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Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and entertainment. Las Vegas, which bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for the number of casino resorts and associated entertainment. A growing retirement and family city, it is the 28th most populous city in the United States with an estimated population by the U.S. Census Bureau of 558,383 as of 2008. The estimated population of the Las Vegas metropolitan area as of 2008, was 1,865,746.
Established in 1905, Las Vegas officially became a city in 1911. With the growth that followed, at the close of the century Las Vegas was the most populous American city founded in the 20th century (a distinction held by Chicago in the 19th century). The city's tolerance for various forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of Sin City, and this image has made Las Vegas a popular setting for films and television programs. Outdoor lighting displays are everywhere on the Las Vegas Strip and are seen elsewhere in the city as well. As seen from space, the Las Vegas metropolitan area is one of the brightest on Earth.
The name Las Vegas is often applied to unincorporated areas that surround the city, especially the resort areas on and near the Las Vegas Strip. This 4 mi (6.4 km) stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard is partly in the Las Vegas city limits, but mainly in the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester, and continues partly into unincorporated Enterprise.
Las Vegas does not have major-league sports, although the metropolitan population is as large or larger than many cities that have them. The two major reasons are concern about legal sports betting and competition for the entertainment dollar, both of which Las Vegas has in abundance. The city currently has two minor league sports teams, baseball's Las Vegas 51s of the Pacific Coast League (the AAA farm club of the Toronto Blue Jays), and hockey's Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL (an affiliate of the Calgary Flames).
In the past, the city had teams in the Canadian Football League, the XFL and the Arena Football League. There was recent mention in the local media that the San Diego Chargers of the NFL may be considering Las Vegas as a relocation destination. There is speculation that the completion of a new arena (expected to open in 2010) will bring teams from the NBA and NHL. The city is reportedly on the short list of Major League Soccer for an expansion franchise in the near future. There have also been contacts between city officials and several Major League Baseball owners regarding relocation. The ownership of the Florida Marlins held a widely-publicized meeting with Mayor Oscar Goodman in the winter of 2004. The city was a strong candidate to be the new home of the Montreal Expos, who eventually became the Washington Nationals. It was reported that the guarantee of a new stadium built entirely with public funds swung the balance in Washington's favor. Major League Baseball held their 2008 winter meetings in Las Vegas.
High profile limited-duration sporting events have been successful. Las Vegas hosted the 2007 NBA All-Star Game. The NASCAR Sprint Cup series has drawn up to 165,000 fans. Las Vegas also hosts a significant number of professional fights, primarily boxing fights. Many of these fights (such as those in MMA's UFC) take place near downtown or on the Strip in one of the major resort/hotel/casino event centers. Mandalay Bay is frequently a top contender as a venue for the UFC. Las Vegas is often referred to as "The Mecca of boxing" title which it often shares with New York's Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, the amateur MMA league Tuff-N-Uff competes at The Orleans. The National Finals Rodeo has drawn thousands of fans to the city since 1985, and a contract extension was signed in 2005 keeping the event in Las Vegas through 2014. The NBA Summer League is currently held in the city, and the USA Olympic basketball team trained in the city in 2008.
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas competes in NCAA Division I in men's and women's sports. UNLV is a member of the Mountain West Conference. The College of Southern Nevada also has an athletic program, with significant success in baseball at the community college level.
There are strong athletic programs at many Las Vegas high schools, with a number of players in several sports going on to major colleges and professional careers as athletes, including Andre Agassi, Greg Anthony, Marcus Banks, Steven Jackson, Ryan Ludwick, Greg Maddux, Frank Mir, DeMarco Murray and Ryan Reynolds.
The major attractions in Las Vegas are the casinos. The most famous hotel casinos are located on Las Vegas Boulevard, better known as the Las Vegas Strip. Many of these hotels are massive, carrying thousands of rooms, with their large adjoining casino areas. There are many hotel casinos in the city's downtown area as well, which was the original focal point of the city's gaming industry in its early days. Several large hotels and casinos are also located somewhat off the Strip but adjacent to it, as well as in the county around the city.
Some of the most notable casinos involved in downtown gaming are on the Fremont Street Experience which was granted variances to allow bars to be closer together, similar to the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego.
On the first Friday of each month, the "First Friday" celebration is held which exhibits the works of local artists and musicians in a section of the city's Downtown region now called the "Arts District".
The Southern Nevada Zoological-Botanical Park, also known as the Las Vegas Zoo, exhibits over 150 species of animals and plants.
The $485 million Smith Center for the Performing Arts (currently under construction) will be located downtown in Symphony Park. The center will be appropriate for Broadway shows and other major touring attractions as well as orchestra, opera, and dance performances.
The city also hosts annual events like the Helldorado Days (Las Vegas).
The California Hotel and Casino, also known as The Cal opened in 1975 at a cost of $10 million with a Hawaiian-themed hotel and casino located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada near the Fremont Street Experience. When it opened it had 325 rooms which has since been expanded to 781.
The California has been owned by Boyd Gaming Corporation since it was built in 1975. In 1994 and additional tower was added and the remainder of the hotel was remodeled. The property is connected to Main Street Station by an enclosed walkway.
The Golden Gate Hotel & Casino is located at One Fremont Street in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the United States. A part of the Fremont Street Experience, it is the oldest and smallest hotel (106 rooms) on the Fremont Street Experience.
It opened in 1906 as the Hotel Nevada. In 1907 it was assigned Las Vegas' first telephone with the number 1. In 1931, with gambling being re-legalized in Nevada, the Hotel Nevada was expanded and renamed Sal Sagev (Las Vegas spelled backwards.)
The hotel gained its current name in 1955 when a group of Italian-Americans from San Francisco Bay Area started the Golden Gate Casino. The 106-room, four-story hotel was renovated in 2005.
The Golden Gate was the first to serve a fifty cent shrimp cocktail in 1959, now a Las Vegas cliché. Called the "Original Shrimp Cocktail" on the menu, has become a mainstay of the San Francisco Shrimp Bar and Deli and is a favorite of both locals and tourists. It is what the Golden Gate is best known for. The idea came from owner Italo Ghelfi, who based it off of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.
The Original Shrimp Cocktail consists of a regular-sized sundae glass filled with small salad shrimp and topped with a dollop of cocktail sauce. In 1991, the price was raised from 50¢ to 99¢. The price was raised in 2008 to $1.99. Unlike many other Las Vegas establishments that offer a 99-cent shrimp cocktail, the glass is not padded with lettuce or other fillers, which is often cited as the reason for the Original Shrimp Cocktail's popularity. Three other varieties of the cocktail are available:
Despite the varieties available, the Original Shrimp Cocktail is still the biggest seller at the San Francisco Shrimp Bar and Deli. It serves a ton of cold-water shrimp each week in tulip sundae glasses; the shrimp are harvested near Oregon, Washington, Alaska and the upper East Coast because the owner considers them whiter and meatier than other varieties. The sheer quantity of shrimp sold gives the small hotel the leverage of a large mega-resort with orders.
On March 20, 2008, Desert Rock Enterprises (owned by Derek and Greg Stevens) was approved to purchase a 50% interest.
On April 26, 2008, the price on the famous shrimp cocktail rose to $1.99, due to a rise in fuel costs; it was the first increase in seventeen years. To offer a trade-off, the casino now uses larger shrimp in the cocktail. Prior to the fuel increase, the casino lost about $300,000 a year on shrimp cocktails.
Golden Gate Players card holders can still pay the old price, resulting in a 40% increase in membership applications.
Fitzgeralds Casino and Hotel Las Vegas
Fitzgeralds Casino and Hotel is a 34-story, 638-room hotel and casino in downtown Las Vegas. Fitzgeralds is owned by Barden Nevada a subsidiary of The Majestic Star Casino, LLC.
It has a 42,000-square-foot (3,900 m2) casino, and several restaurants, as well as a business center and pool and spa. The hotel is located at the eastern end of the Fremont Street Experience. Fitzgerald's also has a race and sports book. The casino has approximately 940 slot machines, and 29 table games.
Fitzgeralds has a "luck of the Irish" theme, with shamrocks and a leprechaun. It is inside Fitzgerald's hotel where the suspended sign falls and kills Patches O'Houlihan (Rip Torn) in the film Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.
The Fountains of Bellagio is a vast, choreographed water feature with performances set to light and music. The performances take place in front of the Bellagio hotel and are visible from numerous vantage points on the Strip, both from the street and neighboring structures. The show takes place every 30 minutes in the afternoons and early evenings, and every 15 minutes from 8 p.m. to midnight. Before a water show starts, the nozzles break the water surface. Shows may be cancelled without warning because of wind, although shows usually run with less power in face of wind; a single show may be skipped to avoid interference with a planned event. The fountain display is choreographed to various pieces of music.
The Las Vegas Club is a casino-hotel located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada owned by the Tamares Group and operated by Navegante along with the Plaza Hotel & Casino across Main street.
Tinoco's Kitchen has replaced the Great Moment's Café as the restaurant in the Las Vegas Club (open 7:00am to 11:00pm). The Tinoco family has been running the popular Tinoco's Bistro about a mile away serving modern urban continental cuisine. The Seventh Inning Scoop is a snack bar, and the Upper Deck Cuisine is a coffee shop.
The Plaza Hotel & Casino is a casino-hotel located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada owned by the Tamares Group and operated by Navegante. It currently has 1,037 budget-priced rooms and suites, as well as an 80,000 sq ft (7,400 m2) casino. There are several places to eat inside the hotel, including: Stuffed The Buffet (formerly Lucky 7's Buffet), Plaza Diner Express, Seattle's Best Coffee, McDonald's, Subway, Noble Roman's Pizza, and the casino snack bar.
The Plaza also features a seasonal roof top swimming pool, beauty salon, and fitness center, as well as a bingo parlor and a Lucky's Race & Sports Book.
The Fremont Hotel & Casino is located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, on the Fremont Street Experience. The casino is operated by the Boyd Gaming Corporation.
The Fremont hotel is located on 200 Fremont Street. It was designed by architect Wayne McAllister and opened on May 18, 1956 as the tallest building in the state of Nevada. At the time of its opening it had 155 rooms, cost $6M to open and was owned by Ed Levinson and Lou Lurie. In 1963 the Hotel was expanded to include the 14 story Ogden tower and one of the city's first vertical parking garages.
In 1974 Aleen Glick's Argent Corporation purchased the Fremont and in 1976 expanded the casino at a cost of $4M. In 1983 Sam Boyd bought the Fremont to add to his Boyd Gaming group properties.
Fremont Hotel and Casino is one of the Casinos and Hotels currently located in Downtown Las Vegas that is part of the Fremont Street Experience. The casino is located on what is commonly referred to as the four corners. These are the four main hotels that are located on the corner of Casino Center Boulevard and Fremont Street. The four casino's making up the four corners are The Fremont, Four Queens, Golden Nugget and Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel . Casino Center Boulevard is the only through street that passes under the canopy of the Fremont Street Experience. It passes between the Fremont and the Four Queens located on one side of the boulevard and The Golden Nugget and Binions located on the opposite side of the Boulevard.
In 1959 Wayne Newton made his start in Las Vegas at the Fremont at its Carnival Lounge..
Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel
Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel is a hotel and casino located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada on the Fremont Street Experience. The casino is named for its founder, Benny Binion and has 366 rooms, two restaurants and a rooftop pool. It is still frequently referred to by its former name, Binion's Horseshoe, though the rights to the "Horseshoe" name are now owned by Harrah's Entertainment. TLC Enterprises, owner of the Four Queens Hotel and Casino, purchased Binions for $32 million in March 2008.
The Four Queens Hotel and Casino is located in downtown Las Vegas on the Fremont Street Experience. Home to the Queen's Machine, the world's largest slot machine, the 690 room hotel and 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2) casino is owned and operated by TLC Enterprises, which acquired the property from the Elsinore Corporation in 2003.
The Golden Nugget Las Vegas is a casino-hotel located in Las Vegas, Nevada on the Fremont Street Experience. The property is owned and operated by Landry's Restaurants.
It is the largest casino in the downtown area, with a total of 1,914 deluxe guest rooms and suites. It has also maintained AAA's Four Diamond rating consecutively for 32 years from 1977 until 2009. It is only one of two resorts inside the city of limits of Las Vegas to earn this distinction, the other being The Resort at Summerlin. The Golden Nugget is currently constructing a 500 room, $150 million dollar hotel tower to be completed in 2009, despite the downturn.
