Nevada's gaming history goes far back to before the state's inception. As prospectors came searching for gold in the Sierra Nevada, many brought their games of chance with them. In the early 1860s, President Lincoln appointed Nevada Territory Governor James Nye, who admonished vice and held a vigilant stand against gambling, encouraging the territorial legislature to ban games of chance. In 1861, the territorial legislature instituted stiff penalties in running and participating in any game of chance. The measure was not in itself very successful however, by the time Nevada became a state in 1864, the state's first legislature attempted to legalize and regulate gambling, only to fail. As a compromise, penalties for gambling were dramatically reduced with operators being punished mildly and players not at all.

In 1869, the Nevada State Legislature finally succeeded in decriminalizing certain forms of gambling. Nevada's gaming laws would change little until 1909 when the Progressive Movement finally succeeded in passing legislation banning nearly all games of chance in the Silver State. Over the coming years, gaming laws would relax, initially allowing specific social games and “nickel-in-the-slot machines” paying out drinks, cigars and sums of less than $2. By 1919, all cities and counties throughout the state were licensing card rooms that permitted social games such as bridge and whist. During the 1920s, Reno became the state's gambling capital and was home to numerous legal card rooms and a large number of clubs with illegal games as well.

As the country entered the Great Depression, Nevada's conflicted feelings about gambling were finally reconciled. In 1931, freshman Nevada State Assemblyman Phil Tobin introduced Assembly Bill 98 allowing for wide-open gambling. March 19, 1931, Assembly Bill 98 was signed into law by Governor Fred Balzar making legal a large number of games, thus taking the small card games and illegal betting out of the back rooms and side alleys, allowing the rise of the gaming industry and the regulated modern casino as we know and enjoy today.