Gambling in Las Vegas By Sarah H At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

The Mecca for gamblers across all of the USA if not the entire World is Las Vegas, Nevada. Gambling in Las Vegas focused on the” strip” which is all in all a less than seven kilometers stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South, also known as the “All-American Road.” Those who love casino gambling will find there, the most exotic and lavish hotels, casino and resort themes where many billions of dollars have been invested to compete for the customers who flow into the strip seven days a week, all year round.

Gambling has been going on in Las Vegas since the nineteen thirties, and much of the history of the pre-planned casino capitol of the World is shrouded in mystery, passion and the dark secrets of the underworld. What is known is that the first casino to be built in Las Vegas was no more than a truck and bus stop for those traveling west towards Los Angeles. Built right on highway 91, the Pair-o- Dice club was far from lavish and probably attracted in its entire life time, the sane number of visitors as an average Las Vegas casino of today would attract in five minutes. Rumor and legend has it that famous New York gang figure, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel had a vision, or at least a sound business idea, that Las Vegas could become an oasis in the Nevada desert for gamblers, and invested large sums of his own money as well as from other friends in the industry. When his brainchild , the Flamingo Casino, failed to reach the heights of success that Bugsy prophesized then his partners reluctantly it is claimed sent Bugsy Siegel into the next life.

There are many other rumors of similar characters of vision that were part of the early scene in Las Vegas, which must have been a very interesting place in those days. Another famous character of that era was Benny Binion one of the partners and later owner of the famous Horseshoe Casino on the strip. Binion, who came, or some say escaped, from Dallas, Texas was claimed to be the man who developed the version of poker known as Texas hold’em which has become the most popular card game of all time, and is played in casinos all over the World, as well as extensively online. Benny Binion brought with him to Vegas some of the famous characters of Texas Hold’em, including such characters as Johnny Moss, Amarillo Slim and Doyle Brunson, who added even more color to the Las Vegas scene of the forties and early fifties.

As the larger companies and corporations began to realize the potential for gambling in Las Vegas, and the need to clean up the image of the city, more and more money was invested in establishing first rate facilities geared up towards family entertainment. During the sixties, Frank Sinatra and his rat pack reigned supreme on the strip and thousands upon thousands of visitors clamored to catch a glimpse of “old blue eyes” at work and play, although it was often difficult to define the difference.

What Frank, Dean and Sammy Davis Jr. left behind in the awareness of casino executives was that in order to attract the best players, then an important attraction was to provide world class entertainment and attract world class entertainers. And that is what raised the bar in Las Vegas and where many famous entertainers spend as long as three months a year out of their busy schedule.

In addition to the world famous entertainers that you can see perform on the Las Vegas strip, there are an endless variety of attractions that can be visited there, ideal for all the family, and you don’t even have to leave the city limits to see them. Casino complexes are constantly updating and reinvesting making it difficult to keep track of the innovations that are taking place there. Suffice it to say that Las Vegas has grown to be a city with a population running into the hundreds of thousands, and mostly on the back of the Casino industry.

And not to forget the most important pass time of all, gambling in Las Vegas. To say that it is possible to play, win or lose on every form of gambling activity is an understatement. Ask any of the hundreds of thousands of players who visit there every year. But Las Vegas is more than a gambling center, and has been for several decades. It is a tourist attraction in its own right, a Mecca to gambling and entertainment. Bugsy would have been proud of his baby.

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