I have no idea what downtown Reno looks like, have not been there in MANY years. I think I was fortunate to be out there in the "good old days."
Harold's Club, the Nevada Club, the Cal Neva, the Golden Hotel, the Primm, Horseshoe, Kelleys, the Mapes and the Riverside, all great places, and I think that most are gone.
No more "colorful" owners, all corporations with no identity.
I was in Harold's the morning that Harold put a cover on wheel, sent a group of college kids on their way with their winnings, big winnings. Harold said, "You boys have your college paid for," and he closed the wheel. They had a system, played for a number of days, everyone went to Harold's to see the kids from the University of Nevada that had figured out a "wheel system." They were a great draw.
As I recall, they got their winnings to well over $100,000, and they started dropping money. So, he told them to take their $100,000 and leave, and they did. He put the word out, "NO playing in town." I heard that they went to Vegas and lost it. I think that was in the Fall of '56. Harold's got millions of free advertising out of it.
Lincoln Fitzgerald, owner of the Nevada Club trained many of the dealers in Nevada. He didn't care for, and usually didn't hire bartenders or cab drivers. Other than that, you might have a shot at being a dealer. Hey, he hired me. Fitz is one of the more memorable people I have met in my lifetime.
There should be a monument, somewhere in Reno, giving credit to Fitz and Harold for their part in the growth of the state of Nevada. All else of theirs is apparently torn down.
One more. We had a bartender at the Primm who was an ex-wheel dealer, and had worked for Harold's Club. According to Dave, when Harold first opened, he was dealing he wheel, somewhere near the front door. He spun the ball, it jumped the track, outside the door, into the gutter, and down a drain. They were new and small, had a heck of a time finding another one ..............
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