Great reference if you want to know all about the history & places in Reno who had casinos and chips:
"The Rise of the Biggest Little City"
An encyclopedic history of Reno gaming, 1931-1981
by Dwayne Kling

Hardback about $30 bucks, University of Nevada Press

If it wasn't the "Biggest Little City In the World" and the local powerbrokers wanted the place to grow it would be bigger then Las Vegas and your convention would be here in a few short days.