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The Destruction of a Galveston, Texas Landmarkby Ed HertelOn September 13, 2008, the residents of Galveston,Texas, woke up and emerged from their wind batteredhomes to find an island of devastation. Hurricane Ikehad made landfall and brought all the fury of a Category4 storm unto the island. Across the country, stories andimages of the weather beaten community flashed acrosstelevisions. News reporters stood by piles of rubble, waterand complete chaos trying to convey the utter devastationand loss of the city. As the disaster toll rose, a betterpicture emerged as to what was lost; including hundreds ofhomes, businesses, hotels and one very important historicallandmark.64Casino ChipandToken News Volume 22 Number 2
Almost as an after thought, the news reported on thedestruction of the Balinese Room. It was described asa nightclub, a Prohibition gambling joint, and a local“curiosity”. None of these reports fully explained thesignificance of this structure in the history of Galveston orits influence on gambling.The story of the Balinese Room is so intertwined withGalveston gambling history it is impossible to mention onesubject without talking about them both.Thehistory oforganizedillegalgambling inGalvestonhas itsgenesis in afamiliar event– Prohibition.No otherevent hashad such aninfluence onstrengthening organized crimethan the “Noble Experiment”of 1919. With its miles ofopen beaches, Galvestonwas a perfect distributionpoint for booze from theCaribbean and Mexico.Skiffs loaded to therim with cases would anchor outside of federal limitsand be unloaded by smaller, faster boats which raced theCoast Guard in a game of cat and mouse. Once these boatsmade it to the beach, they were unloaded onto trucks anddistributed throughout the dry country.Two very enterprising Sicilian immigrant brothersnamed Salvatore “Sam” and Rosario “Rose” Maceo ranwhat was known as the Beach Gang. Their jobs were tocoordinate these beach landings and make sure the productreached itsintendeddestination.Throughyears oftoughcontrol, thesetwo brothersgained therespect andfear of theGalvestonunderworld.In 1924,while thebootleggingbusiness wasat its height,the Maceo brothers met upwith O. E. “Dutch” Voight, alocal wiseguy. They decidedto expand their operations intogambling and opened severalsmall clubs on the island. Their interests in hosting grewuntil 1926, when the group bought the Hollywood DinnerClub and transformed it into the swankiest club in town.It was at the Hollywood Dinner Club where the Maceosfound their strengths and learned the gambling trade. Vastlydifferent from one another, their trust made the partnershipstrong and their gambling empire prospered from it.Casino ChipandToken News Volume 22 Number 265
Rosario “Papa Rose” Maceo was the dominating forceand the financial brains behind the partnership. He wasknown to be shrewd in negotiations and unforgiving.Notorious for a short temper, he was once acquitted forkilling a man during an argument. He was the kind of aman who people did not want to disappoint and wouldnever double cross. This was never better illustrated than inthe case where his first wife was mysteriously murdered –along with the man she was having an affair with. Neithermurders were ever solved.Salvatore “Sam” Maceo was just the opposite. Hewas the front man of the team with a smile and a wellmannered demeanor. He was comfortable hobnobbing withthe celebrities and took great pride in giving back to thecommunity with charitable benefits.It was Sam who wasthe face of the Maceos,and Rose the brawn.Together these twoworked their strengthsand were able to finessethe locals while at thesame time frightenthe competition. Thisimage of the friendlygodfathers helped themdo business withoutmuch opposition.crushing slot machines or grinding up dice tables. Thoughthese raids were little more than occasional nuisances, thenegative publicity was an embarrassment and prompted theMaceos to come up with what they believed to be a raidproof club.The BalineseRoom was notdesigned from theground up, butevolved over time andthrough many stages.The first was whenthe Maceos bought adinner club called theChop Suey which hadthe unusual locationof standing out ona pier at the end of21st Street and juttedout over the Gulf ofMexico.It has never beenclear whether the localpolice merely turneda blind eye to theThey immediatelygambling in Galveston A very rare photo of the Maceo’s first gambling establishment The Grotto.No chips, matchbooks, ashtrays or any other memorbilia is known.started renovating it(after all, they broughtby setting up a dinnerjobs and prosperity),club in the front of the building and establishing a smallor whether they were on the take. Either way, the Maceoswere allowed to run their gambling empire with little to fear gambling club in the back. With all this in place, theyfrom the law. Their only obstacle to complete impunity was opened in 1929 as the Grotto (sometimes referred to asMaceo’s Grotto).the Texas Rangers, who made it a point to come down tothe island on occasion and show their strength by publicly66Casino ChipandToken News Volume 22 Number 2
The Grotto was immediately successful, but the brotherswere not content. They wanted to make a statement andthus started the second phase of the club’s evolution.list goes on. The gambling in the back was also extendedand more and more money poured into the club and theMaceo’s pockets.In 1932, the club was completely transformed intoan Oriental splendor and renamed the Sui Jen Club(pronounced Swee Rin).During this time of prosperity (both during and after thewar), the Maceos expanded their empire. They not onlycontrolled most of the illegal gambling action on the island,but they alsoowned thelocal coinoperatedbusiness.Every hotel,gas station,laundrymat andgrocery storecontainedMaceomachines.Their controlwas so strongand completethat nobodydaredcompete. Small clubs did exist in Galveston, but only withthe permission (and profit cut) of the Maceo brothers.It was with the Sui Jen that the Maceos hit their stride.The club brought in the best entertainment in and thebiggest gambling stakes. For almost a decade the club wasable to attract the big oil money from neighboring Houstonand parts all over the world. It was famous and seeminglyuntouchable until December 1941 when the Japanesebombed Pearl Harbor and the war was brought home.Knowing that patriotic Texans would not be seen in a placecalled the Sui Jen, they closed the doors, brainstormed, andwent to work remodeling.When the Balinese Room (named after the Dutchcontrolled and American ally Bali Island) opened its doorsin 1942, the citizens of Galveston knew this club wouldbe the spotlight on their city. Weekly entertainment wasnothing short of the biggest Hollywood had to offer – FrankSinatra, George Burns, Sophie Tucker, Bob Hope, theWith business interests all over the island, the Maceosbought a building and established their corporateheadquarters there, calling it the Turf Athletic Club.Although it did indeed contain a gym, along with theoffices the upper floors consisted of two gambling clubs(the Western Room and the Studio Lounge) and a large offtrack betting center.Even with their interests stretched far and wide, theirfocus was on the Balinese Room and all the prestige andmoney it brought it. Although the residents of Galvestonenjoyed the prosperity which the Maceos brought, noteveryone was happy. The Texas Rangers, with their longstanding resentment of Galveston’s brazen flaunting of theCasino ChipandToken News Volume 22 Number 267
law, continued their harassment of the clubs.They swept in from time to time to make a rush on theclubs, but never could they find their way to catch theBalinese Room in the act. With the bulk of the buildingstanding over the Gulf and the only entrance being thefront door, the club served its purpose well as a raid proofbuilding. In the time it took the Rangers to come throughthe front door, weave through the patrons, run down thelong hallway and breakthrough the back door, all theslot machines and tables werehidden in secret compartments.Even though the gambling wasrenown in the club, they couldnever find proof.As the 1940s faded away,sentiment of the good olddays of gambling in Galvestonwere starting to wane. Theopenness of the island’s viceswere becoming a problem forthe state officials, resultingin a firmer hand being used.In 1951, for the first time,indictments against gambling68Casino ChipandToken News Volume 22 Number 2were handed down – including the Maceos. Even thoughthese indictments would eventually be dismissed (by judgefriends of the Maceos), the writing was on the walls.Locally, a Texas Attorney General named Price Danielswas gearing up for a 1952 governorshiprun and made organized crime a key point.This coincided with Tennessee SenatorEstes Kefauver’s run for the White Houseusing the same platform on crime reform.This added heat, along with the nationstarting to embrace morality over sin, drovegambling underground in Galveston. Itwas still rampant, but the operators wereseen more and more as criminals insteadof celebrities. To make things worse, LasVegas was drawing in the best talent, bothentertainment and employees. The bigmoney patrons flocked to the desert insteadof the beach for their gambling needs.For the Balinese Room, the beginning of the end camewhen front man Sam Maceo passed away in 1951, followedby the brains Rose Maceo in 1954. The torch was passed tothe next generation when the young cousins to the Maceos,
Anthony, Frankand Victor Fertitta,bought the interestin the clubs andtook over. Theywould continueoperating for a fewyears, but finallyclosed the doors tothe Balinese Roomin May 1957 andmoved to LasVegas.The structureof the BalineseRoom stood emptyand vulnerable tothe elements. In1961, a devastatingcategory 5 hurricanenamed Carla sweptthrough Galvestonand almost broughtthe building down. She survived, barely. In 1983 a smallerHurricane Alicia punched Galveston but failed to bring herdown.little the residentscould do onthat September2008 evening asthe sea swelledand startedpounding theBalinese Room.Perhaps it was theconfidence gainedafter survivingso many otherattacks from thesea, but it washard to imaginethat with themorning lightthere would be nomore of the grandBalinese Room.Today, all that remains are cracked pylons, memoriesand the countless memorabilia remaining after decades ofbeing one of America’s premier gambling clubs.The start of the new millenniumhad great hopes for the Galvestonlandmark when a local groupbought the building and set aboutrepairing and renovating it. In 2001,the Balinese Room was reopened.Gone were the casino and FrankSinatra, replaced by salons andretail shops. Perhaps not the days ofold, but it was nice to see the clubrestored to her glory.Photo by Greg GallowayHer new life as a tourist stop wasshort lived however. There wasCasino ChipandToken News Volume 22 Number 269
slot machines and tables were hidden in secret compartments. Even though the gambling was renown in the club, they could never find proof. As the 1940s faded away, sentiment of the good old days of gambling in Galveston were starting to wane. The openness of the island's vices were becoming a problem for the state officials, resulting
