Question of the Day - 27 November 2023

In the earliest days of wide-open casino gambling in Nevada, comps, or free stuff for gamblers, were basically unknown. Essentially, there was no need for them, since competition was limited and there was plenty of business to go around.

But that started to change when two brothers, Harold and Raymond Jr. Smith, opened a one-room card club on Virginia Street in the heart of downtown Reno. The Smiths, including their father Raymond Sr., better known as "Pappy," brought their carnival experience to the fledgling gambling business, Harold's Club, starting in 1935.

The Smith family immediately launched a scheme to improve the shady image of casinos and gambling and, by implication, of Reno and Harold's Club with a nationwide advertising campaign via the famous Harold's Club or Bust billboards. The Smiths also introduced revolutionary concepts to the newly legal casino gambling, such as eye-in-the-sky catwalks for game protection, female dealers, restaurants that served decent cheap food, and casino credit (anyone who lost at the tables or machines and asked could receive a loan of up to $50 for transportation home; if they repaid it, they could borrow again).

In addition, the Smiths inaugurated junkets, in which they chartered trains from California and offered known players free rides to and from Reno.

To answer your question, Harold's Club was the first casino to serve free drinks to anyone gambling, watering them down sufficiently to minimize the loss-leader hit to the bottom line. The bars also sold alcohol to non-gamblers or gamblers who were done at the tables and slots and at one time, Harold's Club was the largest seller of alcohol in the U.S., so the Smiths could well afford the free diluted alcohol. 

The whole strategy of extending conspicuous generosity to players was so successful that it became standard casino operating procedure and developed into the comp system that, in general, we know today.