Harold S. Smith – Nevada Gaming Pioneer

Harold S. Smith was born in Denver, Colorado February 23, 1910. His father, Raymond I. “Pappy” Smith, was a carnival booth owner who ran games in traveling circuses and at established boardwalks and fairs. He preferred the slappers, a roulette-style game with prizes on each pegged slot, and offered normal roulette games at many locations.

Harold was a bright but unmotivated child whose mother insisted that he grow up to be more traditional than his father. She imagined a fine education for her son, and bought him a violin that Harold took to with a vengeance. The drive to see her happy was obvious, but his parent’s marriage didn’t last. “Pappy” was a traveler, and he moved on too many times to suit Harold’s mother.

During the summer of 1924, Harold joined his father on the boardwalk at Chutes-at-the-Beach in San Francisco and devised several games that looked easy but required skill to beat. His favorite was a hammer and nail game, which with thousands of tries of practice, the skinny, 14-year old Harold could master with a single blow. Unknowing players couldn’t understand how the kid could drive a nail with one strike and they couldn’t. The dimes piled up.

(Click here to watch our Harolds Club Video)

Harold Smith’s Early Gaming Education

In the early ‘30’s, the Smiths ran roulette games and bingo along the California coast in towns like Rio Nido along the Russian River. They were approved by “Bones” Remmer, who championed gambling in the area when he wasn’t running the Cal-Neva casino at Lake Tahoe. The Smith’s also ran bingo games, giving away expensive blankets as prizes instead of the colored glass known as Depression Ware that so many operators provided.

Unfortunately, while offering roulette in Modesto, out of Remmer’s reach, the Smith’s were jailed briefly and relieved of their gaming paraphernalia. It was time for a change, and Reno, Nevada was the place.

The Lure of Reno

The state of Nevada adopted open gaming in 1931, and the small cowboy town of Reno was doing just fine. The Bank Club was the king at the time, with the Riverside running second and plenty of small clubs like the Ship and Bottle, Rex, Haymaker, Wine House, and Reno Club offering a few games each. The Smith’s bankroll would fit right in with the other small clubs.

Finding a location on Virginia Street, next to the Reno Club, Harold and his father opened up for business on February 23, 1936. Unlike most of the small clubs that offered Tango (bingo), Harold’s Club offered only two games, a pair of slot machines and a giant roulette wheel called a flasher. The wheel was shown in a wall-size mirror and players sat at one of 36 spots with their own betting area’s for their pennies.

Business wasn’t instant, but it was steady, and they came out of the winter to meet a much larger summer crowd that filled their coffers and allowed new games like craps and 21 to be added. Harold learned new games, worked long hours, and wandered over to places like the Bank Club to meet and greet other casino owners and workers alike at the Bank’s famous bar, where he became a regular. And, although his own club was small, he still managed to make a dent in the surrounding club’s drop boxes.

By the end of the year, Harold was still in business, and his drinking and gambling prowess was on the rise. As Harold’s Club expanded and removed the flasher wheel for a standard roulette table, income grew at an excellent rate. Harold’s Club offered friendly gaming, with “Pappy” and Harold adopting cowboy dress and comportment, and hiring more workers, including Harold’s mother and her new husband.

When the club pushed into the building next door, poker and a sports book were added. Fred and Jessie Beck ran the poker room, and Harold became a near legend in town for his gambling, and around the country for the 2300 billboards that were eventually erected along US highways proclaiming “Harold’s Club or Bust.”

Harold took up the violin again, sometimes playing for players at his club while dressed in the fanciest cowboy outfits anyone had ever seen. He also took piano lessons and started a scholarship program at the University of Reno, located just a few miles up Virginia Street from the downtown gaming center.

Reno Gaming in the 1950s

The 1950’s started well for Harold, he was married, happy, and his club was a huge success – the most popular and successful casino in the US, even more popular than those in Las Vegas. And he and his father opened a trap shooting club with his brother Raymond A. Smith. The fine facility game Reno another attraction to offer, and it was very popular. However, Harold’s drinking was getting to the point that even “Pappy” was worried.

When drinks were long and the night grew short, Harold could be found playing craps or poker at neighboring clubs. If his luck was poor, Harold would return to his own casino and raid the cage, heading out with bags of rolled coins if he had too. Eventually the fun came to a screeching halt. His best friend, fellow gambler Eddie Sahati, passed away, his marriage dissolved, and the family reworked each casino partner’s shares to reflect their losses sustained by Harold’s gambling and his divorce. Especially after Harold made decisions like shooting a single die for $152,000 with gambler Bob Carnahan.

Harold spent time in Saint Mary’s psychiatric ward, had blinding headaches, and returned to his casino to find that all the marketing in the world couldn’t pay for the 7-story expansion they had put in, especially since it did not include hotel rooms!

The expansion caused the family to sell their property for $16 million and lease back the casino, which was still very popular. Unfortunately, Harold no longer had the interest in running the club he felt years before, and “Pappy” was aging quickly. After “Pappy” passed away in 1967, Harold seemed lost. He had managers running the club, but he was happy to sell the remaining family holdings in the casino to Howard Hughes’ Summa corporation for $11.5 million in 1971. Jessie Beck also got a healthy check from Howard Hughes and used the windfall to purchase the Riverside hotel and casino down the block.

Harold spent his remaining years shooting trap, fishing, reminiscing with family and friends, and gambling for stakes that paled in comparison to the amounts he bet in the 1940’s and 1950’s. He passed away on October 23, 1985,