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MegaTon44

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Not sure what prompted me to Google Pick Hobson, but found some cool narratives in his memorial page from 1996:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63841954/richard-homer-hobson

Richard "Pick" Hobson, 85, died Aug. 19, 1996, at Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center, Reno.
A native of Illinois, he was born May 15, 1911 to frank O. and Rachel Spencer Hobson, and had been a resident of Beckwourth, Calif.
He came to Reno in 1929, coming from Corning, Calif.
Hobson was owner and operator of 10 clubs and casinos. His first was the Columbo Night Club, Reno, which he operated from 1936 to 1940, while working as a dealer and floorman for the Palace Club from 1931 to 1942. He then opened Pick's Club, Reno; the Nevada Club, Sparks, Reno's Frontier Club, the Overland Hotel and Casino, Reno, Reno's Cosmo Club, the Gold-Club, Sparks, and the Topaz Lodge and Casino, Topaz.
Hobson was one of the first to be affiliated with keno in Nevada, was one of the first $10,000 keno games in Reno, one of the first $25,000 in Reno, and one of the first keno games in Sparks.
He was also a rancher, member of Wadsworth Lodge 25, and Free and Accepted Masons, Sparks.
Hobson was an Army veteran.
Surviving are his widow, Diana of Beckwourth and daughter, Aprylle Llynn of East Wareham, Mass.
Private interment will be held at a later date.
Cremation will be at Masonic Memorial Gardens Crematory, under the direction of Ross, Burke & Knobel Mortuary, Sparks.
A memorial is being established c/o Diana Hobson, P. O. Box 2149, Reno 89505 or P. O. Box 468 . . .

Riverside Hotel operator ‘Pick' Hobson dead at 85
Reno Gazette Journal
August 1996
By Gaye Delaplane

Richard "Pick" Homer Hobson, the last operator of the downtown landmark Riverside Hotel that still bears his name, died Monday at age 85.
Hobson was honored in 1981 as a Nevada gaming pioneer with such notables as John Ascuaga, the Smith family of Harolds Club, the late William Harrah and Warren Nelson of the Ca-Neva.
"Pick came to Reno at the same time I did," said Club Cal-Neva owner Warren Nelson, who introduced keno to Reno in the early 1930s. "We were very close all of our lives. We lived next door to each other in a duplex for five years and later we lived in the same apartment house. We hunted together and fished together."
Nelson and Hobson was respected in the gaming industry well. "He was a cowboy type, wore boots and a cowboy hat."
Hobson, like Nelson, was one of the first to run keno games in Reno and one of the first to pay $10,000 to keno winners. Later, he was one of the first to jump the keno jackpot to $25,000 and started one of the first keno games in Sparks.
Hobson was born in Illinois and grew up in Corning, Calif.
He came to Reno in the early 1930s and witnessed the legalization of gaming. His first job in Reno was at the old Palace Club. Soon he bought his first business, the Columbo Night Club, operating it while working as a Palace dealer.
His career in gaming lasted 45 years and included a family partnership in the Frontier club on Virginia Street from 1946 until 1956 and the Overland Hotel downtown from 1959 to 1977. He also purchased the Cosmo next door to the Overland in 1970 and owned the Gold Club in Sparks. In 1978, Harrah's purchased the Riverside Hotel and sold it to Hobson in exchange for the Overland.
Hobson often discussed his admiration for William Harrah, who died in 1978, and his method of operating a gaming establishment: "He kept everything extremely clean and in good running order," Hobson said. "Even if it's old you can keep it clean."
Hobson also is credited with brining the first Quarter Horses to Reno in 1938, three years before the American Quarter Horse Association stud book was issued.
Preston Q. Hale remembers Hobson as being an excellent rancher. "I wasn't close to him personally, but I did a lot of business with him," Hale said. "He was a square-shooter. He was energetic, a good business man and he always kept his word."
Hale said Hobson always considered the community in his business dealings.
"He was, civic minded. He thought about what was good for Reno. I think he wanted the Riverside because he wanted to preserve the history. But, with the Riverside, he took on more than he anticipated."
Nelson agreed. "In the end he got caught trying to keep to many things going," Nelson said of Hobson's bankruptcy at the riverside in 1986. "After that he kept a low profile. Naturally, it broke his heart." In a January Gazette-Journal interview, Hobson said the fierce competition from the new MGM Grand, Sahara Reno and Circus hurt the Riverside in the early 1980s.
"When the Riverside closed, I paid every employee every single nickel they were owed in wages right up to the time we shut the doors," Hobson said. "Even vacation pay. Some places that closed didn't do that."
When the Riverside closed, Hobson retired to his spread in Beckwourth, Calif. "He owned about 17 acres near Portola," Nelson said.
"He had a nice trailer home on it and it was close enough that he still seemed a resident of Reno."

RICHARD 'PICK' HOBSON, 85, OWNER OF 10 RENO CASINOS: Newspaper Obituary and Death Notice
San Jose Mercury News (CA) - August 23, 1996
Deceased Name: RICHARD 'PICK' HOBSON, 85, OWNER OF 10 RENO CASINOS


Gaming pioneer Richard ''Pick'' Hobson, the last operator of the now-closed Riverside Hotel that still bears his name, has died in Reno.
Mr. Hobson died Monday at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center. He was 85.
Born in Illinois on May 15, 1911, Mr. Hobson grew up in Corning. He came to Reno in 1929 and witnessed the legalization of gaming.
He owned and operated 10 clubs and casinos during his 45 years in the Reno gaming industry. He was also a rancher.
Mr. Hobson bought the Riverside in 1978 and operated it until it fell into bankruptcy and closed in 1986.
''In the end, he got caught trying to keep too many things going,'' said Mr. Hobson's longtime friend Warren Nelson.
 
Damn it @Lil Tuna tell me that's not freaking strange!! Dan awesome story it's insane that 2 hours ago if that Matt was telling me all he knew about Pick Hobson and that story lines up!!! Absolutely crazy coincidence!! Thank you for sharing... also at the same time Brie and I are washing 200 - $5 Pick Hobson's chips! Rest his soul and lord please thank him for producing awesome chips!!
 
Damn it @Lil Tuna tell me that's not freaking strange!! Dan awesome story it's insane that 2 hours ago if that Matt was telling me all he knew about Pick Hobson and that story lines up!!! Absolutely crazy coincidence!! Thank you for sharing... also at the same time Brie and I are washing 200 - $5 Pick Hobson's chips! Rest his soul and lord please thank him for producing awesome chips!!
That’s a damn cool post Dan, Thanks for sharing.
Pretty wild Ben, now we know even a few more details. :)
 
I can say without a doubt that Pick Hobson’s chips are the chips that sent me down the TRK rabbit hole. :D
The next person responsible is @detroitdad for selling me my first 2 Pick Hobson barrels of $25s.:wow:
But what an outcome 3 years later. :tup:
EFB6EB48-F77D-463C-8F5B-DFE2F9244DAC.jpeg
 
I can say without a doubt that Pick Hobson’s chips are the chips that sent me down the TRK rabbit hole. :D
The next person responsible is @detroitdad for selling me my first 2 Pick Hobson barrels of $25s.:wow:
But what an outcome 3 years later. :tup:View attachment 360431
What the fuck Dan!! I was trying to convince Matt that he needed to recoup his losses by selling me these USELESS .50s and you go and post this shit. DAMN.... I thought we were friends...LMAO!!

Very nice info brother!! :)
 
Trust me brother!! Those .50s you have are GOLDEN!! VERY NICE SET!!
I’ve got to set up a game soon to get them in play. Maybe a Saturday cash game sometime in the future just for a table of PCFrs.
.50/$1 or a .50/.50, doesn’t have to be big, would just be fun to splash some pots with you guys.
Will look into it. :cool
 
I’ve got to set up a game soon to get them in play. Maybe a Saturday cash game sometime in the future just for a table of PCFrs.
.50/$1 or a .50/.50, doesn’t have to be big, would just be fun to splash some pots with you guys.
Will look into it. :cool
You let me know when brother and we will put them in play!! They are amazing!!
 

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