Instructional Objectives

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Instructional Objectives

• Be able to list the reasons Nevada Legislators
  saw fit to legalize gambling and why.
• Explain the roles the Northern Club, the Meadows,
  the El Rancho Vegas, and the Flamingo played in
  the development of gambling.

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Instructional Objectives (continued)

• List the contributions made by Bugsy Siegel,
  Raymond Smith, Bill Harrah, Howard Hughes, Tony
  Cornero, and Steve Wynn made to the gaming
  industry.
• Explain what was the Bull Pen Casino and what
  made it different.

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Events that changed Course of Nevada History

• Stock Market crash of 1929 and subsequent
  depression.
• Funding of Hoover Dam within 3 months of crash.

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Depressions Influence

• 1931 was one of the worst depression years.
• State needed money and stimulus for business.

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A.B. 98, a.k.a. Wide Open Gambling Bill

• Phil Tobin, 29 year old assemblyman from
  Winnemuca, introduces bill.

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Legislators felt Gambling would

• Provide state with revenues through gambling
  taxes.
• Enhance business in general.
• Most importantly with coming of Hoover Dam it
  was believed Federal Officials might move to
  close down Las Vegas illegal gambling.

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A.B. 98 signed into Law March 19, 1931

• Same legislature lowered the residency
  requirements for divorce from 3 months to 6
  weeks.
• No method of regulation included in bill.
  Cheating and operating without license were
  forbidden but no state control provided.

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Games Legalized

• Faro
• Monte
• Roulette
• Keno
• Fan-tan
• Twenty-one
• Blackjack

• Seven and a half
• Big Injun
• Craps
• Klondyke
• Stud Poker
• Draw Poker
• Slots

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New Source of State Revenues

• Card games charged 25 per month.
• Slots charged 10 per month.
• Table games charged 50 per month.
• 75 to county, 25 to state.
• Sheriff collected taxes.

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Bull Pen Casino

• 1932 gambling permitted at state prison.
• Operated by inmates (game boss).
• Offered poker, 21, craps, chuck-a-luck, roulette,
  and race sports.
• Each game boss required to contribute to inmate
  welfare fund.
• Closed in 1967.

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Northern Club

• First gaming license issued in Nevada.

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The Meadows Supper Club

• Opened in Las Vegas on May 2, 1931.
• Built by Tony Cornero, cost 300,000.
• Had 100 rooms and was grandest club in Nevada.
• Adjacent airport and place to buy prohibited
  liquor.

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Bad Luck for the Meadows

• 1932 hotel burned down.
• Firemen refused to fight fire
• Club went bankrupt in 1937.
• Tony Cornero later operated California gambling
  ship SS Rex.

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Casino Marketing Begins

• 1935 Raymond Pappy Smith and his son, Harold,
  open Harolds Club in Reno at a cost of 500.
• First to
• open casino to the street
• introduce mouse roulette
• hire women dealers

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Smith First to conduct National Ad Campaign

• At one point Harolds Club had over 2,300
  billboards placed on major U.S. highways.

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Bill Harrahs Bingo Club

• Opened in 1937
• Marketed to those outside the state of Nevada.
• Introduced corporate management philosophies to
  gaming industry.

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Birth of the Strip

• Thomas Hull opens El Rancho Vegas on Highway 91
  in 1941
• El Cortez opens downtown in 1941.
• In 1942 Last Frontier opens.

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Downtown Las Vegas

• Circa 1948

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Bugsy Siegel

• Born 1906 in Brooklyn, New York.
• Began career in crime by extorting money from
  Jewish pushcart peddlers on New Yorks Lower East
  Side.
• Teamed up with Meyer Lansky at the age of 12.

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Off to California

• Syndicate leaders send Bugsy to California in
  1937.
• In California, Bugsy successfully develops
• gambling dens
• gambling ships (offshore beyond 12 miles)
• narcotics smuggling

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While in California

• Cultivated Hollywood ties through childhood
  friend George Raft.
• Began a love relationship with starlet Virginia
  Hill (ex-girlfriend of Joe Adonis).
• Developed nationwide bookmakers wire service.

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Bugsy Comes to Vegas in 41

• Legislators legalize race horse betting.
• Bugsys Trans-America wire service provides race
  results.

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Siegel, Lansky, et al, Owned Interest in

• El Cortez, Last Frontier, and Golden Nugget prior
  to building of Flamingo.

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The Planning of the Flamingo

• Bill Wilkerson, the founder of the Hollywood
  Reporter, had original idea for the Flamingo.
• Wilkersons idea
• gourmet food, big-name entertainment
• movie stars and starlets in casino day and night
  (he had the contacts through Reporter)

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Siegel, Lansky and Partners Buy In

• Bought 67 of Wilkersons project for 650,000.
• Flamingos initial projected cost 1 million.

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Bugsy and the Flamingo

• Total cost exceeds 6 million.
• Cost overruns involved extensive skimming by
  Siegel.
• Virginia Hill deposited funds in European banks.
• Began writing bad checks to complete construction.

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Flamingo Opens

• Casino opened December 46 before hotel
  completed.
• Tremendously successful opening with many stars
  present.
• With no rooms to stay, guests either returned to
  L.A. or stayed downtown.

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Flamingo Losses

• Casino immediately begins to lose money.
• Casino losses forced closure Feb 1, 47 to await
  completion of hotel.

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Flamingo Reopens

• Casino hotel reopens March 1, 1947.
• Cost overruns and perceived theft of construction
  funds results in Lucky Lucianos order to murder
  Bugsy.
• Bugsy murdered June 20, 1947 at the home of his
  girlfriend, Virginia Hill. He was 41 years old.

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Howard Hughes adds Legitimacy to Industry

• Texas millionaire arrives in Vegas in 1966 and
  immediately begins to buy casinos.
• Purchased 6 casinos on Strip and Harolds Club in
  Reno.
• Justice Department and Commission concerned about
  his dominance.

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Chronology of Casino Openings 1940-1969

• El Rancho Vegas 41
• El Cortez 42
• Last Frontier 42
• Golden Nugget 46
• Flamingo 47
• Thunderbird 48

• Desert Inn 50
• Horseshoe 51
• Sands 52
• Showboat 54
• New Frontier 54
• Dunes Riviera 55

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• Hacienda 56
• Tropicana 57
• Stardust 58
• Fremont 60
• Mint 62
• Castaways 63

• Aladdin 66
• Caesars Palace 66
• Four Queens 66
• Bonanza 67
• International 69
• Landmark 69

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