Harold's Club

There is a documentary being prepared on Harolds Club in Reno. I have spent many hours there, and some of these faces are quite familiar. Nevada and the entire casino industry can thank the Smith family for pioneering state and the entire industry.

It is difficult to explain a visit to Harolds Club. it was a world unto itself. There were fun collections, silver dollar bars, so many different "themes" in each area on the various floors. The Seventh Floor was unique, very intimate. I have seen Carl Ravazza entertain there often. He was a "matinee" idol  and a singer and a band leader from years past and lived in Reno.  The houselights would dim and he would enter from the back of the room and slowly make his way to the front singing some intimate lilting French song, and then for an hour captivate you with songs, stories and golf jokes. I have seen many well known entertainers while out there, but none as memorable as Carl Ravazza.

Anyway, this clip gives you a taste of Harolds Club. Notice she states that they all were taught to deal the same way. On my Nevada Club blog I have given my explanation and reason for them doing that. Harold was smarter than other owners, and I have never seen it stated before, but, in my opinion, we detected one of the reasons why they were so successful.

Be patient, it may take a while to download.

THE HAROLDS PROMOTIONAL DOCUMENTARY

Harolds success ........... on the 21 table

Well, not sure of the validity of this post, but a few of us were convinced. Some of us always wondered why Harolds club maintained such a good table average, they seemed to win more frequently than other places. They were good about giving away used playing cards, and some of us took it upon ourselves to find out why they were consistently winners.

A few of us, got used cards, over quite a period of time, and scrutinized the used decks. A few of our "group" had turned out there, and knew the training procedure they used.

They did "shuffling" but not too much "whacking" around with the cards, just shuffling, our findings, the kept the "progression" of the cards intact.

A new deck has a large group of "faces" in the middle of the deck, and each deck we checked, after usage, limited usage, still had that grouping in tact. Dealers were given a box of cards at the start of the shift and were encouraged to go to new decks often.

Our conclusion, that the grouping of high cards gave Harolds a bit of an edge. Other clubs wanted a shuffle, and then a slap, slap, slap, or a cutting of the decks, not Harolds.

In afternoon "test deals" at various apartments around town, it was our conclusion that "their" way of dealing gave them a few percentage points edge, as opposed to other methods. It worked for them, made not only Harolds, but the entire state of Nevada, successful.

I am not sure how many were aware of this, and thanks to one of the most brilliant "minds" I have ever known, I am convinced this added to the success of Harolds Club, and it was entirely legal, just cost them more in cards...