The casino kept about eight Fortune 1 coin-operated games, a sliver of its roughly 2,000 machines. The Cannery opened in 2008, a more upscale addition to the Boulder Strip, with 300 hotel rooms, a bingo hall and a top-floor lounge with breathtaking views. (In 2007, when technicians broke down slots at the Nevada Landing casino, they unearthed almost $10,000 in change.) Still, many mimic the noise of jangling jackpots.

They woo younger players with showy bonus rounds and graphics akin to an Xbox game. Ticket machines are cleaner and allow gamblers to bet more frequently. In the last decade, casinos have sprinted away from coin games. White so enjoyed them that she had switched to carrying black pocketbooks after coin grime ruined one made of blue leather. When White learned the Palace would be bulldozed and replaced by the Cannery, she begged officials to hang on to the coin-operated slots.

A Palace cook gave her his recipe for crab cakes. Like many locals, White lauded her neighborhood casino as a second home.