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Copacabana Casino
(Copacabana Palace Hotel) |
USPC |
Avenida
Atlântica 1702 |
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Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil |
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The
Copacabana Casino was in
the Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio de Janeiro. The place
opened August 23rd 1923 and still operates today. Supposedly
the mayor of Rio legalized gambling in 1922 so that the
hotel would be built on what was then a relatively
undeveloped stretch of beachfront property. |
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Here are a couple of
vintage photos of the Copacabana Palace Hotel |
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In
the
1930’s
and
1940’s
there
were
three
big
gambling
casinos
in
Rio:
Copacabana
Palace,
Atlantico
and
Urca.
At
the
Copacabana
Palace
Hotel
there
were
two
different
gambling
venues—a
place
for
everyone
on
the
street
level
and
a
place
for
high
rollers
upstairs
(said
to
have
been
dubbed
the
“necroterio”—the
morgue).
At
both
places
the
favorite
game
was
roulette
and
each
had
several
tables
dedicated
to
it.
On April 30th 1946 the newly elected President of Brazil, Eurico Gaspar Dutra, by decree made gambling illegal thoughout the country and, as far as I can tell, the Copacabana Palace Hotel gambling rooms ceased to operate (so the chips would be from somewhere between 1923-1946).
Here’s
some
snips
from
articles:
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Chicago Tribune - March 5, 1938 |
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Chicago Tribune - March 5, 1938 |
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NY Times - November 24, 1940 |
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Melbourne Argus June 15, 1945.
Note that there are 12 roulette tables in operation both up and downstairs
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From
the 1940 Brazilian travel guide |
From
the 1940 Brazilian travel guide |
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