In 1971, Jessie Beck purchased the property and opened her own casino.īeck ran a profitable operation and in 1978, she sold the Riverside to Harrah’s Entertainment so they could make a deal for the Overland Casino owned by “Pick” Hobson. In 1967, the Nevada Gaming Commission revoked the gaming license at the Riverside over a dice-cheating scandal, and the Riverside closed completely in 1968. Over the next 25 years, the club had a progression of owners, most of whom ran a casino. The Riverside added 84 guest rooms and the first swimming pool to be built in a Reno hotel. Wingfield sold the hotel in December 1955.

Wertheimer, most recently working with the Nevada Club group after coming to Reno from Detroit, was well-financed from his operations at the Chesterfield Club (and others) in the Motor-City.

The casino inside the Riverside, run by Nick Abelman, provided high-class shows, excellent food, and enough table games and slot machines to keep hotel guests and local patrons coming back for years to come.Ībelman ran the gaming with his partners, Steve Pavlovich and Bert Riddick, until 1949, when Mert Wertheimer convinced Wingfield to let him expand the casino. Once in town, the well-off vacationers were systematically fleeced of their stock holdings and sent on their way. In the late 1920s, Graham and McKay worked with con men from all over the country to lure rich prospects to Reno. McKay and Graham decided that having access to a bank could fatten their wallets even more quickly than their casinos did.

He was already getting a share of the profits from clubs like the Rex and Bank Club being run by his protégés Bill Graham and Jim McKay. George Wingfield opened the Riverside Bank and leased out casino space in exchange for a sizable (up to 25%) cut of the club’s profits. A rare chip from one of Reno’s most iconic and historic casinos

Pick hobson's riverside casino reno nv