Jackie Gaughan: Las Vegas Legend
Casino Player bids farewell to one of the forefathers of Las Vegas gambling
J. Phillip Vogel
It’s a sad time to be in Vegas, as we offer a final goodbye to one of the most recognizable names in the local casino industry, gambling pioneer Jackie Gaughan who passed away in March. He was 93.
The man behind much of the local landscape, Gaughan owned about a third of Downtown Las Vegas, from resorts to real estate and was a force behind several downtown casinos at one time or another including the Plaza and the Golden Nugget. But Gaughan was probably best known for purchasing the El Cortez in 1963, where he eventually turned the hotel’s penthouse suite into his primary living space.
Gaughan was celebrated as a gaming innovator, a poker player, and a bookmaker who loved wild prop bets and helped to revolutionize customer promotions. Perhaps what he is remember for most, however, isn’t the day-to-day business of running a casino, but rather his kindness—a rare commodity in a business known for everything from sharks to gangsters. He was a sharp, engaging, hands-on casino owner who knew his employees and his customers by their first names and would walk his casino floors throughout the day, greeting guests while taking on even the most menial tasks.
“Jackie loved doing favors for people, and he loved his customers and his employees,” attorney Lawrence Epstein said during a eulogy delivered on behalf of his father, Kenny Epstein. “The greatest legacy Jackie is leaving behind is his family, but also his El Cortez family as well.”
Gaughan parted with the El Cortez in 2008, but the Epstein family, longtime friends and business associates of Gaughan who acquired the majority ownership in the casino, generously allowed him to remain in his penthouse apartment and cared for him. For the past few years, he would come downstairs from his apartment to visit and share a meal with El Cortex staff and executives, and spend hours playing poker in the casino.
“That’s a huge void we noticed this past week,” said El Cortez chief financial officer & partner Joe Woody. “We’re missing him.” According to Woody, when he first went to work at the El Cortez 26 years ago, he knew little about the gaming industry until Gaughan became his mentor. “He told me, ‘Honesty, character and morals are 75% of the job. I can teach you everything else.’”
Gaughan is survived by his son, South Point owner Michael Gaughan, seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Race car driver Brendan Gaughan, Michael Gaughan’s son, said a day doesn’t go by that someone doesn’t mention Jackie Gaughan. “The outpouring of love and respect for Grandpa has been overwhelming.”
