The answer to what at first seemed like a pretty simple question has actually taken considerable sleuthing, involving both the Architecture Studies Library and Special Collections departments of UNLV, the Clark County Assessor’s Office, the Casino Chip & Gaming Token Collectors Club, and Vintage Vegas, among other sources. Here’s what we were able to find out.
First, to clear up any possible confusion, there have been two Club Bingos in the history of Las Vegas. The original was, along with the Pair-O-Dice, El Rancho, Last Frontier, and Thunderbird, one of earliest casinos on what’s now the Strip, but back then was known as Highway 91. Owned by Mel D. Close, Club Bingo opened on July 24, 1947, with its main attraction being a 300-seat bingo parlor, although it offered other casino games as well. In 1952, the property was bought by Milton Prell, who demolished Club Bingo to make way for the Sahara Hotel & Casino, which opened in October of the same year and has occupied the site ever since. But that’s not the Club Bingo referred to in the question.
The other Club Bingo, which as far as we can tell was entirely unrelated to the original, opened on Aug. 24, 1962, at 23 E Fremont St., which from 1951 had housed the Westerner, and prior to that had been the original home of the Las Vegas Club, before it moved to its current location across the street.
According to an ad in the Dec. 22, 1962, issue of Fabulous Las Vegas, it seems that the original owners were Bert Quinn, Les Jones, and longtime Vegas casino figure Sam Diamond, who subsequently went on to buy the Aladdin. As far as we can tell, and as the name suggests, the venue specialized in bingo, originally offering nickel games, although we've been told that it also operated one blackjack table on a regular basis, with a second one brought into play on weekends or when demand dictated. The house specialty was 25¢ blackjack at a time when the Strip had a minimum wager of $1. (A highly collectible 12½¢ chip was created in order to pay a blackjack if someone was betting the minimum -- it reportedly has since changed hands at auction for $340.)
According to our sources, at some point during its lifespan, Club Bingo was also licensed for slots and seems to have ceased offering bingo -- we're assuming that both of these occurred toward the end of its tenure.
The blue small-crown chip pictured below was a promotional item given out to potential bingo customers and was often handed out by a street barker who stood in front of the club and handed out the chip, which could be exchanged inside for a free bingo card. (Apparently, it was the habit of this barker never to explain that you first had to purchase a specific card before you got the "free" one.) Other chips were given to winning customers, to be exchanged at future bingo sessions for additional cards.
That’s what we managed to find out. Now, here are some interesting recollections kindly supplied by Sue Kozlowski, who sent us this QoD:
"The downtown Club Bingo was on Fremont Street, one of the many little casinos all next to each other. The room inside was L-shaped, with long tables and chairs and the bingo games continued nonstop. The customer took a seat and the roaming attendant gave him as many cards as he wanted. The games were a dime each [they’d obviously gone up from the original nickel by the time Sue and her family were visiting], and the attendant went down the rows collecting the dimes once the game started.
"Sometimes the game was double bingo and between games the caller said, 'Double bingo continues,' in a sultry voice. (I remember that because for years and years, 'Double bingo continues' was a mantra our family members would say to one another, for no apparent reason!) The prize was cash, but I don't remember how much.
"The cards were the travel-bingo type: hard cardboard with the little sliding windows to cover up a called number. And there were ashtrays about every 3 inches!"
As to Sue’s original question and the fate of Club Bingo, turns out it was eventually bought out by the Pioneer Club, located next door at 25 E. Fremont St., to facilitate its own expansion, and closed on May 31st, 1983. The owner at that point is listed as a "Johnny Jones" -- we don't know whether he was any relation to original partner Les Jones. The Pioneer Club itself, home of the famous Vegas Vic sign, finally shut down in 1995 and its former location was occupied for many years by a souvenir/gift shop, before recently becoming the ABC (Hawaiian) Store.
