Sunday, November 25, 2007

Harolds Club Pioneered Slots, Ads, Working Women and Giving Back

Legendary Harolds Club of Reno has been gone for over 10 years now, but the innovations established by the casino and the family that ran it, have flourished the world over.

A must read for the gambler is "I Want to Quit Winners" by Harold S. Smith. Here is a link to a website that covers the demise of the Nevada Club in Reno, and if you scroll down you will see Harold's book listed as well.

http://www.sonic.net/~tdn/nevada/nevada1.html

My favorite link on the history of Harolds Club is this one from onlinenevada.org

http://www.onlinenevada.org/harolds_club

The Smith family were pioneers in many respects -- from elevating slot machines to their place of status beside table games, to hiring female dealers, to innovative and humorous ad campaigns, to giving back to the community -- their unique character and foresight broke the rules, and changed the complexion of gambling.

If ever I had my own casino, it would be a modernized version of Harolds. I would love to see Binion's in downtown Vegas take a step back in time, add more rustic western themes, and recreate a page out of history.

I pine for the way things were -- the wild west in modern splendor, to borrow the catchphrase of the Last Frontier.

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