Illegal gambling was a family affair at the Rex Club, in Vallejo’s infamous Lower Georgia Street sailor district. Curly, Willie and John Musso all worked at their father’s club, which started out as a billiard hall in 1930. The stand-out among the brothers was Curly, who wisely left town and rose to prominence in Nevada’s legal casino industry.
When authorities tried to shut down gambling at the Rex and other Vallejo clubs after World War II, Curly was one of the “smart money” gamblers who figured it was better to leave than to face arrest. He moved to Lake Tahoe and with a partner built and ran a small casino in Stateline, Nev., just over the line from California. Several years later they sold the club to Bill Harrah — his first casino purchase at Tahoe. Harrah went on to build Harrahs-Tahoe across the street, and hired Musso, who eventually became general manager of the large resort-hotel.
For Curly, it had been a long climb to the top. His parents, Italian immigrants Casimiro and Rosa Musso, moved to Vallejo with their three sons, all in their 20s, in about 1930. Casimiro had worked as a laborer and a miner. In Vallejo, he opened Rex Billiards at 215 Georgia St. The city directory listed Curly, who went by his boyhood nickname rather than his birth name Phillip, as a clerk at the parlor. Within a few years, illegal gambling was going on at the location, which was known later as the Rex Café and, finally, the Rex Club. Over the years, Musso family members also operated a liquor store, pawn shop and jewelry store in Vallejo.
Gambling action on Lower Georgia Street grew rapidly in the years leading up to World War II, and reached its peak during the war when the district had about 100 bars, two dozen bordellos and about three dozen small casinos, usually in back or in upstairs rooms. But after the war, authorities were fed up with all the problems in the district. The Rex Club was no exception — it had been targeted in police crackdowns on illegal gambling as early as the mid-1930s. The Rex location also was included in federal reports on illegal horse-race betting. Violence also was a problem: In a 1935 incident a man angry over being barred from a poker game at the Rex pulled out a knife and stabbed another man. In August 1943, a cashier at the club was shot to death during an argument over poker chips. James Daniel, who had worked as a cabbie, was convicted of murdering Bert McCloud.
With the heyday of Lower Georgia Street nearing an end, Musso and a few other well-known operators in the sailor district headed for Nevada. Musso was joined by Norman Reinburg of Dopey Norman’s at 124 Georgia St., and George Canon of the C & S Sportland and Locker Club, at 210 Georgia St., in the move to Stateline. Musso and Canon opened the Gateway Club in May 1949 in a war-surplus Quonset hut. Next door, Reinburg briefly ran another Dopey Norman’s club. After selling their property to Harrah in 1955, Musso and Canon joined in pioneering Heavenly Valley Ski Resort. Curly also served in various executive posts at Harrahs Tahoe, including casino manager, general manager and host, until retiring in 1974. His brother Willie also worked for Harrah for a while, but not in a top position.
In “All the Lights Were On,” a book about Bill Harrah’s storied career in the casino industry, Harrahs executive Russ McLennan described how older, experienced bosses from Reno or other Nevada communities would promote employees from their hometowns. “Then there was the Vallejo group, Curly and Willie Musso, and thank God there was only a couple of the V
allejo guys,” McLellan said. He didn’t elaborate, but his “thank God” reference probably was directed at Willie, who had been accused of being part of a cheating ring that operated in Nevada. In a 1956 case involving the Star Club in Fallon, Nev., club owners claimed they were ripped off by a team of blackjack players. Willie Musso countered with a lawsuit denying he was a cheat and demanding that the club owners pay him his personal winnings of $1,200. Other books and articles describe Curly Musso as a highly competent and well-liked casino executive, who had learned his gambling skills over a long career that began in the Rex Club in Vallejo.
During his years at Harrahs, Curly didn’t forget his Vallejo ties. If someone from his former home turf wanted to see a show at a Tahoe resort, all it took was a phone call. Maureen Moore remembers her mother making calls to Musso when the family was headed to Tahoe, and Musso making sure they had great showroom seats — and even an opportunity to meet a celebrity. “Curly would arrange everything. He was quite an organizer,” Maureen said. “He would take care of people.”
When Musso died at age 81 at his Lake Tahoe home in 1992, he was hailed as a pioneer in Nevada’s gambling industry. He and other family members are entombed at Skyview Memorial Lawn Cemetery in Vallejo.
