Gambling in American History

See The Kefauver Committee.

Grant Sawyer came to the governorship of the state of Nevada somewhat accidentally, but once in office he set about his job with defined purpose. During his eight years in office, Sawyer directed the restructuring of gambling regulation in the state, defended the sovereignty of the state against an abusive federal Justice Department, championed integration of gambling casinos, and championed civil liberties for Nevada citizens.
On 14 December 1918, Grant Sawyer was born in Twin Falls, Idaho. His parents were doctors, but they were divorced when he was very young. He remained with his mother and a stepfather in Idaho. The home was staunchly Baptist, and young Grant was encouraged to go to Linfield College in Oregon. At the Baptist college he gained a love for history and political science. He felt that the social rules imposed by the school were too much for his tastes, however, so he moved to Nevada where he could be near his father (who had moved to Fallon) and attend the University of Nevada campus at Reno. In Reno he became plugged into Nevada politics. After graduation he won the sponsorship of U.S. senator Pat McCarran and went to Washington, D.C., with a job in the U.S. Capitol. He also attained a spot in the student body at the George Washington University Law School. His stint in law school was interrupted by World War II service in the Pacific. He finished legal studies at Georgetown Law School and then returned to Nevada and politics.
Although he was certainly expected to be a McCarran loyalist, McCarran’s very conservative politics did not suit Sawyer – just as a Baptist college that banned dancing had not suited him. McCarran was allied with Senator Joseph McCarthy in his Communist witch hunts, and Sawyer simply disagreed with those politics. But national policy was not that important to his first political jobs. He moved to Elko, Nevada, where political opportunities were open. He became active in the Democratic party and was elected to the post of district attorney. In 1956 he sought a post on the University of Nevada Board of Regents. Although he was not successful in the election, he received an appointment when the size of the board was increased. In 1958 he decided to seek statewide office. His father urged him to seek the attorney general post, as the position was being vacated by the incumbent so that he could run for governor. That man was the very conservative Harvey Dickerson, a protégé of the late senator McCarran. On an impulse, however, Sawyer filed to be a candidate for governor. His political sense was right. The Democratic party in the state had turned away from McCarran conservatism, and Sawyer was a much more dynamic candidate than Dickerson could hope to be. Sawyer won the primary and then faced the very popular Republican governor Charles Russell. Russell was finishing his second term in office, however, and Nevada had never elected a governor to serve three terms. Besides, 1958 was a good year for Democrats everywhere. Sawyer was elected governor by a small margin.
Sawyer immediately put together a legislative package for reforms in gambling. His bill called for the creation of a Nevada Gaming Commission to replace the state taxation commission as the “supreme” gaming regulatory agency. The Gaming Control Board would then report to the commission. Members of both the commission and the board had to be nonpartisan and not involved in any politics. The legislation passed. At Sawyer’s direction the commission created a black book, officially called the Book of Excluded Persons. Sawyer was very aware of the work of the McClellan Senate Committee and its attacks on racketeering in gambling. He knew that federal officials were looking at Nevada, and he wanted to make sure that the federal government knew that state officials did not want organized crime interests to play an active role in casino gambling. The black book included a list of notorious persons who would not be allowed to set foot in any casino property in the state.
Sawyer was a strong supporter of Sen. Jack Kennedy in the nomination campaign and in the presidential election of 1960. He was excited to see Kennedy inaugurated and was happy to see Robert (Bobby) Kennedy selected as attorney general.  Sawyer had reason to believe that they understood Nevada and that they would support his efforts to keep the state’s gambling industry clean. It was not very long, however, before Robert Kennedy put Nevada in his sights and aimed to destroy gambling. Robert Kennedy revealed to the state attorney general a plan to deputize all fifty-six assistant attorneys general in Nevada as federal assistant attorneys general. Then Kennedy was going to conduct a simultaneous raid on the cages of all the casinos in the state. Sawyer’s civil liberties inclinations enraged him, and he was on the next plane to Washington, D.C., as soon as the Nevada attorney general reported the plan to him. There Sawyer confronted a Bobby Kennedy at his office in socks and a tennis sweater. He found Bobby to be condescending and extremely arrogant. There was no resolution of anything, and Grant Sawyer simply went to the White House and demanded an audience with the president. The president listened seriously, promised nothing, but Sawyer felt he had made his point. In a symbolic gesture one Nevada assistant attorney general was deputized by Bobby Kennedy, and there was no raid.
Sawyer did not contend that all was well with Nevada gambling. He knew that the commission and the board would have to be tough. He backed them to the hilt when they disciplined casinos for improper activities. He supported them when they revoked Frank Sinatra’s casino license because he had hosted a member of the black book at his casino and then refused to cooperate with the board when he was called to appear to be disciplined.
Nevada was selectively segregated all through its early casino era. Sawyer recognized that this was wrong, bad for business, and certainly adverse to the interests of the gambling industry in Washington, D.C. In 1963 he supported civil rights leaders in their effort to integrate the casinos. He brokered the deal that precluded a march on the casinos by African American activists, in return for the immediate opening of all casino resort facilities to persons of all races without discrimination. When it appeared that there might be race riots in Las Vegas two years later, Sawyer personally drove into the west-side neighborhoods of Las Vegas and met the residents one on one. The residents knew where he stood on civil rights matters, and they supported him in keeping the community peaceful during a troubled time.
Sawyer was also instrumental in beginning the interstate cooperation with California that led to growth limits and environmental protection policies for the Lake Tahoe Basin.
During Sawyer’s second four-year term in office, the state had a popular new lieutenant governor named Paul Laxalt. When Sawyer sought a third term in 1966, he had several disadvantages: He was running against Laxalt, and he had made important enemies due to tough policies on civil rights, gambling, and other issues. Ironically, his opposition to Bobby Kennedy spilled over into opposition to J. Edgar Hoover and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s attempt to tap telephone lines in the casinos searching for evidence of organized crime involvement. After Sawyer condemned the actions, Hoover let key people in the state know that Sawyer was being soft on criminals. Laxalt won a close victory.
Sawyer retired from public office. He founded the world’s largest law firm specializing in gambling law = Lionel, Sawyer, and Collins – in Las Vegas. He also became the chair of the Nevada chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Sawyer died in Las Vegas on 24 February 1996.

The Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation (SGC) was established under the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation Act of 1994. The corporation consists of seven persons appointed by the lieutenant governor of the province. Three of the persons are nominated by the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. The SGC operates four casinos.
On 26 January 1996, Saskatchewan opened its first permanent casino – Casino Regina. The casino facility is located within the historic Union Station railroad building in downtown Regina. The casino provides 25,000 square feet of gaming space and entertainment space, with 500 slot machines and forty-one table games, a poker room, restaurant, lounge area, and bar.
The province added three additional casinos on lands of First Nations peoples later in 1996. The Gold Eagle Casino opened on 1 March in North Battleford. It has 8,800 square feet for gaming with 159 machines and 14 tables. The Northern Lights Casino opened on 6 March in Prince Albert. It is an 8,000 square-foot-facility with 229 machines and 15 tables. The Painted Hand Casino is in Yorktown. Its 1,500-square-foot facility with 108 slots and 16 tables opened on 14 December. The three First Nations casinos employ 414 persons. They are operated by the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority under an agreement with the provincial government.
Casino Regina has generated many positive economic benefits for the province. A report prepared by the Saskatchewan Tourism Authority and released in January 1997 (the most recent statistics available) found that on an annualized basis, the casino generated C$54.3 million in gross output, with 1,112 full-time and part-time positions and $21.5 million in wages. The impact of the casino has been equivalent to the hosting of two Grey Cup Canadian professional football championship games. The report suggested that the casino attracted 101,000 nonlocal visitors who came to Regina specifically to gamble at the casino. While visiting the casino, each one spent an average of $167. Also non-Saskatchewan visitors spent an average of three nights in Regina and spent $41 each night for lodging (Saskatchewan Tourism Authority 1996).
In all there were 1,426,000 casino visits, with only 37% of these coming from Regina residents and another 17 percent from other residents of Saskatchewan. Neighboring provinces of Manitoba and Alberta produced 42% of the visitors. Fewer than 2% of the visits were by persons from the United States or overseas (Saskatchewan Tourism Authority 1996).
When the casino was planned an agreement was negotiated with the province’s charity casinos to allow them to have slot machines. The Regina charity casino had been operating at the Exposition Park. It was first known as Buffalo Buck’s and later as the Silver Sage. It agreed to have machines and give 37 percent of the revenue from the machines to Casino Regina and the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation. In 1997 the Regina charity casino agreed to close its doors in exchange for a share of the profits of Casino Regina. Also, when Casino Regina opened its doors, the SGC made an agreement with Holland Casinos, a Netherlands government corporation, for that entity to train the staff and oversee the opening of operations. Holland Casinos received part of the casino revenues as well as a fixed fee for its services.

The independent nation of St. Vincent is in the Windward Islands of the West Indies. It has 120,000 residents on an island of 120 square miles. It offers casino gaming at the Emerald Isle Casino, about 30 miles outside of the capital city of Kingstown.

St. Martin is an island in the North Leeward Islands of the West Indies. The area is a shared dependency of France and the Netherlands, with the Dutch referring to their holding as Sint Maarten. Along with other tropical amenities the island offers casinos on both national sides. Most of the casino gaming, however, occurs on the Dutch side. Casinos are found in the town of Philipsburg at the Cupecoy Beach Resort, the Holland House Bay Beach Hotel, and the Maho Beach Hotel. The largest casino is at the Mullet Bay Beach Hotel. Renovated in 1984, it offers 9,000 square feet of gaming space. The other casinos each have approximately 5,000 square feet per casino.
During the season the Mullet Bay facility is extremely crowded. Players often have to wait in line in order to get a seat at one of the 26 tables (19 blackjack, 3 craps, 3 roulette, and 1 big six wheel). Additionally, there are 265 slots in the facility, which is patterned after a Las Vegas-style casino. Junket activity to St. Martin’s is restricted, as operators seem not to have the capital necessary to accommodate big high rollers. Limits are too low. Attempts to entice the high rollers with appeals suggesting that they could avoid tax-reporting requirements on the island were not too successful. The majority of gamers remain hotel guests on both sides of the island. Local residents are allowed to gamble but not on a regular basis. The gaming tax is a fixed sum paid to the government annually.

St. Kitts and Nevis are two islands in the North Leeward Islands of the West Indies. Together they constitute one of the smallest countries in the world. Its population of 48,000 occupies 100 square miles of land. The Jack Tar Village Resort in the capital city of Basseterre has its only casino. Other casino licenses may be granted by the Minister of Finance to any bona fide person owning a tourist hotel of over 100 rooms.

Boule

Boule is quite similar to roulette. A stationary rounded table has eighteen pockets, two for each number from one to nine. A ball is rolled into the table, which is essentially a cone in shape. The ball bounces around and falls into one of the numbers – the winning number. Players betting on the number are paid off at 7 to 1, although true chances are 8 to 1, for a house advantage of 11.11%. Players can also bet on red and black, odds or evens, high or low, for an even payoff. They lose on even bets when a five appears, making the true chances of winning only 4 of 9, for the same house advantage of 11.11%. The game was very popular in France prior to the introduction of slot machines in the late 1980s. Slot rooms and boule rooms in France do not have admission charges. The game was also played at the Crystal Casino in Winnipeg, Manitoba, through the 1990s. Until recently, it was the only game allowed in Switzerland, where the payout was only 6 to 1 for a single-number play, for a house edge of 22.22%.

Big Wheel (Wheel of Fortune or Big Six)

A big vertical wheel of fortune is a common sight at carnivals and charity casino events. The wheel of fortune is also popular in U.S.  casinos but less prevalent in casinos of other jurisdictions. The mechanical wheel is spun by a dealer who also supervises betting activity on a table in front of the wheel. The wheel’s simplicity and exposure to a gambling crowd makes it susceptible to cheating, so it would be advisable not to play the game except in a regulated atmosphere. Casinos must be vigilant to ensure that the wheel is not compromised by players.
The wheel is about five feet across from top to bottom. It has fifty-four equally spaced sections that are separated by nails that are near the rim of the wheel. A strap of leather is mounted above the wheel, and it hits the nails as the wheel spins around. The friction of contact slows the wheel, and it stops with the leather strap settling on one of the fifty-four spaces – the winning space.
The spaces are designated by denominations of dollar bills. Twenty-three sections are marked with a $1 bill, 15 with $2 bills, 8 with $5 bills, 4 with $10 bills, and two with $20 bills. Two others are marked with a joker and a flag marking. The player bets on the category of bill he or she expects the wheel to hit. He or she receives an even money payout for a successful bet on the $1 bill, although the chances of success are only 23 of 54. This gives the house a 14.8 percent edge. A bet on $5 pays 2 to 1 for a casino advantage of 16.6%; other bets give the house an edge of from 14.8 percent to 22.2%. A bet on the joker or the flag is paid at 45 to 1. These odds advantages for the house make the big wheel a bad bet for the player. The simple nature of the activity and the symbolism of the wheel of fortune have sustained a modicum of popularity of the wheel among amateur players.

Espherodromo

Legal restrictions on gambling are not often followed to the letter. In addition to those who would confront the law with blatant illegality, there are those who seek to find nonconfrontational ways around the law. The roulette form of gambling is quite popular, so where roulette is in itself illegal, there are those who will seek to find other games like roulette that might survive legal challenges. Two of those games are espherodromo and golden ten. Espherodromo appeared in the city of Bogota, Colombia, where casinos were always on the edge of the law. Therefore entrepreneurs came up with a game that certainly did not look like roulette, but in format was a roulette-style game. (See description of the game in entry for Colombia).

Golden Ten

The golden ten game was offered to players in nonauthorized settings; however, its operators were quite successful in avoiding prosecution on the basis that their game was not a gambling game. The golden ten wheel game was instead advanced as a skill game. The game gained an especially viable hold in the Netherlands in the 1980s after the government tried a crackdown on patently illegal casino gaming. Operators came up with this new game, although some suggest it was invented by Germans. The game is called golden ten because it uses a wheel with numbers in the center around a circle; one of the numbers is marked zero, and the other is marked with a big golden X. There are twenty-four numbers on the wheel, so if it were a random-ordered game, the house would have an advantage of about 8 percent, as payoffs on single numbers are 23 to 1, whereas the expectation should require a payoff of 25 to 1. But those running the wheel claimed that the numbers, although falling randomly, could be predicted by the players. Indeed, the game was also called observation roulette.
The circular bowl for the game is stationary. A ball rolled into the smooth metal bowl makes slow, descending spirals downward until it hits the center area, where it bounces into one of the numbered areas or the area marked zero or X. The metal bowl contains two concentric circles on its sides, about one-third and two-thirds of the way down the sides. The circles are simply markings on the bowl that do not affect the roll of the ball. The player makes his or her bet after the ball has passed the first circle but before it crosses the lower circle. The player can watch the ball come out of the dealer’s hand and watch it cross the first circle line. By observing the rolls over and over, the player is supposed to be in a good position to “predict” where the ball will likely land. With successful predictions, the player becomes a skillful winner, not a gambler at all. Gambling demands that chance be a material part of the play on at least a meaningful part of the play.  The casinos with golden tens provided lists of rules requiring players to make many observations before they tried playing. They wanted the players to be skillful. When legal authorities claimed it was a gambling game, the defenders of the game asked the government to prove that players were not using skill. One judge suggested that prosecuting officials would have to show that the players did not do better, or could not do better, than achieving the 92 percent expected payout. As the golden ten games closed down whenever police or government officials came into the premises, it was difficult to achieve such proofs. For over a dozen years the court officials allowed the game to be played and not harassed by the law. In the mid-1990s, judicial policies allowed a more effective enforcement of the law, and most of the games closed down permanently.
Was golden ten a skill game? When I interviewed one operator in Rotterdam on 20 July 1986, I asked whether indeed a skillful player could “beat the casino”. I was assured that one could. Truly, one could use skill and predict where the ball would fall. So I asked what would happen if a player came in and did predict over and over where the ball would fall. The operator paused a bit before replying slowly, “Well, we would have to throw him out.” (An option always open to illegal casinos). In truth they never had to do so, because no player could pick a winner by any other force than the force of luck.

The notion that fortune is tied to cycles and turning of wheels is buried in deep antiquity. The wheel itself was developed about 5,000 years ago. During the time of Christ, the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus had a rotating horizontal chariot wheel fixed with numbers around its circumference and used it in games of chance. The Zodiac wheel was also conceived of more than 2,000 years ago and forms the basis for horoscopes that predict a person’s fortune based upon cycles of movements of the stars and planets. Wheels or other objects were spun in various ways for games in primitive societies. Despite this long history, the origins of the wheels used in casinos today came much later in European history.

Hoca and E-O

Carl Sifakis suggests that today’s roulette wheel may have had its origins in wheels called E-O and hoca that appeared in the early 1600s in central Europe. E-O stands for even-odd. A circular table had 40 gouges or pockets carved into it around the edge. Twenty pockets were marked as even and 20 as odd. Two (1 odd and 1 even) had X’s marked on them as well.  The game paid even money to a winner. If a player bet on even, and an even number received the ball that was rolled around the table, the player won. If the ball fell into an even pocket marked with an X, it was a tie. If the ball fell in any of the 20 odd pockets, the player lost. This gave the house a 2.5% advantage. The game of hoca also had the table with 40 pockets, but 3 were marked with zeros, and the even money payouts gave the house an advantage of 7.5 percent. These games ceased operation with the appearance of the French roulette wheel.
The French wheel was purportedly developed by French mathematician Blaise Pascal, who lived from 1623 to 1662. In his mathematics work he expounded at length on probability theory. His wheel was useful for explaining his theories. Legend has it that Pascal conceived of the wheel during a retreat at a religious monastery. Others perfected the wheel that is used in French roulette (also called European roulette) today. Given the early origins of the game, it can be suggested that roulette is the oldest casino game still in active play.

French (European) and American Roulette

There are two basic styles of roulette games – French (European) roulette and American roulette. There are other variations of games with different sets of numbers, including the big wheel, boule, golden ten, and espherodromo. which are discussed later in this entry.
Both the French and American wheels have numbers from one to thirty-six on parts of the inner circle, each separated by frets. The French wheel also includes a zero, and the American wheel has a zero and a double zero. The croupiers rotate the wheel, and as it spins in one direction, he or she rolls the ball (plastic or ivory) in the opposite direction in a circular groove at the top of the wheel. Soon the ball slows down and falls toward the numbers in the inner circle. As it does, it hits small metal bumps on the surface of the wheel that cause the ball to bounce in ways making its path random as it finds its number or the zero or double zero. This number is the winner.
The player makes bets on a layout showing the thirty-six numbers in three columns and twelve rows. At the top of the columns the zero (and double zero) are placed. On the sides of the columns are places for bets on odd or even numbers, red or black, and low or high numbers.
The French wheel has a different distribution of numbers around the wheel than does the American wheel. On both, red and black numbers alternate, but not even-odd or high and low numbers. The logic of the number arrangement seeks to enhance making the number selection random.
The French game is worked by several dealers who are called croupiers. The main croupier controls the wheel. Others help by making bets for players by placing their chips on the layout. The players all use casino value chips, so it is important that the croupiers keep a close track on just who is making each bet, as all the chips are the same. Another croupier places a marker on the winning number and separates the winning bet chips from other chips that he rakes in. All bets are paid out with wins that allow the casino to have a 2.70% edge. The bets on the individual numbers are paid at 35 to 1 even though the true odds are 36 to 1. Even payouts are given for odd-even, red-black, and high-low, and the chance of each bet winning is 18 in 37. Bets may also be made on columns, rows, adjacent numbers on the layout, four numbers on the layout, and special combinations of numbers that appear near other numbers. A voisins bet (meaning “neighbors”) is placed on the four numbers that surround the last winning number. A les voisins du zero bet covers the numbers surrounding the zero. A finals bet can be placed on all numbers ending in the same digit (for example, 6, 16, 26, and 36), and les tiers is a bet covering one third of the wheel. Les orphelins is a bet covering numbers not in les tiers or les voisins du zero.
As the croupiers place bets for the players and deliver payouts for players, and all the chips look the same, the playing process is slow. Each game involving the spinning of the wheel takes two minutes or more if there are several players. This contrasts with the American wheel game where a play usually occurs more than once a minute, and even as many as 100 times an hour.
The American game offers worse odds for the player, as the wheel has two zeros along with the thirty-six numbers. The odds against the player hitting a single number are therefore 37 to 1, but the payoff is the same as with the French game, 35 to 1. This gives the house an edge of 5.26%. Red-black, even-odd, high-low bets are paid even money, but the player’s chances of success are 18 in 38 for the same 5.26% house advantage. The player could do worse yet. He or she could bet on a series of five numbers at the end of the table – the 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3, with a payoff possibility of 6 to 1, whereas the true chances are 33 to 1, for a house advantage of 7.89%. In some casinos with American roulette (e.g., Atlantic City casinos), a bettor on even payout bets (odd-even, red-black, high-low) loses only half of his or her bet if the zero or double zero comes up. This rule, called en prison (because half of the bet remains on the table unless it is withdrawn), reduces the house edge to 2.70% on this bet.
In American roulette, only one dealer is needed to spin the wheel and to handle all wagers. The players purchase (with cash or casino value chips) individual colored chips that are distinguished from those of all the other players. The players place their own chips. All the dealer must do is make sure there are no bets placed after the ball descends into the winning number’s space.
The English variation of roulette offers the player the best odds. A French wheel is used with its single zero, but players have their individualized American chips. The house edge of 2.7% is in contrast to French roulette because of another difference. In French roulette the player is obligated to tip the dealer with each win. If the player wins thirty-five chips, he or she “must” pay one to the croupiers as a tip. Must is a strong word, but if the tip is not paid, the croupier just might lose track of that player’s future bets if they are winners (after all, the chips are all the same for all the players). In England this is not a major problem – first, because the players have individualized chips, and second, because tipping of dealers is prohibited in the casinos. Hence in effect, the true edge in England is 2.7%, whereas, in reality, in France it is closer to the American edge of 5.26%.
Because of the odds disadvantage, the game of American roulette is not popular. Indeed, roulette action in Las Vegas casinos is close to zero, certainly less than 1 percent of the action. Yet the game of roulette has qualities that should be attractive worldwide. Actually, roulette is the premier table game of most European casinos. Roulette is a simple game that is easily understood even by the most novice gambler.  Also with but a few exceptions (the en prison rule and the five-series bet in American roulette), all bets on the roulette table have the same expected payout – 94.74% for American roulette and 97.3 percent for French roulette – whether the player bets on one number, two, a column, or odds or even, red or black, or high or low numbers. It is a democratic game; all the players, amateur and professional, get the same chances. Unlike blackjack or craps, there is no “stupid” bet – that is, once one decides to start playing.
Roulette is also a game that permits players to try a wide variety of systems. Many casinos encourage systems by keeping boards that display the last twenty numbers that have come up on the wheel. Also some casinos publish books showing the actual numbers that came up on individual wheels over weeks, months, and even years. Whatever system a player may conjure up, the player can pretest it by applying it to real numbers and sequences of numbers that have come up on actual wheels.

Arnold Rothstein (1882–1928) represents a great transitional mark in gambling life in the United States. He took gambling enterprise from being an entrepreneurial activity of individuals operating at the edge of the law toward becoming a major industry centrally controlled by criminal elements. In the process he established a reputation for being a man of his word and a dominant high-stakes player. He defeated Nick the Greek Dandolos in a dice game with stakes of $600,000. Rothstein owned several casinos, and he was the financial linchpin who held together the ring that fixed the 1919 World Series. He also developed the layoff system for bookies across the country. His transitional role coincided with the coming of national Prohibition, which, of course, provided great incentives for centralized Mob activities.
Arnold Rothstein was born in 1882, the son of Arthur Rothstein. His father was a successful merchant. Although he wanted Arnold to follow in his footsteps, it was not to be. Arnold loved games, and he also loved to play. In 1909, Arnold was married at Saratoga during the racing season. He actually used his ring and his wife’s jewelry as collateral for his bets on his wedding night. Compulsive gamblers say that gambling is the most powerful of life’s urges, and whatever is in second place cannot even compete. Rothstein coveted the lifestyle he found at Saratoga, and he vowed (some vows are taken seriously) that he would come back in a role other than a tourist player.
Rothstein started playing harder and harder in New York City and also on ocean liners. Then he ran the games. Before he was thirty he had gambling halls in the city, and soon he was planning his return to Saratoga.
In Saratoga he created and opened the Brook, a nightclub with gambling. He began to restore an aura that Richard Canfield had established in the first decade of the century. Rothstein later acquired the Spa casino, and he invited Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano to be operators of his games. Other figures who emerged as leading mobsters and propelled the Mob’s gambling activity toward the Las Vegas Strip were his friends – Frank Costello, Dutch Schultz, Waxey Gordon, and Jack “Legs” Diamond.
Rothstein had a stable of horses, and he became very active in bookmaking – for races and sports events. At a casual meeting of other bookies, one remarked that he had passed up a lot of action recently because too many bets were on one side of the proposition, and he had to control his risks. Rothstein told him if that happened again to call him, and he would cover the action and thereby help the bookie balance his books – for a small percentage. Rothstein’s headquarters suddenly became the center of sports and race betting for the United States. Layoffs came from Rothstein. (Layoffs occur when the clients of minor bookies bet too heavily in favor of one team. The minor bookies seek out major players, such as the Rothsteins, in order to spread out their risk – that is, lay off some of their bets with a bigger bookie). The central headquarters also became the source of odds for sports gambling.
From such a position of power and influence in sports betting, Rothstein became involved in the most notorious sports scandal of the twentieth century. A Boston bookie called him because some players on the Chicago White Sox had requested $80,000 to throw the World Series in which they were playing the underdog Cincinnati Reds. Definitive facts do not exist to say for sure if Rothstein provided all or part of the $80,000. Many writers think he did. For sure he gambled heavily that the Cincinnati team would win. He took hundreds of thousands of dollars in gambling wins on the series. The fix held. Revelations of the fix were not made public for a year. The subsequent response was for major leagues (especially the baseball leagues) to establish strict rules governing betting by players. Owners were treated differently. Neither players nor owners, however, were ever to bet on games involving their own teams. Rape, drug sales, and even murder were lesser crimes compared to this serious matter. Players involved in the 1919 scandal were banned forever from baseball, just as Pete Rose has been for his alleged bets that his team would win games in the 1980s. The name of the greatest hitter in the history of the sport is not found in the Hall of Fame because of transgressions that violate the rules that arose from the 1919 scandal.
Rothstein’s days as a leading hitter came early in his life. Actually, there were not many days later in his life. Although he had been considered a man of integrity, he welshed on gambling debts stemming from a game in 1928 in which he lost $340,000. He indicated a refusal to pay because he thought the game was rigged. A few weeks after refusing to pay, he was found with a bullet in his side. He knew enough of the code of honor not to squeal on his assailant in the day or so he lingered before he died. He was only forty-six.

Rhode Island from its inception has been a community marching to its own drummer. In its first era of European settlements it was a place for persons who rejected the rules of other colonies and migrated. In the modern era immigrants have also left their mark on the character of Rhode Island life. These populations have very willingly become patrons of gambling activity, whether the activities were conducted by illegal mobsters or by legitimate authority. The state has been only one of four states to permit betting on jai alai games. Pari-mutuel betting is also authorized for dog and horse tracks. A lottery started in 1974 offers instant games, keno, daily numbers, lotto tickets, and tickets for the Powerball games.
There was an effort to introduce casino gambling into the resort city of Newport in 1980.  An advisory vote showed that 81% of the residents did not want casinos. State officials took heed and the effort died. In the late 1990s the Narragansett Native American tribe won a compact to offer casino-type games; however, no casino was opened by the end of the century.
In 1992, Rhode Island became the second state to have machine gaming at racetracks. The machines were authorized for Lincoln Greyhound Park and a jai alai fronton. The greyhound facility soon dropped “greyhound” from its name and directed most of its advertising toward machine-playing customers. By mid-1994 there were 1,281 machines at the track. At first, 33% of the machine revenue went to the track and 10% went to purses for the dog races. Later the state took 33%, the track took 60%, and 7% went to purses.
In late 1993, traditional “reel” slot machines were added to the mix, as it was felt that the players should have the same variety of machines offered by a casino in nearby Connecticut. Machines were positioned so that their players could watch the races and had easy access to betting windows.