ABSTRACT
early in the twentieth century, gambling was largely an illicit pastime in America. Gamblers would gauge the passion of local law enforcement when choosing to visit gambling locales like Reno, Nevada, or Long Beach, California (whose ships would head offshore into international waters so that wagers could be placed legally), or even Havana, depending upon which place was least likely to pursue criminal action against those who gambled there. These kinds of gaming jurisdictions frequently legalized and prohibited gambling, often doing both within a span of a few years. Gaming industry operators and employees, for their part, were also subject to the whims of law enforcement, uprooting operations when crusaders like California attorney general earl Warren (later a prominent US Supreme Court justice) cracked down on gambling dens in their backyards (Moehring and Green, 2005).
