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Mt. View, California
Type: Card Room
Status: Closed
Close: 2000
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| The bar was a meeting place for computer designers back in the early days of the digital age. The term "Silicon Valley" was supposedly created there by a visiting journalist who would press the guys for updates on the computer projects and thought up that catchy phrase.
One Jerry Fernandes took over the Wagon Wheel when it was no longer in its heyday, with the thought of adding card games to boost revenue and perhaps make improvements to the property. Purportedly, poker was played there for a time. Those red and green chips - originally intended as drink chips - may have been pressed into double-duty as gaming chips. This was perhaps, sometime in the early 1990's.
The place was busted by the State Gaming Commission for one of the strangest excuses NOT to allow poker that ever came to be in California: the parking lot (needed for patrons) was on residential-zoned property, although the Wagon Wheel itself had a commercial zoning and could otherwise qualify as a card room or restaurant/bar. The City refused to grant a variance and the Wagon Wheel was done for!
Today, a Valero Gas Station is at the site, and the residential parking lot next door is still there, fenced off with weeds on it. And those iconic wagon wheels? They apparently were given to residents in the immediate area, as they are still visible as decorations in neighboring yards and fences.
All provided images are from a display at the Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA. |
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