Going to the chip show. I'm going to have 14 days in the logbook when I park the rig after work Saturday so I'll be ready for some friends, chips and greeeeeen felt!

Speaking of which, I'm rereading The Green Felt Jungle. Purple prose and yellow journalism. Must have been John L. Smith's favorite book as a lad. 1963 and probably appropriate for the times,seems a lttle breathless and smug at times. I've known folks to take issue with some of the facts presented in the book but we've got forty years of advantage on the reporters Reid and Demaris who wrote it.

Lots of stories related in this book including a hilarious account of Tony Cornero jumping bail on a '36 bootlegging beef that must have been subtitled "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride".

So one part had me kind of scratching my head. The authors were giving a rundown on the mobbed up owners of the newly opened Tropicana in Las Vegas. It recounts the asassination attempt that wounded Frank Costello in NYC. The police found a note in the Boss's pocket that gave gross wins, marker totals and slot income that matched up with the grand opening of the Trop, thus exposing Costello's hidden ownership. The part of the story I found interesting was the sentence talking about the Tropicana:

In 1961 it was the biggest money winner in southern Nevada, topped only in northern Nevada by Harrah's Club in Lake Tahoe and Harolds Club in Reno.

Well, I know Harold Smith bragged that his "store" was the biggest casino in the world at one time but wow, was Harrah's in Lake Tahoe one of the top two casinos in Nevada? I'm not sure if it was even open year around back then (I'm too lazy to dig through my Harrah's books and look it up ). I know Reno had it over Las Vegas for a long time but gee, Lake Tahoe?

Here's a look at Harold's with and without an apostrophy on a card posted June 1950. "Mr. Harrah", as Smith called him, has a plaza on the spot now and there always seems to be some sort event happening there with loud music and booths to buy sunglasses or chew. See you in Reno next week!