Nevada State Prison Offers Casino for Inmates Gambling is such a big industry in Nevada that for 35 years it has been offered even in the state prison. In the "bullpen," a stone building that was on the Carson City prison grounds from 1932 to 1967, inmates could play blackjack, craps and poker and even bet on sporting events. The prison's new warden, a native Californian, shut it down, saying that gambling was "degrading to the dignity" of the inmates. Here's the story