I used to hang out at the Bonanza Club when I worked at
Tahoe the summer and winter of 1966-67. They had one 21
game, a craps and poker table. Mostly I would talk with Willie
Musso who ran the crap table. He was a real character and told
me he worked in illegal joints in Hot Springs Arkansas and
Vallejo California. He would always refer to chips as beans.
Hank Stabin dealt the 21 and would order drinks through an
opening in the wall from his bar in the next room. You had to
enter Hanks Bar to get to the Bonanza Club. George Byers, the
Douglas County sheriff hung out at the Bonanza Club and one
night I saw him pull his gun on a player who was playing hundred
dollar bills and tried to pull back a bet. He lost his bank roll in short
order. The Bonanza was quite a joint. It didn’t last very long.