Joe Conforte

His book is ready and can be purchased at this site. It is also in some book stores. I have gotten a few inquiries. He lives in Argentina,  he is on my Facebook, and seems to be doing well .................

http://joeconforte.com/

Looking Back

It has been many years since I left Reno, but some of those memories are the fondest that I have. I keep reminders with me all the time. On my memory table, a small table that my Dad made many years ago, and I have next to my chair, there are many memories. A pair of dice from the Nevada Club, along with a $5 chip. I have a $20 from the Chesterfield Club, next to my bed.

We used those $20's when I started out as a dealer. They had been brought out, by Fitz, from the Chesterfield Club in Detroit, and the stories those chips could tell. Every time I hold it, a flood of thoughts go through my mind, people who could have held the chip. Capone, Siegel, Wertheimer, all of the old timers, that were in the Chesterfield and later on, the early days of the Nevada Club in Reno. Fitz and Meta have held it, Danny Fagan, Eddy Beatty, Bettye Johnson, Thelma Ganz, if only that chip could talk.

Other clubs used $25. Of course, we used silver dollars in those days, and when called for, we converted the silver into $5. We got in the habit of pulling 20 silver dollars out of the speed racks, drop five, and then drop three stacks of five, to make $20. When I went to work at the Primm, I had to adjust my thinking to $25, doesn't sound like much, but old habits die hard.

The Nevada Club and Fitz were unique, early pioneers in Nevada history, and unfortunately, mostly forgotten. Fitz trained MANY dealers, it was THE place to learn to be a "clerk." In those days, the IRS did not have a classification for dealers, so we were called clerks, and that term stuck for many years, at least with the old timers. "He's a  good clerk," was a compliment.

In those days we kept our own "tokes" or "tips" ..... as they came in, they immediately went into a drawer on the table and when you left on a break, your tokes went with you. I had a few REALLY good nights. You could almost live on tokes. I had a drawer full of silver dollars. I knew some that had buckets full of silver dollars. Good old days ....

Joe Conforte - His new book

Joe Conforte was a big part of Reno and Nevada history. His Triangle Ranch and his Mustang Ranch were famous world-wide. I dealt craps to him on a number of occasions, and talked with him a few times at tne Nugget in Sparks, when he would be converting small bills to larger ones, generally on a Monday.

I remember him pulling up in his Cordovan Colored Lincoln Continental Convertable, Camel Haired Topcoat, big cigar .... he had a lot of fans. At the Primm, we kept a special bottle for him, and a box of cigars, just for Joe.

I remember when the Washoe County DA, Bill Raggio, burnt him down, literally. I remember picking up a few bucks from cab drivers, if we steered a well heeled customer  to the Triangle, and a cab to take them there. We got a nice "finders" fee.

Check out his new book HERE. I think you can check it out at this site.

Jack Bailey

I don't know what prompted it, but Jack Bailey came to mind this morning. He didn't have anything to do with the Nevada Club, but he was "old Nevada."

Reno, late fifties, the Primmadonna, Jack was a box man and a floor boss. I don't know his background, but I do know it would be of interest. My guess would be that he worked in many of the old "joints" around the country, he was another one of those that did not talk too much about their past, and, you knew enough to not ask.

Jack liked nice, expensive clothes and suits. He would come to work wearing a nice suit and an expensive pair of shoes, generally, alligator or some exotic leather. We had lockers, and Jack would head to his locker, take off those expensive shoes, and put on a pair of old shoes, with worn soles, some even had holes in them. If the occasion arose, and some customer complained about losing money or being broke, he was sometimes given a glimpse of a worn shoe, with a hole in it, just to emphasise just how poor we all were.

I remember on one occasions, someone from the Accounting Department approached Jack at the table, called him aside, and asked if he could PLEASE cash some of his old paychecks. He apparently would go home on payday and throw his paycheck in a drawer at his home, and forget about them.

Just another of my Nevada acquaintances that came in and out of my life, but left a lasting impression. The only guy I ever knew who had to be asked to cash his paychecks.