell-Fruit Gum Company, whose fruit-flavored chewing gum was dispensed when the player won. The flavors were those…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling Gambling History Gambling: Win / Jackpot Games / Races: 21 / Blackjack Gaming History Las Vegas--Nevada Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact - Cha-Ching!

1936 An $11,800 gambling win (about $205,000 today) was the largest ever in Las Vegas to that point. The payout went to a man named A. “Blacksmith” Sweitzer after playing 21 (blackjack) for two hours, starting…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling Gambling History Gaming History Quick Facts

Quick Fact - Behind the Word "Casino"

Today A casino is a place that houses and facilitates various gambling forms, according to the English, but a casino or kasino is an officers’ mess hall to the Germans, Spanish and others. In Italian,…

Casino History Casinos / Gambling Saloons / Card Clubs / Slot Routes / Wire Services / Hotels / Racetracks / Racinos Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Guys and Dolls musical Las Vegas Strip / S. Las Vegas Boulevard Las Vegas--Nevada Liberace Mario Lanza Nevada Quick Facts Royal Nevada (Las Vegas, NV) Sin City (Las Vegas) United States Vivian Blaine

Quick Fact - Off, Off, Off Broadway

1955 At least 10 hotel-casinos on the Las Vegas Strip offered entertainment, typically marquee names like Liberace and Mario Lanza, who’d played Sin City time and again. The Royal Nevada, though, changed it up with a…

Did You Know? Gambling Gambling History Gambling Laws / Regulations Games / Races: Slot Machines / Fruities Gaming History Quick Facts Sacramento--California

Quick Fact - Sac'ed Slots

1911 At midnight on June 19, a ban on slot machines took effect in Sacramento, California. The new law made it a misdemeanor to have the devices in one’s possession or on one’s property. The…

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

Quick Fact - The Customer is an Ass

1947-1962 A wild burro sauntered into the popular gambling spot, the El Rey Club in Searchlight, Nevada at about 11 o’clock every morning. It approached the proprietor, Willie Martello, who always fed it something he…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling Currency: Chips Gambling History Games / Races: Poker Gaming History Quick Facts Ships: American-Hawaiian Steamship Co. United States

Quick Fact - Hit Them in the Pocketbook

1913 During an era of reform in the United States, the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company tried to discourage gambling by raising the freight rate on poker chips transported from New York to the West Coast by…

Casino History Did You Know? Gambling History Games / Races: Roulette Gaming History Harold S. Smith, Sr. Harolds Club (Reno, NV) Nevada Quick Facts Raymond A. Smith Reno--Nevada

Quick Fact - Mice and Men

1936 When brothers, Harold S. Smith, Sr. and Raymond A. Smith, opened a small casino called Harolds Club in Reno, Nevada, the main attraction was mouse roulette “where customers bet their small change on what…

Caesars Palace (Las Vegas, NV) Cal-Neva Lodge (Lake Tahoe, NV) Casino History Club Cal Neva (Reno, NV) Did You Know? Gambling History Gaming History Incline Village--Nevada Lake Tahoe--Nevada Las Vegas--Nevada Nevada Quick Facts Reno--Nevada Restaurants / Chefs: Denny's Restaurants Inc. United States

Quick Fact - Diners and Casinos?

1968-1969 Can you imagine if Denny’s was in Nevada’s casino business? Well, it nearly happened. In 1968 Denny’s Restaurants Inc. had reached an agreement to acquire Caesars Palace in Las Vegas but didn’t go through…

Casino History Chico Marx Commercial Hotel/Monte Carlo Casino (Elko, NV) Did You Know? Elko--Nevada Entertainment Gambling History Gaming History Lawrence Welk Nevada Newton Crumley Paul Whiteman Quick Facts Sophie Tucker Ted Lewis The Andrews Sisters United States

Quick Fact - Casino Trendsetter

1941 Nevada casinos are known for their big-name entertainment, and it all started in the city of Elko. In spring of 1941, Newton Crumley, owner of the Commercial Hotel and its Monte Carlo Casino,…

Did You Know? Gambling: Dice Quick Facts

Quick Fact - Chinese Dice Peculiarities

Today Chinese dice differ from traditional dice in two ways: • The spots for numbers 1 and 4 are painted red. • The number 1 spot is larger and more deeply etched than all others. Anyone…

Did You Know? Edie Adams Ernie Kovacs Gambling Games / Races: Poker Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact - A Splurge For a Splurge

1954-1962 Each time her husband, Ernie Kovacs, lost big at poker, actress Edie Adams bought herself a chinchilla coat or antique harpsichord. When the bills for those purchases arrived, he’d say, “We can’t afford this!”…

Deadwood--South Dakota Did You Know? Leadville--Colorado Quick Facts Tombstone--Arizona

Quick Fact - Renowned U.S. Gambling Towns

1870s Three fledgling U.S. towns that boomed and evolved into gambling centers were: Deadwood, South Dakota, where Wild Bill Hickok was killed while playing poker, immortalizing “dead man’s hand” Leadville, Colorado, where Doc Holliday shot…

Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Tax Evasion Did You Know? Dunes (Las Vegas, NV) Gambling: Debt Governing / Regulatory Bodies: Internal Revenue Service Las Vegas Strip / S. Las Vegas Boulevard Las Vegas--Nevada Nevada Quick Facts United States

Quick Fact - Accounting Shift

1964 The Dunes in Las Vegas, Nevada switched from writing off unpaid IOUs to claiming them as income, allegedly to keep Internal Revenue Service agents from harassing its customers — asking guests in the hotel…

Did You Know? Gambling Games / Races: Craps Quick Facts San Francisco--California United States

Quick Fact - Out Of The Loop

1895 When two small boys appeared in a San Francisco, California court for shooting craps, the arresting officer testified. Then this transpired: Judge: “Are you sure the boys were shooting craps?” Officer: “Of course, I…

Castaways (Las Vegas, NV) Desert Inn (Las Vegas, NV) Did You Know? Frontier (Las Vegas, NV) Governing / Regulatory Bodies: Nevada Gaming Commission Howard Hughes Las Vegas Strip / S. Las Vegas Boulevard Las Vegas--Nevada Law Enforcement / Judicial System: U.S. Department of Justice Laws: U.S. Sherman Anti-Trust Act Nevada Quick Facts Sands (Las Vegas, NV) Silver Slipper (Las Vegas, NV) United States

Quick Fact - Road to Monopoly?

1968 Howard Hughes, billionaire industrialist, received the Nevada Gaming Commission’s blessing to buy the Stardust hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Nevada for $30.5 million and moved forward with the acquisition. He already owned five such properties…