Before there was Tommy Hull and the El Rancho Vegas and long before Bugsy Siegel drove up the highway and had a fever dream, there was the Pair-O-Dice Club.

According to author Jeff Burbank, local residents Frank and Angelina Detra bought the land (the site of the Last Frontier, the New Frontier and the Frontier) in early 1930 and opened the Pair-O-Dice as a private nightclub. 

Highway 91, then called the LA Highway, brought customers from Southern California.  Prohibition was still in effect when the Club opened so it not only offered illegal games of chance but was a Speakeasy to boot.   The copper distillery was under the quail pen in the back of the property.  Frank Detra was a friend and associate of Chicago crime boss, Al Capone. 

Nevada legalized gambling in 1931 so part of the business became legal.  The owners had hoped to get the first gaming license issued to a County business but that honor went to a newcomer, the Red Rooster which was located a mile South on the Highway and became the first Club motorists coming to town saw.  The Pair-O-Dice was issued its gaming license on May 5, 1931.

The Pair-O-Dice became a public club within the month.  It featured an intricate swamp cooling system as well as a gourmet Italian restaurant where the food was served on fine china, silver utensils and real linen tablecloths and lace napkins designed by Angelina Detra.

The facade was Spanish-style with rounded archways, a tile roof and an octagonal-shaped entry way. 

During Prohibition, Detra and his club were scrutinized by Federal Agents but the Club was never raided.  Detra hired a band and the Club became a popular place to go for dinner and dancing. 

In 1938, the Detras sold the property to Guy McAfee, a former Vice Squad captain in Los Angeles who left Southern California under a cloud when it was discovered he owned shares in various gambling and prostitution rings in Los Angeles.

McAfee is credited with coining the name The Strip.  He had frequented the clubs along the famed Sunset Strip in Los Angeles and knew it was only a matter of time before the landscape here would be dotted with the same.

McAfee, with an eye towards the Southern California crowd and the nightclubs they liked to frequent, renamed the Pair-O-Dice Club the 91 Club.  He made the interior more lavish, hired a larger orchestra and replaced the gourmet Italian food with affordable steak dinners and he emphasized the gaming more.  McAfee opened the new club in 1939, delaying the opening to coincide with the Clark Gable-Ria Langham divorce.  Langham had come to Las Vegas to establish her six week residency in order to get the divorce.

Tommy Hull opened the El Rancho Vegas, the first modern hotel and casino on The Strip,  one mile north of the 91 Club in 1941.  By 1942, R. E. Griffith was scouting locations for his new hotel, the Last Frontier, and bought the 91 Club.  McAfee took that money and invested in the Golden Nugget .

 The Las Vegas Strip was beginning to grow.

The Pair-O-Dice Club exterior

The Detra Family

Thanks to EarlyVegas.com and the Nevada State Museum and Historical Society for allowing us to use these images.