There were quite a few illegal clubs in the foothill towns along Highway 49. Some of them were around from clear back in the Gold Rush days. Places like the National Hotel, the R&R Club, and the Louvre in Jackson had full up gambling up into the 1950's. These are well documented in Allen De Grange's book - "Jackson, The Transgressions of a Place". Also, the Mountain Club in Sonora had full gambling until the same time. I have found dice from Mike's Mountain Club and confirmed with several locals that they had full gambling. Larry Eastman mentioned that there are three different chips from the Mountain Club - I've found two of them but have not be able to locate the third. I know there was more gambling going on - like at the Barker Hotel here in Roseville but I don't know if any chips have ever bee attributed to them.
I'm sure glad to see you giving this a try. I'll be looking forward to your findings.
Chas
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