The 100 Most Significant Events of the 20th Century in Casino Gambling (11 to 15)

What is the leisure time activity that more adult Americans participate in than any other? Going to movies? No. Playing softball? No. Golf? No. Bowling? Come on! Tennis? Oh, my aching elbow! Stamp collecting? No. Coin collecting? You're getting colder. Quilting? Sure, that's big with the truckers. Reading great literature? Ha! Ha! Ice cold. Freezing.

Think! Over 130 million people participated in this activity last year. Adult people. People with money. Yes, Virginia, I even saw a guy in a Santa Claus suit doing it last Christmas.

It's gambling.

From kitchen poker games to sports and horse betting, to dogs and dominoes, more people gamble than do just about anything else other than eat, sleep, work and make more people.

And the biggest draw in the world of gambling is unquestionably casino gambling. The 20th Century has seen an explosion in legal casino gambling unequaled in the history of man. Las Vegas has gone from a sleepy little desert town to a sprawling metropolis. Atlantic City has been resurrected. Tiny delta counties such as Tunica have become giant pools of money. Riverboats ply the waves up and down the Midwest. And Indian casinos are changing the concept of the word reservation from a holding area for an oppressed people to: "We'll gladly take your reservation. Will that be a suite or a deluxe room, sir?"

No question, casino gambling was all the rage as our 20th Century and the Second Millennium came to a close and it does not show any signs of slowing down as the 21st Century and Third Millennium begin.

As with any activity of mankind, the people, places, and things of 20th Century casino gambling fill many volumes. Picking the top 100 events was not an easy task. I had plenty of help from a diversity of sources, many of which I list at the end of the article. Just about every gaming writer I asked to contribute his or her ideas was more than happy to help me out with this herculean effort. Not everyone wanted to be listed as a source and I have respected their anonymity. I give each and every one who helped me compile this list, whether credited or not, a sincere thank you. I couldn't have done it without them.

I am sure that for just about every event I have included, some reader can make a good argument for why I should not have included it but, instead, have included something else in its place. That's the nature of lists.

In my opinion, every event on this list has had an impact on casino gambling in some way, either directly (the creation of Megabucks), or indirectly (Howard Hughes moves to Las Vegas and buys seven casinos), or tangentially (Hoover Dam is completed). Some of the events have helped to create and promulgate casino lore, some simply made splashy headlines. But all were big in the casino scheme of things in my estimation as they have added to the mystique of casinos or casino towns.

Here goes:

[ 11.] 1937: Hoover Dam is completed. Plenty of electricity and water for the growth and nourishment of the soon-to-be gambling boom in Nevada. This dam is still one of the wonders of the world and one of the most heavily-trafficked tourist sites in America.

[12.] 1938: The Meadows Hotel Casino opens in Las Vegas. This is the first casino with a nightclub in it. It anticipates the great entertainment town Las Vegas would become. It folds in short order.

[ 13.] 1940: Tom Hull builds the first successful Las Vegas "strip" casino - El Rancho Vegas.

[ 14.] 1941 (approx.): Charles K. McNeil develops the first "point spread" and modern bookmaking is created. It replaces the system of odds which has been used up until this time. McNeil is a Connecticut math teacher who decides that the pluses of bookmaking add up to much greater personal profits than the minuses of teaching.

[ 15.] 1943: The second "strip" casino - the Last Frontier - opens. It is a full-fledged resort with 63 rooms on 35 acres of land. Even with two casinos now operating on the "Strip," downtown dominates the market.