(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. |
