The Ormsby House Casino in Carson City

Carson City is the Capital of Nevada, but in the late ’70s, when I was there, it had fewer than 30,000 residents. It’s a miracle there were half a dozen casinos to choose from.

Being a gambling man, I thought it was a good bet to get married at 19, in Carson City, and stay in a casino. I’ve been wrong many times since, too.

Still, our little wedding party chose the Ormsby House for a few days, and while none of us were over 21, we were never carded to ensure we were legal to gamble (more on that later in the article).

The Ormsby House and Its Unmatched Proximity to Nevada’s Political Power Center

When the new Ormsby House opened in 1972, its location was no accident. Paul Laxalt — former Nevada governor and son of Dominique Laxalt, who owned the original 19th-century Ormsby House — chose a site that placed the hotel directly across South Carson Street from the Nevada State Legislature. From the moment the doors opened, that geography shaped the hotel’s personality as much as its Old West theme or its 220 rooms.

The Legislature building sits on the east side of Carson Street, while the Ormsby House occupies the west. The two structures face one another across a single arterial road, close enough that lawmakers could leave a committee meeting, cross the street, and be inside the Ormsby House lounge in under a minute. During legislative sessions, that short walk created a steady flow of politicians, lobbyists, state employees, and reporters moving between the two buildings.

Inside the Ormsby House, the political culture of Carson City played out in real time. The coffee shop became a morning gathering spot for staffers and legislators, where they compared notes before the day’s hearings. The bars and gaming floor served as after-hours extensions of the Capitol, where negotiations continued informally, and alliances were tested over drinks or a few hands of video poker. For decades, the hotel functioned as an unofficial annex to the statehouse. In this place, the public business of Nevada often blended with the private social world of its political class.

This proximity also influenced the hotel’s ownership and management history. When the Laxalt family sold the property in 1975, the Ormsby House was already known as a political hub, but it wasn’t a big money maker. The period that owner Woody Loftin ran the property is said to be the one time it was profitable and enjoyed continued success, although after his son, Truett Loftin, took the reins, it stayed on a steady course.

Unfortunately, the early 1990s recession followed by heavy casino growth and expansion in Reno (Silver Legacy, Peppermill, Atlantis, Eldorado, Circus) drew overnight guests 30-miles away, making the 220-room hotel struggle to survive. In January of 1993, Truett Loftin filed for bankruptcy, and the property reopened in 1995.

New owner Barry Silverton found the casino property difficult to manage profitably, and although the business received a $5.5 million loan from Cerberus Partners, it defaulted in January 1997. Cerberus received the property in receivership, and Reno casino owner Bob Cashell was named general manager, but even he didn’t have enough magic in his arsenal to turn a profit.

The Ormsby was purchased for $4.2 million in September of 1999 by Carson City businessmen Al Fiegehen, Don Lehr, and their Cubix corporation. The partners inherited a building whose identity was as much tied to its location as to its gaming floor or hotel tower. Even during the long renovation period after the 2000 closure, the Ormsby House remained a landmark visible from the Legislature’s front steps — a reminder of the era when Carson City’s political and social life routinely spilled across Carson Street.

Today, although the building remains closed and its future uncertain, the Ormsby House’s position across from the Legislature continues to define its historical significance. Few Nevada casinos ever stood so close to the center of state power, and fewer still played such a consistent role in the rhythms of political life. Its story cannot be told without acknowledging the unique relationship between the hotel and the government complex directly opposite it.

Al W Moe’s Memories of the Ormsby House Casino

Although the politics that occurred at the Ormsby House dominate its history, I have a soft spot for the property because of my own history there.

Although I had made my way into plenty of casinos by the age of 19, the Ormsby House represented the first time I had spent an extended period in a Nevada hotel. The property was Old West glamor, with red carpets, fancy staircases leading down to the main floor and casino, and chandeliers. The fancy Super Club Steak House offered a $7.95 prime rib dinner. I made $700 a month, so we could only afford one meal there. But the Bonanza Buffet was $3.95, and you got a $1 coupon you could take to the cage and get a short roll of nickels to play.

The casino was 10,000 square feet. Quite small by today’s standards, but room for a roulette wheel, a crap game, several blackjack tables, and just over 100 slot machines. All the dealers and slot personnel wore black pants and white shirts. Blackjack dealers were predominantly female. The craps dealers were all male, as were the pit bosses.

Blackjack had a $2 minimum and a $200 maximum. One table at night went from $5 to $500. There were plenty of ‘70s Bally slot machines: nickels, dimes, and quarters. There were white plastic change cups, none of which I could fill with winnings.

I do recall playing a three-way nickel machine and my buddy Bill hitting a jackpot down the aisle from me. He wanted me to collect the whopping $7.50 jackpot since I looked older with a mustache and embarrassingly long sideburns. I laughed as the change person stood behind him, waiting. She didn’t care about our age and paid him the big bucks.

We had a great time in Carson City, visiting Chuck’s Golden Spike, the Horseshoe Casino, Senator Club, and the big one – the Carson Nugget. I don’t think any of us spent more than $10 at any of them! Drinks were free, and so were we.

After a few years of college in 1982, before enrolling at the University of Nevada, Reno, I played a lot of blackjack across Northern Nevada. Living in Reno, Carson City was about a 50-minute drive from my home, so every week or two, I hit the local casinos while counting cards. The Ormsby House was good for a few hours of play. Usually, there were only a table or two open, and the club was so profit-oriented they didn’t even have logo’ed cards for quite a while – just standard Bee cards on the tables.

The small crowd made me stick out like a sore thumb to the pit boss on duty. I could play $2 to $10 or sometimes $5 to $40, but I always got heat for my play. I was only able to earn about .75% of my average bet per hour there, so I’d try to turn a $40 buy-in into $100 before heading out the door, often making that goal or tapping out. Hardly a windfall, but always fun.

The casino opened in 1972 with TR King small crown table chips, which they used for over ten years before changing to the Paulson Hat and Cane design. Local politicians and traveling gamblers still remember the friendly atmosphere, well-priced meals, and the chance to win in the casino.