Quick Fact - Store Slots
1967 Nevada legislators proposed a bill that would disallow any future installation of slot machines in grocery and drug stores. It died, though, in the Senate Taxation Committee.
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…
Quick Fact - Gambling Minors
1888 When select games of chance were legal in Nevada, so many youths under age 21 regularly were frequenting the gambling clubs (which was illegal) that the police threatened to make an example of some…
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…
Quick Fact - Harolds Warning
Harolds Club, a casino that debuted in Reno, Nevada in 1935, displayed signs on its property that read: “No one can win all the time. Harolds Club advises you to risk only what you can…
Casino, Gambling Saloon, Card Club, Slot Route Owners / Operators / Licensees / Gamblers
Colombo Hotel (Reno, NV)
Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Shooting
It Really Happened
Reno--Nevada
Bad Blood Between Casino Dealers
1935 Police discovered John S. Parks, a 67 year old, carrying a loaded Colt 45 automatic on a downtown Reno, Nevada street around midnight on a July Monday. With blood streaming from his nose and…
Quick Fact - Sands Silver
1956 As revelers welcomed the new year at the Sands in Las Vegas, Nevada, management gave every guest (an estimated 18,000 of them) a brand new silver dollar. Additionally, they gifted each of the 700 women…
Casino, Gambling Saloon, Card Club Fronts / Workers / Bookmakers / Dealers
Did You Know?
Nevada
Quick Facts
Quick Fact - Teachers Excluded
1957 The Washoe County School District in Northern Nevada prohibited its teachers from moonlighting as casino workers, believing they shouldn’t be seen in such places while working as educators. Photo from freeimages.com
Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Cheating / Fleecing
Did You Know?
It Really Happened
Kings Castle (Incline Village, NV)
Lake Tahoe--Nevada
Nevada
Quick Facts
Quick Fact - Polygraph Used
1970-1974 During the years Kings Castle in Incline Village, Nevada at Lake Tahoe was open, management routinely used polygraphs on employees, particularly for questions about cheating, theft and employment. Photo from freeimages.com: “No Lies”
Gambling License
Governing / Regulatory Bodies: Nevada Gaming Control Board
It Really Happened
Las Vegas Strip / S. Las Vegas Boulevard
Nevada
Bull's Eye on the Gambling Industry
1955 It’s hard to believe this ever happened in Nevada. As an emergency measure, the state government approved a temporary moratorium on issuing gambling licenses. It was to last five months, until 30 days after…
Did You Know?
Games / Races: Chuck-a-luck
Games / Races: Faro
Games / Races: Roulette
Movies / Movie Stars / Entertainers / Celebrities
Nevada
Quick Facts
Quick Fact - Equipment Carful
1920 Following abolishment of gambling in Nevada, a Los Angeles moving picture company purchased and shipped to California a carful of equipment outlawed in 1909, including roulette wheels, faro tables and chuck-a-luck games. Photo from…
Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Bombings
Gambling
Harvey A. Gross
It Really Happened
Stateline--Nevada
Wagon Wheel Saloon and Gambling Hall / Harvey's Wagon Wheel / Harvey's Resort Hotel (Stateline, NV)
Bomb Extortion Plan Blows Up
1980 Thirty-five years ago, on August 27, an intricate bomb blasted a chasm that spanned six of the 11 floors of Harvey’s Resort Hotel at Lake Tahoe’s South Shore. The explosion hadn’t been intentional but,…
"Pop Goes the Weasel (Lady Cocoa)"
Did You Know?
Kings Castle (Incline Village, NV)
Lake Tahoe--Nevada
Nevada
Quick Facts
Quick Fact - Lady Cocoa
1975 The blaxploitation thriller, Lady Cocoa (also titled Pop Goes the Weasel), starring singer-dancer Lola Folana, San Francisco 49er Gene Washington and Pittsburgh Steeler Joe Green, was filmed in Northern Nevada. The movie climaxes with a…
Bernard "Mooney" Einstoss
Casino: Financings
Casino: Financings: Reconstruction Finance Corporation
It Really Happened
Louis "Lou" Wertheimer
Mapes (Reno, NV)
Nevada
Reno--Nevada
United States
Was The Mapes' Financing Unethical?
1947 The United States’ Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) co-financed construction of a gambling enterprise via its $975,000 loan for the Mapes hotel-casino in Reno, Nevada in 1947. Under Attack Three years later, Senators William Fulbright…
Did You Know?
Games / Races: Poker
Law Enforcement / Judicial System: Lawsuit
McGill Club (McGill, NV)
McGill--Nevada
Nevada
Quick Facts
Quick Fact - McGill Suit
1928 A woman named Gladys Anderson sued the McGill Club in McGill, Nevada for $5,000, which she claimed her husband had lost there playing poker. The district court, however, dismissed her case because it lacked…
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel
California
Crimes / Violence / Punishments: Murder / Killing
Frank Nitti
It Really Happened
Meyer Lansky
Mobsters / Gangsters / Syndicate Members (Alleged) / Organizations
Movies / Movie Stars / Entertainers / Celebrities
Movie Starlet Murdered by Mobster?
1934-1935 Today, 80 years later, the circumstances of actress Thelma Todd’s death remain a mystery, and the case still is one of Hollywood’s infamous unsolveds. A deep cover-up precluded the truth about the incident from…