Weisbrod v. Fremont Hotel. Inc., 3975

Citation326 P.2d 1104,74 Nev. 227
Decision Date30 June 1958
Docket NumberNo. 3975,3975
PartiesJack WEISBROD, Appellant, v. The FREMONT HOTEL, INC., a Nevada Corporation, Respondent.
CourtSupreme Court of Nevada

Harry E. Claiborne, Las Vegas, for appellant.

Jones, Wiener & Jones, Las Vegas, for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

This is an action brought to enforce a gambling obligation. Judgment was rendered in favor of the defendant below, dismissing the action for failure of the complaint to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. This appeal is taken by the plaintiff from that judgment.

Plaintiff alleges that on May 23, 1956 he was a patron of the gambling establishment operated by defendant; that he purchased a $3.50 ticket on defendant's keno game; that following the game it was disclosed by the drawing that he held a winning ticket entitling him to the sum of $12,500; that defendant has refused to pay him this sum.

In 1872 it was established as the law of this state that an action does not lie for the collection of money won in gambling. Scott v. Courtney, 7 Nev. 419. This rule was reaffirmed in 1950 in West Indies v. First National Bank, 67 Nev. 13, 214 P.2d 144, after reviewing consideration of the same question in Evans v. Cook, 11 Nev. 69; Burke & Co. v. Buck, 31 Nev. 74, 99 P. 1078, 22 L.R.A.,N.S., 627; and Menardi v. Wacker, 32 Nev. 169, 105 P. 287.

Appellant contends that this rule should be held to apply only against the proprietors of gambling establishments and should not be held to apply against the patrons of such establishments since the rule exists for the protection of the patrons.

Both Scott v. Courtney, supra, and West Indies v. First National Bank, supra, involved instances of a proprietor permitting, if not encouraging, a patron to gamble upon credit. It may well be that the rule there announced was founded to some degree upon a recognition of the obvious evils inherent in such practices. So long as such practices remain lawful, however, the rule must be held to apply equally to all lawful gambling transactions. It must, then, cut both ways. If money won at gambling is not recoverable through resort to the courts it is not because of who has won it but because of the nature of the transaction itself.

This is not to say that the state provides no adequate protection to the gambling patron. It must be recognized that the state has an interest in seeing that its licensees honestly and honorably respect their gambling obligations. Repudiation of such...

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21 cases
  • Flamingo Resort, Inc. v. United States, Civ. No. LV 76-19 RDF.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 9th Circuit. United States District Courts. 9th Circuit. District of Nevada
    • February 26, 1980
    ...is asserted by a gambling establishment, Craig v. Harrah, 66 Nev. 1, 201 P.2d 1081 (1949), or against one, Weisbrod v. Fremont Hotel, Inc., 74 Nev. 227, 326 P.2d 1104 (1958). The taint of a gambling transaction also applies to a check written to cover a gambling loss. West Indies, Inc. v. F......
  • Zaika v. Del E. Webb Corp., Civ. No. LV 79-101 RDF.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 9th Circuit. United States District Courts. 9th Circuit. District of Nevada
    • March 2, 1981
    ...Air Support, Inc. v. Herrmann, Nev., 613 P.2d 413 (1980); Corbin v. O'Keefe, 87 Nev. 189, 484 P.2d 565 (1971); Weisbrod v. Fremont Hotel, Inc., 74 Nev. 227, 326 P.2d 1104 (1958); West Indies v. First Nat'l Bank, 67 Nev. 13, 214 P.2d 144 (1950), Nevada courts would not recognize a cause of a......
  • M & R Inv. Co., Inc. v. Mandarino, 15652
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Nevada
    • December 31, 1987
    ...& R argued that under Nevada law "any money won at a gaming table is not recoverable in a civil action." See e.g., Weisbrod v. Fremont Hotel, 74 Nev. 227, 326 P.2d 1104 (1958) (an action will not lie for collection of money won in gambling, even when patron seeks such recovery from propriet......
  • Hotel Riviera, Inc. v. First Nat. Bank & Trust Co., CIV 82-146-R.
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 10th Circuit. Western District of Oklahoma
    • July 11, 1983
    ...O'Keefe, 87 Nev. 189, 484 P.2d 565 (1971) (per curiam); Wolpert v. Knight, 74 Nev. 322, 330 P.2d 1023 (1958); Weisbrod v. Fremont Hotel Inc., 74 Nev. 227, 326 P.2d 1104 (1958); West Indies, Inc. v. First National Bank of Nevada, 67 Nev. 13, 214 P.2d 144 (1950); Craig v. Harrah, 66 Nev. 1, 2......
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