Three Days That Changed Casino History

How did Las Vegas casinos get so big–and so expensive? Why are there shopping malls in Strip casinos, but few in-room coffee makers? That’s what Dr. Schwartz answers in this talk, as he talks about three casinos whose openings forever altered ideas of how to build and run resorts.

The El Rancho Vegas, which opened on April 3, 1941, was the first resort built on what would become the Strip. After it, builders raced to open newer, and more extravagant casinos along what had been the Los Angeles Highway, and gamblers hurried through the doors. This day marked the birth of the Las Vegas Strip, and the modern American casino.

On August 5, 1966, Jay Sarno threw open the doors of Caesars Palace, which would become the most famous casino in the world. When it opened, though, it flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Had Sarno listened to the skeptics, casinos would look much different today.

The third day, November 22, 1989, saw the opening of Steve Wynn’s Mirage, which kicked off the 1990s Vegas casino boom. Wynn was an admirer of Sarno, and applied his ideas about casinos to a much larger and more lavish canvas. Over the next decade construction followed implosions up and down the boulevard, and by the turn of the century, a score of new casinos that followed Wynn’s vision had transformed the Strip into an international adult playground.

This is an ideal motivational talk for a group that needs to hear about innovation and taking chances. As you’ll see, the casino world is better for each of these three days, but at the time, many people believed that they would end in folly.

For more information, including scheduling, please contact Dr. Schwartz.

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