Jackpot is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

(CDP) in

Elko County Elko County is a county in the northeastern corner of Nevada, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,702. Its county seat is Elko. The county was established on March 5, 1869, from Lander County. Elko County is the fourth ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, United States. The population was 855 as of the 2020 census. Located less than from the

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...

border on US 93, Jackpot has been a popular casino gaming destination for residents of Idaho and other neighboring states since its founding. Jackpot is located south of

Twin Falls, Idaho Twin Falls is the county seat and largest city of Twin Falls County, Idaho, United States. The city had a population of 51,807 as of the 2020 census. In the Magic Valley region, Twin Falls is the largest city in a radius, and is the regiona ...

, a city of approximately 50,000. Although officially part of the

Elko micropolitan area The Elko Micropolitan Statistical Area is a two county ( Elko, Eureka) Nevada statistical area of . The area includes portions of the Humboldt River Basin (~9,000 sq mi), the Snake River Basin (6,800), and the Central Nevada Desert Basins subr ...

, Jackpot is often considered part of the Greater Twin Falls region. In addition to its casino industry, Jackpot has its own schools, golf course, and post office. Its

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

is approximately above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardis ...

. Jackpot, along with the rest of Nevada except for the city of West Wendover, is legally in the

Pacific Time Zone The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00 ...

, but, along with other Idaho border towns such as Jarbidge, Mountain City and Owyhee, unofficially observes Mountain Time, due to its economic ties with the Magic Valley region of southern Idaho. The

Nevada Department of Transportation The Nevada Department of Transportation (Nevada DOT or NDOT) is a government agency in the U.S. state of Nevada. NDOT is responsible for maintaining and improving Nevada's highway system, which includes U.S. highways and Interstate highways withi ...

and

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

recognize this local unofficial observance.

History

After Idaho outlawed all forms of casino gaming in 1954, "Cactus Pete" Piersanti and Don French moved their

slot machine A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively a ...

operations from Idaho to the Jackpot townsite. Piersanti's and French's gaming establishments were named

Cactus Pete's Cactus Petes Resort Casino is a hotel and casino located in Jackpot, Nevada. It is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by Penn Entertainment. It has 296 rooms and of casino floor space. The casino offerings include more than 600 s ...

and the Horseshu Club, respectively. Piersanti in particular is credited for founding Jackpot. In May 1958, the settlement was first recognized by the Elko County commissioners as an

unincorporated town An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

named "Horse Shu", with a population of 65, despite a protest over the name by Cactus Pete's. Because the club owners could not agree on a name, the county commissioners renamed it a month later as "Unincorporated Town No. 1". The clubs compromised on the name "Jackpot" in 1959. Jackpot has been noted for its colorful place name. By 1960, the population had reached 400, but most residents were living in trailers because banks would not approve building loans, being unsure of the town's long-term prospects. Cactus Pete's management took over the Horseshu in 1964 to form what would eventually become

Ameristar Casinos Ameristar Casinos, Inc. was a casino operator based in Paradise, Nevada. It was acquired by Pinnacle Entertainment in 2013. The company had eight properties in seven markets. History The roots of Ameristar Casinos date to 1954 when "Cactus Pet ...

. Cactus Pete's and Horseshu, as well as the independent

Barton's Club 93 Barton's Club 93 is a hotel and casino located in Jackpot, Nevada. It is the largest privately held property in Jackpot and one of the main competitors of the Pinnacle Entertainment-owned Cactus Pete's and Horseshu Casino. History Barton's Clu ...

and the Four Jacks Casino, form the basis of the town's economy to this day.

Geography

Jackpot is located near

Salmon Falls Creek Salmon Falls Creek is a tributary of the Snake River, flowing from northern Nevada into Idaho in the United States. Formed in high mountains at the northern edge of the Great Basin, Salmon Falls Creek flows northwards ,U.S. Geological Survey. ...

and north of Middle Stack Mountain in the Granite Range of northeast Nevada. Jackpot is located about east (but by road) of the unincorporated town of Jarbidge and the

Jarbidge Wilderness The Jarbidge Wilderness is a wilderness area located in the Jarbidge Mountains of northern Elko County in northeastern Nevada, United States. It is contained within the Jarbidge Ranger District of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. "Jarbi ...

Demographics

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

reported that Jackpot had a population of 1,195. The racial makeup of Jackpot was 61%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

(41% Non-Hispanic White), 1%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 32% from other races, and 4% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 56%. There were 451 households, out of which 33% had children under the age of 18 living in them. The average household size was 2.65. There were 266 families (59% of all households); the average family size was 3.60. The population was spread out, with 31% under the age of 18 and 9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.2 years. There were 622 housing units, of which 28% were vacant. Of the occupied units, 36% were owner-occupied and 65% were rented. The median household income was $39,926, with 15% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

Climate

Jackpot experiences a semi-arid climate with hot summers and cold winters. Even with its relatively cool average temperature, Jackpot receives barely enough precipitation to avoid being classified as a desert climate. Due to Jackpot's high elevation and aridity, temperatures drop sharply after sunset. Summer nights are comfortably cool, even chilly. Winter highs are generally above freezing, and winter nights are bitterly cold, with temperatures often dropping to zero or below.

Transportation

U.S. Route 93 U.S. Route 93 (US 93) is a major north–south numbered highway in the western United States. The southern terminus is at US 60 in Wickenburg, Arizona. The northern terminus is at the Canadian border north of Eureka in Lincoln Cou ...

bisects the town as it travels north towards Twin Falls and south towards Wells. The closest airport with commercial service is

Magic Valley Regional Airport Magic Valley Regional Airport , also known as Joslin Field, is a public use airport located four nautical miles (7 km) south of the central business district of Twin Falls, Idaho. The airport is owned by the City and County of Twin Fall ...

in Twin Falls. The community is also served by Jackpot Airport.

Education

Jackpot has a

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants. There are five fundamen ...

, a branch of the Elko-Lander-Eureka County Library System.

Casino industry

Jackpot has five main

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s and

motel A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionarie ...

s with

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

s: *

, owned by Penn National Gaming, is the largest hotel in Jackpot with 300 guest rooms * Four Jacks Hotel and Casino * Horseshu Hotel and Casino, owned by Penn National Gaming. The casino is currently closed, but the hotel's 100 guest rooms remain open * West Star Hotel and Casino * Dotty's In 2005, Triad Resorts announced plans to build the Spanish Bit Resort and Casino, a resort casino with indoor waterpark and event center located on south of Jackpot. The project was delayed when the county mistakenly rezoned the land for the project. It was previously on schedule to be built starting in late 2010 or early 2011 after zoning and other concerns were addressed by developers and Elko County officials, but there has been no further news or development on the project since.

In popular culture

*A 2003

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meaning th ...

of ''

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...

'' is set in Jackpot, but none of the scenes were filmed there. * Satview Broadband, headquartered in Reno, is the local cable television company. *Jackpot was featured in the film ''

Roadside Prophets ''Roadside Prophets'' is a 1992 American comedy film written and directed by Abbe Wool, featuring musicians John Doe of the L.A. punk band X, and Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys with cameo appearances by, amongst others, Timothy Leary, Arl ...

'' (1992). *The 2001 film

3000 Miles to Graceland ''3000 Miles to Graceland'' is a 2001 American heist black action comedy film directed, co-written, and co-produced by Demian Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein co-wrote the script with Richard Recco. The film stars Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, Courte ...

, shows Kevin Costner’s character being pulled over 2 miles outside of Jackpot, NV.

Notes

External links

https://www.townofjackpot.com/

Elko County – Jackpot Advisory Board

Nevada
{{Authority control Census-designated places in Elko County, Nevada Populated places established in 1954 Elko, Nevada micropolitan area 1954 establishments in Nevada