Golden Bank – Reno – $5, Vintage Casino Chip
- very good condition
- obsolete, collectible, will raise in value
- 1931 – 1962 (Hotel & Casino destroyed by fire on April 3rd 1962)
The Bank Palace Club originally opened around 1890, at 239 North Center Street, and closed in 1910, when gambling was outlawed. In the 1920s the Club reopened with a casino operating illegally in the basement. On March 30, 1931, the second gambling license to be issued in Reno went to the Bank Club with James McKay, Bill Graham and Ray Kindle named as the licensees. The main floor was enlarged to house a casino that was nearly 5,000 square feet–the largest in the state. A new façade was added to the building, and an electric keno board, with 1000 light bulbs, was installed. In addition to keno, the new club offered two roulette tables, two craps tables, two blackjack games, three faro games, hazard, pan, stud poker and a slot machine. On April 25, 1931, the newly renovated Bank Club held their Grand Opening.
Jack Sullivan and Tex Hall came to Reno, from Ely, in the 1920’s. Both of them went to work for Graham and McKay; Sullivan became manager of the Bank Club. Tex Hall worked at the Bank Club until he was sent to jail in 1935, convicted of conspiracy to harbor one of America’s most wanted criminals…George “Baby Face” Nelson.
During the late 1930s and 1940s the Bank Club was the most popular casino in Reno; even the owners and bosses of other clubs gathered there to have an after-work drink and catch up on the events of the day. Bill Harrah often visited the Bank Club during the wee hours of the morning. One day a bartender from the Bank Club stole a $1 slot machine out of Harrah’s Blackout Bar. Jack Sullivan thought that he and Harrah should handle the problem. Harrah didn’t agree, he reported the theft to the police and testified against the bartender who was sent to jail. Harrah was never again welcomed in the Bank Club.
In 1950 Jack Sullivan sold his share of the Bank Club back to Graham and McKay. Then, in 1952 Graham became the sole lessee. He negotiated a 20-year lease with Frank Hofues, owner of the Golden Hotel, and the casino became known as the Golden Bank. In 1954 Hofues sold the Golden Hotel to James and William Tommerlin. Soon the Tommerlins and their partners bought out the years that remained on the casinos lease. Effective on December 1, 1955, the Tommerlins were licensed by the state for nearly 300 slot machines and a dozen table games. That was the end of Bill Graham’s career as a Reno casino owner. On April 3, 1962, the Golden Hotel and the Golden Bank Casino were destroyed by fire.
History courtesy of
