I remember when the original Money Tree on Virginia st.
opened in 1969. There was a two story metal tree with
dollar gaming tokens dangling from it and buckets of dollar
bills were dumped on the crowd below. You can imagine what
that was like. They were first to have mechanical slots under
glass in the bar with a handle poking out. A coin tray was
underneath by your feet. The Sierra st. side opened in 1978
and was connected to the Virginia st. casino by a walkway
over Fulton alley. Circus Circus, Sahara Reno, and MGM opened
the same time and the Money Tree and Mapes Hotel closed
in 1982. A lot of employees never got their last paychecks.