![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() By 1944, Liberace was making his debut in Las Vegas.” -excerpt, The Real Deal About Vegas Solitaire. The town quickly expanded by five casinos, including McAfee’s Golden Nugget. “Thugs from everywhere filtered into Las Vegas. McAfee’s influence is seen today, with “the Strip” in Las Vegas being McAfee’s reference to “Sunset Strip” in Los Angeles. The name allegedly comes courtesy of club owner and dirty L.A. This dusty highway would later be known as the famous Las Vegas Strip. “…with 1906 gambling bans repealed, the “Pair-O-Dice Club” opened on Highway 91. A mecca for all sorts of hustlers, Las Vegas became a magnet, drawing to itself every size, shape, and form of con artist, gambler, and ‘wise guy.’ The gold rushes were over, but the thrill of big money, of hitting paydirt on a felt table instead of a mud bank, had mass appeal. Soon thereafter, smart gamblers, prospectors, and casino bosses settled into Vegas. Distant, dry, and unlikely to bloom, Las Vegas went boom! But the cat-and-mouse game of facades and fake businesses finally ended in 1931 when Nevada became the first state to legalize gambling. Throughout the nation, “gentlemen’s clubs,” restaurants with secret back rooms, laundromats, and flower shops have all been gambling house fronts. With a mere 157 miles separating Goldfield from the newly-incorporated town of Las Vegas, it would be no surprise if Solitaire found its way into the cowboy town’s “sawdust clubs.” Las Vegas Opens its Doors Source: University of Nevada – Inside a Gambling House, “The Northern Saloon” in Goldfield Nevada ![]()
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