A lung-squeezing 7,000 feet above sea level, the wintertime activities at Heavenly ski resort draw some of Tahoe's biggest crowds.

However, it is casino gambling, like most cities in the state, that is the biggest boost to the local economy. Casinos like Harvey's, Tahoe's first.

Opening in 1944, casino owner Harvey Gross capitalised on Tahoe's combination of a beautiful landscape and great slots and by the 1960s was hosting high-rollers from all over the world. Men like John Birges, a Hungarian immigrant who'd made millions in the California landscaping business.

By the late 1970s, Birges had fallen foul of one of the bedrock maxims of the casino business; the house always wins. After a long losing streak left him in debt, it looked as if Tahoe had seen the last of the Hungarian high-roller.

On 26th August 1980, three men entered Harvey's Casino on the south shore of Lake Tahoe wheeling a large box. They said they were delivering a copy machine. Instead, when casino employees looked closer they found a note explaining that the box was a bomb and demanding $3 million in exchange for instructions on disarming it.