![]() Fowler concluded that “peace officers,” when they see slot machines, “must recognize the unlawfulness of their existence.” So extensive have the use and operation of these machines and devices become, and so many inquiries have been made as to their legality, that it becomes my duty to render an opinion thereon.”įowler said, “From a legal standpoint it is positive that such a machine is a lottery.” The attorney general pointed out that since Nevada’s Constitution states, “No lottery shall be authorized by this state,” the state Legislature was wrong when it passed an act to legalize slot machines. Directed “to the District Attorneys of the State of Nevada,” Fowler wrote, “for several years there have been in use and operations in public places in this state” devices “commonly called “slot machines,’ so well known as to require no further description. Fowler issued an opinion banning the use of slot machines. In January 1919, Nevada Attorney General L.B. Two of the signature gambling devices in today’s Las Vegas – craps and roulette tables – would not be permitted until 1931. While the 1915 legislation declared that saloon operators who overstepped the line could be guilty of a felony, the law affirmed passages in the 1913 law that allowed “social games” that paid off in free drinks, cigars or prizes worth up to $2. “It shall be unlawful for any person to deal, play or carry on, open or conduct, in any capacity whatever, any game of faro, monte, roulette, lansquenet, rouge et noir, rondo, tan, fan-tan, seven-and-a-half, twenty-one, hokey-pokey, craps, klondyke, or any banking or percentage game played with cards, dice, or any … slot machine played for money.” In 1915, the state Legislature blew the whistle and made gambling laws more specific: The diversity was enticing, so gamblers and communities alike started pushing the edge of the envelope for more games of chance. In time, card tables began to flourish, offering games with fanciful names that competed for attention with the nickel slot machines that were showing up in saloons. “Play-back,” or the reward of tokens that could be exchanged for cash for winning pulls on the one-armed bandits, hadn’t yet been authorized by the state. The loosening of the laws had begun in 1913 when Nevada statutes were amended so that “nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as prohibiting social games played only for drinks and cigars or for prizes of a value not to exceed two dollars.” Nor did the new law prohibit “nickel-in-the-slot-machines for the sale of cigars and drinks and no play-back allowed.” By state law, gamblers couldn’t gamble more than a nickel at a time, frustrating casino operators who wanted gamblers to put quarters and half-dollars into the machines. This measure would put the brakes on illegal gambling throughout the state, while also triggering a counter-campaign to legalize the activity. Nevada state lawmakers voted in 1909 to ban gambling, effective on September 30, 1910. ![]() So it is no surprise that gamblers were the target of the first sting operation ever conducted by law enforcement in Las Vegas. Gambling was always a backdrop in the nascent years of Las Vegas, a popular if illicit activity for railroad workers, cowboys and the valley’s earliest settlers. He is pictured here on a Nevada State Prison information card. ![]() In 1920, Victor “Frenchy” Lasserre was one of two card cheats caught in what is considered the first sting operation in Las Vegas.
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