Doing my job at the Center for Gaming Research, I run across all sorts of interesting facts. For example, take this gem, pulled from the 1979 Form 10-K for Golden Nugget, Inc.:
The Registrant’s hotel provides luxury accomodations and facilities. Management emphasizes courtesy and service to its customers and attempts to maintain a high standard of excellence in all its operations.
While it is impossible to distinguish accurately between local and tourist clientele, the Registrant believes that a substantial portion of its Las Vegas business is derived from tourists, primarily from Southern California. The Registrant also believes that the downtown area of Las Vegas has historically attracted and will continue to attract more local business than the major hotel and casinos located approximately five miles away in an area commonly known as the “Strip.”
This is kind of interesting, because there was no real concept of “locals casinos” yet, but it is clear that locals were an important part of the GNLV business model.