In March,1931 before in Reno and after in Las Vegas began an era of gambling,mob control on casinos and murders.

Gambling was sporadically legal and illegal in Nevada prior to 1931. But, even when it was illegal, nobody enforced the law because there were too few residents who cared about gambling, and not enough sheriffs, DAs or governors who thought they could get a ride to higher office by prosecuting gambling operators.

The difference in 1931 was that work was about to start on the Hoover Dam, the state's largest public works project. The Dam brought almost 10,000 workers to a site only ~20 miles from Las Vegas--then the state's fourth largest city with 5,000--count 'em 5,000--residents. The politicians knew the Dam workers were going to gamble their paychecks away in Vegas, so why not legalize gambling and tax the profits. Within the first month, about 200 out-of-state people applied for gaming licenses. Many were involved with OC. They saw that Prohibition would be repealed soon, and were looking to cash in on legalized gambling. Some of them got "respectable" through leganized gambling.

Interesting overview and synopsis, TB.

The same day that the Nevada Legislature legalized gambling, they also made Nevada the divorce capital of America by lowering the residency requirement for divorcing parties to six weeks. It was a perfect synergy with legalized gambling: You had plenty of time to kill during those six weeks, so you killed time either in it the casinos or at brothels, which were legal way before 1931. Reno even built hotels and boarding houses within steps of the county courthouse, and advertised itself in news media as the divorce capital. Keep in mind that it was almost impossible to get a legal divorce in other states. In NY, adultery was the only permissible grounds for divorce---and you had to prove it. Men actually hired hookers to be in bed with them in hotel rooms, and hired photographers to record the dastardly deed, so they could present the pictures as "evidence" to a judge.

This is all extremely interesting background about early Nevada and the country. I was familiar with Nevada's brothel businesses, but not the rest of it. This is like a history lesson. lol. Good stuff. No wonder why the mob flocked to Nevada. The state was tailor-made for them from the start.

It's part of their culture. Traditional gambling games in the Wild West included faro, three-card monte, and the ever-popular Texas Hold'em poker game. These games were not restricted to saloons and gambling houses, often spilling out into streets, camps, and even church meetings. Texas Hold'em poker: Not much has changed since then.

Arizona was much the same. Although gambling and prostitution were never officially "legal," they were wide open because nobody cared about them. My hometown, in north central AZ, had mining and an Army fort as its main employers. Miners and soldiers = gambling and prostitution. Both flourished here into the 20th Century, seldom closed down by "The Law.".