We spent a fascinating afternoon with our friends, Steve and Laura, at the Minden Mill for another one of David and Gayle Woodruff's spellbinding presentations.

The 1920s brought Prohibition to America, but Reno never liked being told what to do. Like other in other areas of the nation, speakeasies bloomed along the Truckee River. Hidden doors and password-protected parlors became gathering places. And inside, beneath the jazz and cigarette smoke, the real action wasn’t just the booze, it was the cards. Gambling during this time was technically illegal, but enforcement was inconsistent. Reno’s frontier character meant rules were treated more like suggestions. It was about preserving freedom and had little to do with feelings of rebellion or breaking the law. For many in Reno, that meant keeping the dice rolling."

"After the Great Depression gripped America, Nevada lawmakers rolled the dice in a different way to get ahead. They legalized gambling in 1931; the first state to do so. Suddenly, what had once been hidden in smoky backrooms became main street businesses. Poker halls, blackjack tables, and roulette wheels lit up Reno’s nightlife. Legalization gave Reno a rebirth. It was already known as The Biggest Little City in the World, and now it had the heart of a hustler."

"The 1930s and ’40s were Reno’s golden years, not just for gambling, but for culture. Nevada’s six-week residency divorce law brought thousands of wealthy East Coast and Hollywood elites to Reno. They came to get shed of marriages discretely and quietly. And while they waited out their six weeks… they played."

"Divorce ranches catered to women seeking freedom by day, and by night, Reno’s casinos and cabarets buzzed with excitement. It wasn’t glitzy like Vegas. It was grittier. It had character. It was real." Check out the images displayed on a postcard of the era. Note the cut wedding rings in the upper left corner. Wild stuff!

"As the decades rolled by, Reno’s casinos adapted and changed. The 1950s and ’60s saw slots become king. They were easy to play, transactions were fast, and they didn’t require a poker face. Reno began to serve not just out-of-towners, but locals too. Neighborhood joints popped up with nickel slots and generous liquor pours. Gambling wasn’t just for vacationers anymore; it was part of daily Reno life."

David introduced us to the Smith family—Raymond I. “Pappy,” Harold Sr., Raymond A., and Harold Jr.—whose Harolds Club was a prime downtown attraction for over fifty years. It would be difficult to overstate the impact of Harolds Club on the city of Reno, the trajectory of Nevada gaming, and the entire U.S. casino industry. Founded in 1935 by Harold Smith, Sr. with the help of $500 borrowed from his father, Raymond I. "Pappy" Smith, Harolds Club (apostrophe intentionally omitted after the first few years) was largely responsible for changing the perception of gambling in the United States from a vice to a respectable form of recreation.

Their family's modest casino began in a single storefront with only an eight-foot-high penny roulette wheel and two slot machines. Within months they were joined by their father, "Pappy" Smith, and expanded their offerings to include fan-tan and craps. They were perhaps most infamous for an early, albeit short-lived, game of mouse roulette. The club did well, and expanded into a neighboring storefront in 1941, which allowed them to add a greater variety of games, including poker, craps, and 21.

Harolds Club was also known worldwide for its groundbreaking marketing slogan, "Harolds Club or Bust," which at its height blazed across more than 2,300 billboards across the United States and selected locations worldwide. Its success brought numerous expansions with the biggest in 1950s- a seven-floor addition topped by a showroom called the Fun Room. The Smiths sold the property and buildings to a New York investment firm in 1962 but leased back the casino. In 1970, the entire venture was purchased by Howard Hughes. Harolds Club closed in 1995 and never reopened. The property was purchased by Harrah's Reno, which demolished Harolds Club in 1999.

The members of the Smith family were renowned not just for their showmanship and marketing savvy, but for their immense dedication to promoting the entire city of Reno, providing scholarships for local students, and treating their employees like family. Oh to have seen it in its heyday!

The next gaming establishment was one we had been to many times. The Nugget in downtown Reno. The Nugget thrived in downtown Reno for nearly 70 years until the pandemic closed its doors for good. By that time it had had several owners. Before the final years, it was called Jim Kelley’s Nugget. Kelley purchased it from Dick Graves. Originally, it was called the Reno Nugget, to match the Sparks and Carson Nuggets, also built by Graves. Graves came to Nevada in 1952 after Idaho outlawed his slot machine business. It’s likely he wanted to build a Nugget in every community in Nevada, but he ran out of steam before achieving his goal. That notwithstanding, Graves left two enduring marks on northern Nevada: the Nugget name, and the Awful Awful (a hamburger which was the catalyst for our treks to this particular casino). 

Our final stop on Reno's casino history tour actually took us a few miles to Sparks, NV to John Ascuaga's Nugget.  Begun by Dick Graves in 1954 with "little Johnny" Ascuaga as his general manager, the casino, the physical buildings as well as the Nugget's reputation grew under Ascuaga's ownership after Graves retired in 1961.  Always family owned, the entertainment at John Ascuaga's Nugget rivaled offerings in Las Vegas.

We learned so much about the Man himself. A constant presence at the Nugget, Ascuaga was the affable and accessible face of his business. He walked the casino and restaurants in his signature cowboy boots multiple times a day, greeting guests with a smile and a handshake. He had the gift of making everyone he met feel special. When he met a guest a second time, he would likely know and use their name. One of his most endearing qualities was his ability to not take himself too seriously and to have fun. This was demonstrated in one memorable television ad campaign, where he sat in the hotel’s hot tub in his full business suit declaring it “perfect”.

Mr. Ascuaga was known for his showmanship and gimmickry. His Nugget featured live elephants, with the most famous being Bertha, who was acquired in 1962 and became the casino's mascot. Bertha and other elephants, including Tina and Angel, performed nightly shows and would often walk through the casino and across the street to the west side. The unique elephant act was a hallmark of the casino until Bertha's death in 1999. Interestingly, Bertha gets the distinction of being the longest-running casino act in Nevada history. Wow.

Bertha in the casino at the slot machine, with Lorne Green and Dan Blocker, both from the TV program “Bonanza,” with John Ascuaga at left.

John Ascuaga’s Nugget made a name for itself with top-notch restaurants and a showroom headlined by an elephant named Bertha. A 35-foot-high statue of Nugget mascot Last Chance Joe stood sentry outside. Hotel towers later secured the resort a permanent place on the skyline, and by the time the Ascuagas sold the Nugget in 2013, they had firmly secured the role of their family, Dick Graves, the city of Sparks, and the state of Idaho, in the history of Nevada gaming.