Las Vegas turns
luck into fortune

“Ben” was Benjamin Siegel, a Brooklyn-born gangster who saw an opportunity to expand on the natural oasis in the desert and build another Havana or Monte Carlo. He took over a failing hotel project, which became The Flamingo, bankrolled by his gangster friend Meyer Lansky back east. Despite his visionary gifts, Siegel’s project lost his backer’s money and his luck ran out. He was murdered in 1947.

But Siegel’s Flamingo eventually became a success — sparking the construction of a series of lavish resorts designed to lure gamblers to the city, and laying the foundation for the culture of self-indulgence that has fueled the city’s growth for much of the last 50 years. As late as 1970, some 70 percent of city’s economy was based on gambling revenues, according to Rothmans

“Caesars Palace, when it opens (in 1966) is the most revolutionary thing on the face of the earth,” said Rothman. “It begins the idea that Las Vegas has perfected today — that every individual is special. In that world, every man is Caesar.”

The 1960s also saw the arrival of legendary billionaire Howard Hughes, who liked what he saw and went on a shopping spree, buying up The Sands, The Desert Inn and the Frontier among other properties. After a change in gaming laws in 1969, public corporations were allowed to build or buying casinos properties. Major hotel chains soon placed their own big bets.

And while the gaming tables were the main draw to the city, hotel operators looked for “marquee” name entertainers to draw foot traffic their own casinos. The era of the “rat pack” — Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. (some insist the full list included actor Peter Lawford and comedian Joey Bishop) introduced long-running shows that became something like an annuity. One of the biggest was begun in 1981, when magicians Siegfried and Roy opened a show at the Frontier that ran for over 7 years, with some 3 million people catching at least one of 3,500 performances.

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