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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!”…
1946 Two brothers — Edward P. and George Jones — freely controlled Chicago, Illinois’ policy* racket for 25 years, beginning in the 1920s. As a result, the two raked in money, $10 to $30 million…
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…
1970-1971 In the summer of 1970, a package and suitcase found in a Sparks Nugget motor lodge room in Nevada with a note affixed saying to please deliver the items to Nugget owner John Ascuaga’s…
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…
1906 A sextet of flimflammers arrived in Las Vegas, Nevada in December, set up at the corner of Main and Fremont Streets and began separating the locals from their money. ” … the spindle was…
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…
1953-1955 In fall 1953, John “Fat Jack” Galloway was playing the card game, 21, at Leo Quilici’s hotel-casino, the El Rancho Hotel, in Wells, Nevada. Fat Jack himself, in his early 40s, was the operator…
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…
1880 British and French patrons crowded the Casino de Monte-Carlo, games were in full operation and large sums of money sat on the tables. It was a typical Saturday night in spring at the Monaco…
Mid-1870s Virginia City, Nevada, at the peak of the mining boom when the population was about 18,000, boasted one gambling house for every 150 people. That’s 120 of these places, primarily saloons! Some of the…
1975 In the spring, Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder, a Las Vegas oddsmaker and bookie, allegedly punched, knocked down and kicked casino magnate, Nathan “Nate” S. Jacobson, in a Caesars Palace hallway in a confrontation over…
1948 Mickey Cohen (né Meyer Harris Cohen) — violent Los Angeles, California mobster and gambling kingpin with ties to Bugsy Siegel and the Flamingo in Las Vegas, Nevada — suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder that led…
1937-1970 Card dealing was a male-dominated profession in Nevada’s casinos until 1937, when Harolds Club, in Reno, put the first woman at a 21 table to deal. Co-owner Harold Smith previously had been hiring women,…
1969 Elvis Presley was one of the first headliners at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. His performances began a record-breaking run of 837 sold-out shows at the spot over the ensuing seven years. In his…
1945-1955 In the late 1940s, three bookies — or commissioners, as they preferred to be called — operated on California’s Sunset Strip in West Hollywood under the name, Golden News Service. Hy Goldbaum, George Capri…