With a little help from Nick Abelman, Bill Graham and George Wingfield, the Nevada State Legislature finally adopted open-gaming in 1931.
When legalization did came, the Northern Club in downtown Las Vegas was ready to take-on the new income source. Joining the Northern the same day were the Boulder Club and the Las Vegas Club on Fremont Street, and the Exchange Club at 123 S. 1st.
Up in Reno, where the city already sported plenty of illegal gambling, whiskey, and easy women, legalization signaled the expansion of the state's largest casino, the Bank Club.
Let author Al W. Moe take you on a fifty-year trip around the Silver State's casinos! From Las Vegas, to Reno, Lake Tahoe, Winnemucca, Wendover, Ely and Carson City - the stories are all here!
Gambling is Nevada. Always was, and always will be. From the Native Americans who lived in the high country and fished Nevada's prehistoric lakes, life in the desert was both a struggle, and a gamble. Summer sunshine parched the land and brutal cold could strand travelers in their tracks. The Donner Party learned the hard way about the region's merciless snow. It is said the casinos can still eat you alive.
During the course of the last century Nevada transformed itself from a simple water-stop along a dry, barren stretch of open land, to the greatest gambling center the world has ever seen. Whether you head for the unbelievable spectacle of Las Vegas with its choreographed, headliner shows, megawatt neon signs and 5,000-room hotel casinos, or stroll through the more sedate streets of Reno, gambling will be constantly in sight.
By the 1950's, Harolds Club of Reno had become the most successful casino in the world, although there were large, successful, illegal clubs operating in Florida, Arkansas, Ohio and Kentucky. Meyer Lansky had a financial interest in several of the most successful illegal clubs in the United States, and he and his mob of friends would soon take their income from new clubs starting in Las Vegas. How they operated is a fascinating story - right here in Nevada's Golden Age of Gambling.
Also between the large, 8x11 pages of this book are stories of such well-known casino owners as Bill Harrah, "Pappy" Smith of Harolds Club, Wilbur Clark and Moe Dalitz of the Desert Inn, and dozens of other casino owners and their stories, plus of course, Howard Hughes, who presided over seven casinos in the 1960's.
If you love the casinos of Nevada, you will be amazed by the wonderful photos, over 50 in all, from 1928 to 1981. This 152-page, softbound book also features a complete index!
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