Las Vegas
Strip & downtown histories
View all →A living archive of the Silver State
Nevada was built on risk.
Here is what really happened.
True stories, primary sources, and timeless photographs from the people and places that shaped Nevada’s casinos. Carefully researched. Thoughtfully told.
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◇Reno
The original gambling capital
View all →Lake Tahoe
Resorts, roads & rivalries
View all →Owners
Pioneers across Nevada
View all →The Mob
Organized crime & casino power
View all →Gaming Frontiers
Nevada’s small-town casinos
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Featured research
The year the dice hit the desert: 1931 and the birth of Nevada gaming
Long before the Strip, a small legislative change opened the door to consequences that still shape Nevada. Start with the story behind open gaming.
Read the research →New in the archive
Recently researched
2026 · Nevada Gaming History
The Strange Case of Tropicana Skim Boss Joe Agosto
Joseph Agosto’s disputed identity, Washington businesses, and role in the Tropicana skim reveal the betrayal behind Mitzi Briggs’s Las Vegas investment.
2026 · Nevada Gaming History
Nick Abelman, Jack Dempsey, and Nevada's Last Great Gold Rush
From Tonopah's gambling houses to the prizefighting rings of Goldfield and the gold rush at Weepah, a generation of Nevada entrepreneurs learned that fortunes could be made, and lost, without ever swinging a pick.
2026 · Nevada Gaming History
Nevada's Gambling Frontier: Tonopah, Goldfield, and the Men Who Gambled on Gold
Before Las Vegas, mining discoveries created fortunes, gambling houses, and a championship prizefight that brought national attention to Nevada.
From the shelf
Go deeper with the books behind the research.
From the casinos of Reno and Tahoe to the power behind Las Vegas, Al W. Moe’s books tell the fuller story.
Explore the books