My Father’s Son: A Gaming Memoir of Pete Cladianos Interviewee: Pete Cladianos Jr. Interviewed: 2000-2002 Published: 2002 Interviewer: Dwayne Kling UNOHP Catalog #194 Description Casino gambling (or “gaming,” as the industry prefers) was made legal in Nevada by the state legislature’s passage in 1931 of AB 98, the Casino Gaming Act. Initially, the majority of Nevada casinos were small establishments containing a few gambling tables, perhaps some slot machines, and a bar. Most operators came from other states, where many had run rigged games in illegal gambling joints, but there were some early homegrown entrepreneurs. Among them was Greek immigrant and Reno grocer, Pete Cladianos Sr., who opened a “cigar store” (it offered gambling) and started a slot machine route shortly after AB 98 was passed. Over the next thirty years, with the participation of his son, Pete Jr., and others in the Cladianos family, Pete Sr. built a diversified business empire that included bars, motels, hotels, rental properties, and even a mercantile business. Most of the Cladianos enterprises had at least one thing in common—slot machines. The slots were prominently placed where they would get the most traffic, and they generated a steady stream of revenue that could be used to expand Cladianos businesses and acquire additional properties. By the mid-1960s, Pete Jr. had taken on responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the family enterprises. His father had long dreamed of opening a hotel-casino with unrestricted gaming, and, with the expansion and licensing of their Sands Motor Inn just west of Reno’s downtown core, that was accomplished. Under Pete Jr.’s leadership, the Sands went on to become one of the larger and more successful operations in Reno and among the first gaming businesses in the nation to go public. In the mid-1990s, it also took a near-crippling plunge into the murky backwaters of Mississippi dockside gaming. As this is written, the Sands Regent Company has regained its equilibrium and appears to be successfully redefining itself in the face of intense (and growing) competition from gaming casinos on Indian reservations throughout the West. MMy FFFMy aaather’sther s’ Son SonSonther’s A Gaminamamaminng Memoireemm MMy FFMy Faaather’sther s’ SonSonther’s A Gaminam ng Memoirem by Pete Cladianos Jr. From oral history interviews with Pete Cladianos Jr., conducted by Dwayne Kling, a narrative composed by R. T. King University of Nevada Oral History Program Publication of My Father’s Son was made possible in part by the Jack Douglass Memorial Fund for gaming history and by gifts from Ken Adams, Sharkey Begovich, John Douglass, William A. and Jan Douglass, the Charles N. Mathewson Foundation, and the Peppermill Hotel Casino in support of the UNOHP gaming history project. University of Nevada Oral History Program Mail Stop 324 Reno, Nevada 89557-0099 775/784-6932 [email protected] http://www.unr.edu/artsci/oralhist/ohweb/oralhist.htm © 2002 by the University of Nevada Oral History Program All rights reserved. Published 2002. Printed in the United States of America. All photographs courtesy of Pete Cladianos Jr. Publication Staff Book Design: Mary A. Larson Senior Production Assistant: Linda Sommer Production Assistants: Brooke McIntyre, Matt Slagle, Allison Tracy, Elisabeth Williams, Kathryn Wright-Ross ISBN #1-56475-380-8 To Kiki, my youngest daughter. CONTENTS Preface / ix Acknowledgements / xii Introduction / xv 1. From the Old World / 1 2. After the Crash: Dad Gets Into Slots / 15 3. Family Businesses / 31 4. Small Town Hell Raiser / 41 5. Hellenic Reno / 63 6. Crossroaders and Slot Thieves / 75 7. Court Martialed! / 85 8. El Rancho II / 93 9. Launching the Sands / 105 10. Big Bertha and the Electromechanicals / 117 11. Grinding It Out / 123 12. Liquored Up / 133 13. 1978: Taking a Chance on Expansion / 137 viii / Contents 14. “Canadian Friendly” / 147 15. Franchise Food, No Entertainment / 155 16. From Arm Wrestling to Cribbage / 161 17. Going Public / 171 18. Employee Loyalty / 185 19. In the Pit / 193 20. Too Old, Too Slow, Too Litigious / 199 21. Multi-venue? / 211 22. Down in Mississippi / 223 23. 900 Pound Gorilla / 253 24. “Don’t Want to be Panhandled” / 265 25. RSCVA: A Creature of the Casinos / 271 26. Trying to Get Out / 281 27. Stakeholders and Lobbyists / 293 28. Marriages and Family / 303 Glossary / 319 Index / 327 THE UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA Oral History Program explores the remembered past of Nevada and the West. Through carefully crafted interviews with people Preface who are primary sources, the program has amassed a useful collection of oral histo­ ries on a variety of subjects, including min­ ing, ranching, Native Americans, federal management of public lands, the casino gaming industry, and many others. The collection currently totals about 4,000 tapes and 80,000 transcript pages. Drawing from this substantial body of work, which is heavily used by students and publishing scholars, the program pro­ duces occasional books intended for the general reading public. My Father’s Son is the fifth title in our series on casino gam­ ing in Nevada. Through the memories of knowledgeable chroniclers who were di­ rectly involved in gaming over the years, this series illuminates the origins and de­ velopment of various enterprises; the re­ lationships between casinos and the com­ munities of which they are (or were) a part; the evolution of gaming regulations and their enforcement; and other factors in the history of the industry in the state. Casino gambling (or “gaming,” as the industry prefers) was made legal in Nevada by the state legislature’s passage in 1931 of AB 98, the Casino Gaming Act. Ini­ tially, the majority of Nevada casinos were small establishments containing a few gambling tables, perhaps some slot ma­ chines, and a bar. Most operators came from other states, where many had run rigged games in illegal gambling joints, but x / Preface there were some early homegrown entrepreneurs. Among them was Greek immigrant and Reno grocer, Pete Cladianos Sr., who opened a “cigar store” (it offered gambling) and started a slot machine route shortly after AB 98 was passed. Over the next thirty years, with the participation of his son, Pete Jr., and others in the Cladianos family, Pete Sr. built a diversified business empire that included bars, motels, ho­ tels, rental properties, and even a mercantile business. Most of the Cladianos enterprises had at least one thing in common— slot machines. The slots were prominently placed where they would get the most traffic, and they generated a steady stream of revenue that could be used to expand Cladianos businesses and acquire additional properties. By the mid-1960s, Pete Jr. had taken on responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the family enterprises. His father had long dreamed of opening a hotel-casino with unrestricted gaming, and, with the expansion and licensing of their Sands Motor Inn just west of Reno’s downtown core, that was ac­ complished. Under Pete Jr.’s leadership, the Sands went on to become one of the larger and more successful operations in Reno and among the first gaming businesses in the nation to go public. In the mid-1990s, it also took a near-crippling plunge into the murky backwaters of Mississippi dockside gaming. As this is written, the Sands Regent Company has regained its equilibrium and appears to be successfully redefining itself in the face of intense (and growing) competition from gaming casinos on Indian reservations throughout the West. The interviews upon which My Father’s Son is based were done by Oral Historian Dwayne Kling. Mr. Kling brought forty years of gaming industry experience to the project, supported by considerable research into the history of the industry in northern Nevada. He is an adept interviewer, has a winning personality, and was successful in drawing significant memo­ ries out of Mr. Cladianos. The product of their collaboration, Preface / xi a 1,200 page verbatim transcript of thirty-three tapes, addresses a broad range of topics within the context of the life experi­ ences of the chronicler. Drawing from the transcript of the interviews, I have com­ posed the book at hand to read as a memoir by Pete Cladianos Jr. These are not Pete’s words precisely as spoken or even in the order in which they were spoken, but I have recreated his speech as faithfully as possible consistent with the aim of com­ posing a readable volume from the elements of the interviews. In addition, Dwayne Kling’s questions, which established the structure and elicited the detail of the work, have been sub­ sumed into the narrative, and I have imposed a measure of chronological and topical order on the whole that was largely absent from in the transcript. In general, oral origins notwithstanding, the text of My Father’s Son reads like that of any other book. However, the reader will encounter two unconventional devices that are employed to represent important parts of the dynamic of spo­ ken language: [laughter] indicates that the chronicler laughed in expression of amusement or irony; and ellipses are meant to represent halting speech . or a dramatic pause. As an aid to the reader, we also provide a glossary of gaming terms, which can be found at the back of the book. Pete Cladianos Jr. read the finished manuscript in page proof form and affirmed in writing that it accurately interprets the content of the interviews upon which it is based. As with all its work, while the Oral History Program can vouch for the authenticity of My Father’s Son, it makes no claim that the recollections upon which the book is based are entirely free of error.