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A BOLD GAMBLE AT LAKE TAHOE: CRIME AND CORRUPTION IN A CASINO’S EVOLUTION
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The blog, It Really Happened!, brings to life the fascinating stories of gambling-related:
Was Reno City Councilman Crooked?
Justi 1923-1945 Reno, Nevada’s Third Ward city councilman during the 1920s and 1930s was “owned by” the local Mobsters, acted in their interests and protected them, contended Harold S. Smith, Jr., Harolds Club co-owner, in his book I Want to Quit Winners. That councilmember was William A. Justi (1873-1945). The Third Ward encompassed the “liberal” […]
Mobsters Horn in on Northern Nevada Gambling Clubs
Ad in the Nevada State Journal, June 26, 1935 1929-1941 In the early decades of legal gambling in Nevada, two Mob factions — Reno’s McKay/Graham combine and Detroit’s Chesterfield Syndicate — expropriated legitimate businessmen’s casinos in Washoe County. The local Mob, headed by William “Bill” Graham and James “Jim” McKay, strove to dominate and control […]
Money-Flashing Vegas Gamblers Have Secret
1955-1985 Their behavior at several Las Vegas casinos got them noticed. Then the dominoes fell. Two men showed wads of C notes at the craps tables, tried to exchange some of them for casino bills and broke others into smaller denominations. Word got to the local police, who picked up and took to the station […]
Few Convictions for Cheating at Gambling Interpreted
1931-1948 Gambling and cheating at gambling go together like, well, coins in a slot machine or cards in a shoe. Seemingly, they always will despite various efforts — violence, laws/rules, surveillance, firings, procedures, technology and more — to thwart chicanery. “The casino gambling business is especially susceptible to fraudulent schemes,” wrote Jerome Skolnick in House […]
Old Tales of Nevada
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Enthralled by Bugsy, Capone, Lanksy, Costello, Luciano, et al?
The Mobsters section is dedicated to notables like them — criminal syndicate members involved in gambling. Bet you a cold beer or a hot latte you can’t ID everyone in the gallery.
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