Museum of Gaming History
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250 Central Avenue
Hot Springs, Arkansas MAP
Type: Illegal
Status: Closed
Open: 1895, Close: 1960s

(Spinetti's) Located in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the illegal casino was established in 1893. It was probably one of the first gaming venues in American history. Like the Moulin Rouge in Las Vegas, it is on the National Register of Historic Places. The location was 250 Central Avenue. The Southern Club was both a health club and gaming establishment. In the 1920s and 1930s, famous mobster Al Capone was a regular customer of the Southern Club. He was known to be a frequent poker player there.

William Stokley Jacobs was the man behind the Southern Club and some other venues in the state. He was known as the gaming czar of Hot Springs. However, by the 1960s, illegal gaming was being cracked down on in the state. That would end the era of illegal gaming at the Southern Club. In the 1970s, the establishment failed at trying to survive as a supper club.

Today, the building is the Josephine Tussaud Wax Museum. The structure still has original fixtures from the Southern Club.
About Illegal Casinos - by their nature, information about illegal, or unlicensed, casinos is hard to find and difficult to verify. Information presented on the ChipGuide about these casinos is provided as the result of our best efforts but may not be 100% accurate. Even if the information is accurate, gamblers move around and may take their equipment with them; items used in one casino may have also been used in others. Please send verified information about illegal casinos to the ChipGuide so that we may improve our accuracy.
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Table Chips (38) [QuickView]
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Total Items (62)

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