Stateline Country Club

There was a small room in the rear where a poker game started-up most nights, and next door there was provision for vacationers at Carl F. Tychsen's Stateline Market with a pair of gas pumps nearby.

When Nevada legalized gambling in 1931, Cal Custer, a long-time rum-runner from Southern California, purchased the club and expanded the operation to include a 21 table, tub-style craps game, and a dozen slot machines.

The following summer, Cal expanded again, and by 1933, Nick Abelman of Reno and his partners Steve Pavlovich and Bert Riddick were very interested in the sixteen-acre property.

[4] Abelman, always a stickler for providing a superior product, immediately spent $48,000 building an expansion that offered a large, hard-wood dance floor and a huge fireplace.

Big-name entertainment was standard, and the club offered wonderful meals such as a crab cocktail, soup and a main course like "famous Louisiana frog legs," Idaho Trout," or a filet mignon, plus vegetables, potatoes, and a nice dessert for $2.50.