Thank you VERY much for your generosity and talent in authoring "Nevada's Golden Age of Gambling!" I just finished reading it and enjoyed it tremendously.

I first went to Las Vegas in 1960 and was "hooked" on the fantasy and mystery of gambling since that time. I made many trips to Las Vegas in the 60's and 70's, staying at the Flamingo, Sands, the Thunderbird and the Dunes

(where Bobby Vanucci (now with the Riviera) was the night casino shift manager at the time!) I gambled in and picked up chips from all the casinos I visited, not because I knew other people collected them, but rather I just liked the way they looked and felt! Below are pictures of chips I had made for me in 1976 while staying at the Thunderbird. Note the initial on the receipt!

My brother moved to Truckee in 1971 and he and I had many memorable trips down the hill to Lake Tahoe, Reno, Sparks and Carson City from then until his passing in 1999. Your book opened up many memories of nights of gaming at Cal-Neva, the Shy Clown, Mapes (yes, I gambled at the Mapes), the Riverside, Harvey's, the Holiday Inn and many others.

As I read through your book, I went through some of my collection and placed the chips with their respective stories. I never went to the Ta-Neva-Ho but have chips from there and most of the other casinos you mentioned in your extensive history.

I think you can tell that I was excited and enthusiastic about you hard work and presentation of "facts and photos" and I thank you again for sharing it with us!

Rich Hodges
Giver1st
LM-4210-168