Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
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Jackie Gaughan's unearthly prop bet was a boon to publicity, but Gaming Control wasn't laughing. The Sky Is Falling IF YOU WERE BETTING MAN JACKIE GAUGHAN, YOU MIGHT AT LEAST LAY ODDS ON IT. BY MICHAEL GERARD PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF LAS VEGAS NEWS BUREAU I t was July 6, 1979, and the world awaited the fiery fall of Skylab, the nine-story-tall, 77-ton American space sta- tion, whose remnants would soon crash to earth at up to 270 miles per hour. Most people anticipated the event with fascination, some with fear, but to El Cortez Hotel & Casino owner Jackie Gaughan, it was a wagering opportunity. Here he points to his "Skylab Special," the odds placed on the station falling on any particular US state. (Skylab's debris ultimately landed near the Australian town of Esperance—which jokingly issued NASA a $400 fine for littering. Nevada's Gaming Control Board was less amused and started restricting such bets.) During Gaughan's 64 -year career, the gaming industry pioneer owned much of the Downtown casino mar- ket. Although he had ownership interests in eight different casinos, he is inextricably linked with El Cortez, which he bought in 1963. He transferred ownership of the property to his business partner, Kenny Epstein, in 2008, but Gaughan lived in a penthouse apartment there into his 90s, eating breakfast and lunch with El Cortez officials and playing poker in the casino nearly every day. Gaughan knew his employees and customers by their first names and mentored some of the industry's biggest players when they were just starting out, including Steve Wynn. It's no wonder, then, that when Gaughan passed away this past March, his funeral was one of the biggest the city had ever seen. A veritable who's who of Las Vegas—from longtime customers and employees to politicians, business executives, and labor leaders—came out to pay their respects, filling the 900 seats in St. Viator Catholic Church for the two-hour service. Wynn deliv- ered one of the eulogies, noting the presence of other prominent casino owners—Jack Binion, John Kell Houssels Jr., and Bill Boyd—and remarking, "All the homeboys are here." V 10 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM F ront Runners