William F. Harrah won Best of Show at Pebble Beach. After his death Holiday Inn acquired Harrah's of which the car collection was part of. The bulk of the collection were sold at several auctions between 1984-1986 for more than $100 million. An outcry by the people of Reno and Sparks led to Holiday Inn donating 175 vehicles to establish the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada, a collection also referred to as The Harrah Collection. Some cars were also donated to form the Imperial Palace Auto Collection in Las Vegas. Harrah was married seven times to six women, including the singer-songwriter Bobbie
William F. Harrah a circle around the board matched a four-card sequence, he or she won, unless they were a shill, working for the house. The use of shills to fill the games upset players, but John Harrah felt they were necessary. The Reno Game was shut down several times by local authorities, but each time, lawyer John Harrah would get his permit reinstated. Still, the cost of doing business was high. When twenty-year-old Bill told his father he should get rid of the shills and put more money into the business, John challenged him to run the operation by himself. Bill said,