If you are local to Las Vegas and want to hear about the history of the Tropicana, join me on Thursday, April 4 at the Clark County Library’s Paul C. Blau Theater. I’ll be talking about how the Tropicana came to be and what it meant to Las Vegas. We start at 7. Hope to […]
Upcoming Talk about the Tropicana at the Clark County Library Read More »
eventsIn memory of the 60th anniversary of perhaps the most famous failed mob hit in history, I wrote a blog piece for the Mob Museum: On May 2, 1957, Frank Costello thought he had problems, but he had no idea. He was appealing a five-year prison sentence for federal income tax evasion (for which he
The hit that could have sunk Las Vegas | The Mob Museum Read More »
authorThe last of my trilogy of Tropicana birthday/anniversary pieces is this blog post from UNLV Special Collections that looks at a different era of the Strip mainstay that is celebrating its 60th: For research into the Tropicana, one of the best resources is the Tropicana Promotional and Publicity Material Collection, nine boxes of press clippings,
Visiting the Island at UNLV Special Collections Read More »
gambling & cultureTo commemorate the April 4, 1957 opening of the Tropicana, I wrote a guest blog post for the Mob Museum: It just so happened that Conquistador’s owner, “Dandy” Phil Kastel, had a long and fruitful partnership with Frank Costello, perhaps the nation’s most infamous gangster in the spring of 1957. For years, Kastel had run
Sixty years ago, the Tropicana opened under Mob’s hidden control | The Mob Museum Read More »
authorIn this week’s Vegas Seven, I take a six-decade look back at the Tropicana, which celebrates its 60th birthday next week: However, a piece of paper police officers discovered in Costello’s pocket while he was at Roosevelt Hospital was more eloquent. “Gross casino wins as of 4-26-57,” it read. “$651,284. Casino wins less markers $434,595.00.
The Tiffany of the Strip – Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas SevenThis week I’ve got three separate pieces in Vegas Seven. The first is a short news item comparing and contrasting two Strip casinos with similar origins and dissimilar fates: The Tropicana and the Sahara are a study in contrasts despite some shared history; at opposite ends of the Strip, both holdovers from the 1950s managed
Sahara Vs. Trop in Vegas Seven Read More »
Vegas Seven, writingYesterday I checked out the Las Vegas Mob Experience, the new attraction at the Tropicana. I had profoundly mixed feelings about it. We start out in a line, waiting to get in for about 20 minutes. There’s a big fake ship, with what is apparently bootlegged booze being off-loaded. As I tweeted, it reminded me
What I made of the LV Mob Experience Read More »
life in vegasMy latest Green Felt Journal piece is out, in Vegas Seven. I get to name-drop Heraclitus to sound sophisticated before talking about the redo of the Trop: That’s because the only thing that doesn’t change around this town is change. There are few other places where anyone would even consider spending $150 million to “relaunch”
Trop tale in Vegas Seven Read More »
news about gambling, writingMy much-anticipated Green Felt Journal piece about casino tweeting–which inspired me to finally claim @unlvgaming and get to work–is out, in today’s Vegas Seven: Casinos are always looking for new ways to reach customers. So it’s no surprise that they’ve embraced Twitter, the popular social networking application that lets anyone tell the world, in 140
Latest GFJ: The Power of Twitter Read More »
news about gamblingAs some of you know, I participated in the Las Vegas Rock and Roll Marathon this year, and I had a ball. But I’d like to share something that happened before the race that, hopefully, can make a point about what not to do with a Strip casino. Parking at the race is always an
Not-so-smart decisions at the Trop Read More »
life in vegas, news about gamblingIt’s hard to believe, but one of the oldest gambling con games is alive and well in the shadow of the Las Vegas Strip. I snapped some pictures of a shell game in action on Monday between the Tropicana and Hooters. Technically that’s not the Strip, but it’s in the Strip tourist corridor, so the
The Tropicana’s woes might be the Luxor’s gain. The pyramid on the Strip is picking up two exhibits that as Columbia Sussex’s flagship is taking on water (allegedly). From the LVRJ: Luxor is picking up two nongaming attractions from the Tropicana. Atlanta-based Premier Exhibitions announced Tuesday it signed a 10-year agreement with the Luxor to
Luxor getting darker? Read More »
news about gamblingIt seems that the Tropicana in Las Vegas has something called the “Showgirl Showdown,” which from its name suggests showgirls staffing casino games. Either that, or The Price is Right has a new segment. There’s a picture from the Sun that shows the showdown in progress. I just thought that this was a great opportunity