Why this history matters
The Palace mattered because of its games, location and staying power—not hotel-tower grandeur. Better still, surviving business records take us behind the public rooms and into the money, work and ownership of a long-lived Reno casino.
A Commercial Row institution
The Palace's beginnings are commonly placed in 1888, though the exact founding document remains unresolved. Its first wooden structure burned in 1909 and was replaced with a brick building. The Palace in later photographs was therefore a successor, not an untouched nineteenth-century survival.
At 46 East Commercial Row near Center Street and Douglas Alley, the club sat among other gambling establishments and downtown services in a district visitors could explore on foot. A prominent corner and neon marquee gave it visibility without anything resembling a resort tower.
Giovanni “John” Petricciani owned the property before Nevada legalized gambling in 1931. The University of Nevada, Reno archival guide dates his acquisition to 1927; a later specialist account says 1924. His ownership is well supported. The exact purchase year is not.
From cigar store and bar to a full casino
The first licensed operation was small. A specialist reconstruction identifies the Palace Cigar Store with one craps game in 1931, followed by a Palace Bar phase in 1934. By 1935, the business had expanded into a fuller casino, bar, café and hotel operation.
Some activities inside the building were leased. Accounts of upstairs gaming also should not be confused with Reno's separate Bank Club. At different moments, the person who owned the Palace building, the person running a room and the person holding a gaming license could be three different people.
The Palace did not appear fully formed on legalization day. It adapted existing rooms and businesses to a new legal environment, then gradually developed the gaming identity for which it became known.
Racehorse Keno changes the pace of play
Racehorse Keno arrived at the Palace in April 1936, with Warren Nelson involved in the operation. The key innovation was partly speed. Nelson later remembered cutting the wait between games from an hour to thirty minutes, then fifteen, and eventually to about ten as demand grew.
That quicker rhythm gave customers another way to participate besides sitting at cards or standing at roulette. Frequent draws encouraged repeat play and kept the game moving through the casino. The Palace helped demonstrate a practical form of keno that became familiar across Nevada.
The new game brought real risk. Nelson recalled a 50-cent ticket winning $900 soon after launch and Petricciani paying it despite Nelson's anxiety over the exposure. This is one participant's memory, not an audited statement of average returns. What it captures is the human judgment behind introducing a new casino attraction.
Life inside the Palace
A visitor could find table games, keno, food and drink inside one compact downtown property. The Palace belonged to Commercial Row's walkable network of clubs and services. It did not need the theatrical scale of an entertainment resort to become part of Reno life.
One 1947 TIME report tells of two university students who studied a Palace roulette wheel for four days and turned $120 into $6,000 before management changed the wheel heads. It is a contemporary account of one episode—not proof that roulette could generally be beaten or that every wheel behaved alike. The story captures the enduring temptation to search a casino game for a pattern.
Behind the public rooms, employees watched a less romantic set of numbers. UNR holds daily gaming account sheets from 1937 through 1943 showing starting bankrolls, gains or losses and ending balances. Hotel and bar records, invoices and correspondence survive too. Together, they reveal the Palace as a workplace and operating business, not merely a remembered neon sign.
The final family era and Harrah’s purchase
In 1964, Silvio Petricciani, John Jr., Clorinda and Marietta took over the casino and received the gaming license. Renovation, an inexpensive restaurant and a prominent new sign marked this final family phase. Even as larger casino businesses expanded around it, the Palace kept its neighborhood-scale identity.
Harrah's purchased the Palace in September 1979. The club never reopened under its new owner, and the building was later demolished. Sources are less precise about the demolition, so the sale and permanent closure should not be turned into an exact demolition date the evidence cannot support.
Commercial Row was changing around the Palace. Smaller independent buildings increasingly gave way to larger casino developments. Because this building disappeared, its detailed business archive now carries even more of the story.
Reno’s Brightest Corner in surviving objects
Chips, postcards and tokens preserve the Palace's changing visual identity. A 1966 Franklin Mint dollar token shows a dancing king with the words “Reno's Brightest Corner.” A Casino Collectibles Association catalog identifies a 1966 $2.50 Hat & Cane chip, while earlier roulette pieces belong to another part of the object history.
These pieces must not be mixed with Palace Club material from Fallon. A familiar name—or a dealer listing that combines items—does not establish the correct city. Rarity claims also describe what a cataloger knew at a particular time, not a permanent count of every surviving example.
The objects and business archive explain why this modest corner casino deserves a substantial history. The Palace helped shape a lasting form of keno, served generations of downtown visitors and left an unusually close view of how a casino operated from day to day.
The story in time
- 1888
The Palace’s beginnings are traditionally placed in this year.
- 1909
Fire destroys the earlier wooden building; a brick structure replaces it.
- Before 1931
John Petricciani acquires the property; sources disagree between 1924 and 1927.
- 1931–1935
Cigar-store and bar licensing phases lead to a fuller casino operation.
- April 1936
Racehorse Keno begins at the Palace with Warren Nelson.
- 1964
A new Petricciani family operating phase brings renovation and renewed licensing.
- September 1979
Harrah’s purchases the Palace; it closes permanently and is later demolished.
Sources & further reading
The numbered links in each chapter point to the supporting material below. The wider bibliography also includes archival collections and specialist references. Historical uncertainty is explained where it affects the story; a source link does not grant permission to reproduce its images.
- Research sourceUNR — Palace Club Records
- Research sourceMuseum of Gaming History — early Palace Club licensing chronology
- Research sourceNevada Historical Society Quarterly — Palace Club images and demolition context
- Research sourceNevada Magazine — Warren Nelson and Racehorse Keno
- Research sourceNevada Legislature — Warren Nelson memorial
- Research sourceTIME — 1947 Palace Club roulette story
- Research sourceUNLV — Palace Club postcard
- Research sourceHeritage Auctions — early Palace Club roulette chip
- Research sourceCasino Collectibles Association — 1966 $2.50 Palace Club chip
- Research sourceNumista — 1966 Franklin Mint $1 Palace Club token
- Research sourceAll-Chips — Palace Club Reno and Fallon artifact separation
- Research sourceChipGuide — Nevada statewide index
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