Eight Days to Win

Cheating by the house had never been necessary in any of Las Vegas' plush gambling hotels because, so went the belief, the odds were so calculated that the house could not lose. But lately, some strange happenings have struck at both the moral and economic base of gambling in Las Vegas.

The Royal Nevada Hotel spent so much more on upkeep and entertainment to lure suckers than it made on gambling that it ran heavily into the red. On top of that, the Nevada Gaming Control Board last month accused the Royal Nevada of cheating--the first such charge against a major casino in the state's history. The board charged that a twenty-one dealer in the hotel casino had peeked at cards before dealing them, asked the State Tax Commission to suspend the hotel's gambling license. For Hotel President T. W. Richardson, it was the last straw. Short of cash and long on suspicious customers, he closed the casino while the commission pondered.

This was a blow to the hotel's creditors, mostly local businessmen. They appealed to the State Tax Commission to show the proper Las Vegas spirit and give the hotel one more chance to get even. From the sympathetic commission came approval of an unprecedented experiment: an eight-day trial to see if the Royal Nevada could separate enough cash from Christmas season gamblers by the end of the year to pay its bills.

To bankroll the Royal Nevada again, Richardson got $150,000 from Joe W. Brown, oil-rich Texan owner of the local Horseshoe Club, and the hotel started gambling. As 1958 rolled in, Manager Maurice Friedman happily said that cash flowing across the tables had reached $211,711.35. As for precise winnings, Friedman was Vegas-vague, but Bankroller Brown had his money back, and the creditors were satisfied enough not to foreclose.

Less happy was the Gaming Control Board. Although the Royal Nevada was licensed to gamble only until the last minute of 1957, it was still gambling last week, had not yet paid $30,000 for a new license. The board will push the original cheat charge, ask the Tax Commission to suspend the Royal Nevada for good.

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