Martin Griffith

Reno, Nev. — The Associated Press
Published on Wednesday, Mar. 31, 2010 1:26PM EDT


Before the Las Vegas Strip ruled the gambling world, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. helped make the Cal Neva Lodge one of Nevada's coolest casinos in the early 1960s.

On Wednesday, roulette wheels will stop spinning and blackjack games will cease at Sinatra's old resort that straddles the Nevada-California border on Lake Tahoe's north shore at Crystal Bay.

While the resort's current owner hopes to reopen the casino under a new outside contractor by year's end, some analysts think the Cal Neva might have dealt its last hand. They said Tahoe casinos are particularly vulnerable to the double-whammy of the recession and competition from Las Vegas and Indian casinos.

In 2009, gambling revenues at Lake Tahoe casinos were roughly half of the 1992 total when corrected for inflation, said William Eadington, an economics professor and director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, Reno.

“The realities are when you have that kind of decline the weakest operators typically get pushed out,” Mr. Eadington said. “The older, tired casinos – and the Cal Neva is a great example – don't have much to offer for gaming.”

Sinatra owned the Cal Neva from 1960 to 1963 during its heyday, drawing fellow Rat Pack members Martin, Davis and Peter Lawford, and stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Juliet Prowse.

Monroe spent her final weekend at the Cal Neva before she died of a drug overdose in Los Angeles in August 1962. The small cabin where she stayed still stands and is part of a tour offered by the resort.

Sinatra renovated the Cal Neva, adding the celebrity showroom and a helicopter pad on the roof. He used tunnels to shuffle mobsters and celebrities beneath the resort so they wouldn't be seen by the general public, said Carl Buehler, a bartender who leads tours at the resort. The tunnels were built in the late 1920s so liquor could be smuggled in during Prohibition, he said.

“This was one of the hottest casinos in Nevada when Frank owned it,” Mr. Buehler said. “Frank had all the stars coming in and out of here, and it was always packed with people. I think the history is what keeps the Cal Neva going.”

Sinatra's gambling license was stripped by the Nevada Gaming Control Board after Chicago mobster Sam Giancana was spotted on the premises.

Richard Bosworth, Canyon Capital Realty Advisors senior director, said the Los Angeles-based financial institution that has owned the rustic resort since last year has held discussions with several gambling-license holders who have expressed an interest in managing the casino.

He noted the rest of the property, including restaurants and the showroom now named for Sinatra, will remain open. The company has overseen significant turnarounds in non-gambling operations such as hotel and wedding bookings since becoming the landmark's owner through foreclosure.

“We have worked hard to successfully stabilize business operations over the past year, and we are confident that an operator shift at the casino will only further enhance the value of the Cal Neva resort,” Mr. Bosworth said in a statement.

Former Nevada state Archivist Guy Rocha said he questions whether the casino will be able to reopen because of the decline in Nevada's gambling business.

The Cal Neva's colourful past isn't enough to draw younger gamblers not as familiar with Sinatra and other celebrities who entertained there more than 50 years ago, he said.

“People just aren't coming in the numbers to gamble like they used to,” Mr. Rocha said. “The Cal Neva doesn't capture people's imagination the way it once did.”

The Cal Neva is one of Nevada's first legal casinos. The present resort was built in 1937, when a fire destroyed the original lodge that had opened in 1926. Before Sinatra's tenure, Judy Garland first performed at the lodge in 1935 at the age of 13.

Canyon Capital took over the Cal Neva after foreclosing on a $25-million (U.S.) loan to its prior owner, financier Ezri Namvar. A two-state auction of the property last year netted no bidders. Mr. Namvar bought the Cal Neva from Chuck Bluth in 2005.

At a meeting last week, Lake Tahoe casino owners agreed the local gambling industry is in sharp decline and the current status quo is not a viable option.

“The cost of doing nothing is considerable,” said John Koster, regional president of Harrah's Northern Nevada.

Mike Bradford, president of Lakeside Inn and Casino in Stateline, said he has had to lay off about 100 employees since 2006.

“I just couldn't afford to pay their salaries,” he said.

Elsewhere on Tahoe's south shore, Bill's Casino closed and the Horizon Casino eliminated table games of chance last year, further signs of the industry's distress.

I'm an old time Lake Tahoe fan and can tell you lots about the good days of those lakeside casinos and their recent and disasterous 'dimise'.

We used to do a lot of gambling in those Crystal Bay casinos when we were up there to do some skiing during the winter months.

And even back then, none of those Crystal Bay casinos did too much business when the snow hit the ground except on relatively busy weekends.

Even when we were much younger than 21, we were entirely welcome to sit at the BlackJack tables and bet our quarters in the hope of leaving richer than when we came inside.

To the best of my recalling, we never were allowed to drink alcoholic beverages but if we smokers asked for a pack of cigarettes, they were brought to us without hesitation.

And whenever the sheriff came to town (he had a private parking stall right outside that front casino door), one of the floor guys would round us all up and stampede us into the coffee shop where the coffee was free until the Sheriff departed.

And without failure he alway came inside to say, "Howdy, boys! Having a good time skiing?".

And he was back outside and 'saddled up', we'd all rush out to those BJ tables with a fist full of quarters ready to be gambled with.

One of those days, I found myself with a silver dollar burning a hole in my pocket so on the way to the coffee shop I passed a craps table and threw it on the felt modestly saying, "Snake-eyes" and just kept on walking.

But snake-eyes did appear and I heard someone say, "Hey, kid!" and I had to turn back to collect my $30 bucks or so!

First and last time I ever collected on that bet.

So I do recall the good old days! But today it's so much different. It's sorta like a ghost town now.

But I often think and wonder ...... Maybe they think I'm the new sheriff in this town!

But that old coffee shop is completely vacant too.

Now-a-days they ask to see your ID if you're 35!

And it's very sad to hear that Bill's closed down. I first learned how to play quarter Craps in the original 1,000 square foot joint. I think I was 19 or less back then.

And just recently I taught my grandkids how to play $1 blackjack there and win while doing so. In fact two of them walked out $300 richer.

Maybe that's why they had to close it down.

And if you were a Tahoe casino fan back they, you had to know the Borden Sisters! I used to love those Borden Sisters who sang a lot of songs to me from behind that marischinno cherry and sawdust smelling bar

And just a few years later a kid named Streisand opened up for an old guy who thought he was funny by the name of George Burns (without Gracie).

But the California Indian casino were on the horizon and would soon change Tahoe/Reno casinos for the rest of eternity.

Sad to see those changes! I sure wish we were all 18 again!

Will, I thought Bills was owned by Harrahs? It's been a long time for me that I have been in Tahoe. Heck, I remember when the Horizon was the Sahara! Yup, time rolls on.

Yea, Lee! Bill was Mr Harrah's son if I remember my history corrrectly.

ANd that big mansion on the lake that was used in the Godfather movie was the father's too if I recall my history correctly.

And each year they would throw a Christmas party in that mansion for their Reno and Lake Tahoe employees ... but I didn't work there so I was never invited, if I recall my ......... etc.

Do you recall when Caesar's Palace was there and what it is now?

I though Bill and Mr Harrah was the same guy.

Bill's had sentimental value for me since that was the place where I inserted my very first dime into a slot machine - at the tender age of 18<g>. It was part of the Harrah's group for many years but spun off several years ago, and it tried to create a niche as the only non-smoking casino in Tahoe a few years back. I've long since forgotten its original name, but it used to cater to nickel & dime slots in the old days, and most of the crowd left when Harrah's took over - there was nothing left that was different than Harrah's/Harveys, and it just wasn't worth the walk.

Cal-Neva has a nice restaurant that used to draw a nice evening crowd 3-8 years ago (during my working days at Tahoe), but there were usually more folks in the restaurant than on the casino floor. The food quality wasn't as good as the Crystal Bay Steakhouse, but the prices were probably 30-40% less, so it was a fair trade off, and the wait staff treated everyone as though those celebrity days were still going on.