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The blog, It Really Happened!, brings to life the fascinating stories of gambling-related:
Spite Leads to Creation and Destruction of World's "Most Sumptuous" Casino
1929-1933 Le Casino Municipal in Nice, France refused to cash Frank Jay Gould’s check so he could keep gambling there. This irked him. Gould wasn’t just a member of the bourgeoisie. Rather, he was an uber-wealthy American who’d been living and investing millions of dollars in various business ventures in the French Riviera since 1913. […]
Nevada: "Gambling and Prostitution Should Not Go Hand in Hand"
1954 Two gambling-related issues — cheating by operators and prostitution — in Nevada’s town of Searchlight came to a head at the July meeting of the state tax commission, then responsible for overseeing gaming. Regarding the roughly 300-resident community, commissioners 1) had heard rumors that its local ladies of the night mingled with customers in […]
West Coast IRS Men Bribe Gamblers
1940-1953 In 1946, Pat Mooney, chief field deputy of the Nevada Internal Revenue (IR) Bureau office, made gambler-Mobster Elmer “Bones” F. Remmer* an offer he couldn’t refuse. If the gambling club owner purchased $52,400 ($699,000 today) worth of shares in the Mountain City Consolidated Copper Co. (MCCCC) then his 1945 federal tax debt in that […]
U.S. Prohibits Gambling on Domestic Election Results
1919-Today The now infamous Joseph “Joe” Conforte, known for having owned the Mustang Ranch brothel and having fought for the legalization of prostitution, both in Nevada, found himself behind bars there in fall 1960. The avid gambler officially asked for a reprieve from his 25-day jail sentence so he could wager on the outcomes of […]
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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