JOHN L. SMITH: Last king of downtown, Jackie Gaughan made money, plenty of friends - News

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Oct. 25, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

JOHN L. SMITH: Last king of downtown, Jackie Gaughan made money, plenty of friends

JOHN L. SMITH
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The last king of downtown moves slowly these days. He can still be found most mornings puttering around the El Cortez amid the clatter of slot machines and din of gamblers' voices.

The king spends hours at a table in the poker room, smoothing the green felt and playing the cards he's dealt. He's in for small stakes, but the chip count doesn't matter. At 89, he's comforted by the rhythm of the game he's played longer than he can now remember.

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Outside, the Las Vegas he knew and helped create has grown and changed, gone corporate and strange.

In here, the world still makes pretty good sense to Mr. John D. Gaughan.

His many friends call him Jackie, but to me he'll always be the ebullient, baggy-pants king of downtown.

And he's the last king left in the old Vegas deck. Benny Binion died in 1989, Sam Boyd in 1993, and Mel Exber in 2002. That leaves Jackie.

Legend has it Jackie goes so far back in the gambling racket he watched Palamedes put dots on the first dice, but I trace his wagering roots to the storefront bookmaking shops of Omaha, Neb., in the sunny days before World War II. Those who think Omaha was a sleepy crossroads don't know it once was considered the gambling capital of the Midwest. Those who perceive Jackie as a simple old-schooler should know the World War II veteran earned a degree from Creighton University.

At one time or another, Jackie has owned or had a hand in operating most of the buildings of Fremont Street. An incomplete list: Jackie Gaughan's Plaza, and a partnership with Exber in the Las Vegas Club, the Pioneer and Sundance; he was a major stockholder and board member of the Golden Nugget, and he owned the Gold Spike and Western Bingo, and the Bingo Club and Boulder Club.

Jackie also owned several points in the Showboat and the Flamingo, but as son Michael Gaughan says, "Dad was a downtown guy. He never understood why people would build neighborhood casinos. He liked downtown. And my dad always did well with the local citizens. Even the El Cortez does well today. He's probably had more gaming licenses than anybody else."

And the thing is, Jackie knew his places intimately, visited them daily wearing his plaid sport coats and a sunny disposition. Jackie was never too big to pick up an empty glass or clean an ashtray.

Talk about a hands-on operator. He was a one-man welcoming committee. Years after he could afford to delegate the grind work to a gaggle of assistants, Jackie insisted on making the rounds and distributing his kitschy but profitable "fun books" filled with food discounts and gambling specials.

Big or small, for many years his casinos made money. The coins rolled, the cash flowed, and the net profits made Jackie the envy of some corporate casino titans who strained under elephantine overheads.

"When he was healthy he would walk his places every day," Michael Gaughan recalls. "He always knew the names of all his employees. He cared about his customers and he cared about his employees."

That familiarity, impossible at a mega-resort, endeared him with his workers. That, and a generous pension plan that enabled porters and waitresses to retire in dignity.

Jackie sold his downtown casino interests a few years ago, and today his beloved El Cortez is owned by a group of family friends that includes Kenny Epstein, Mike Nolan, Lawrence Epstein, and Joe Woody. The son of gambler Ike Epstein, Kenny first met happy, hard-working Jackie in Lake Tahoe in the 1950s.

Although Jackie sold the El Cortez, he still lives there as he has for decades. He still eats his meals with Kenny and Co. Epstein wouldn't have it any other way.

"I've met a lot of people in my life, but I've never met anybody like him," he says. "Jackie treats everyone alike, from a porter to the chairman of the board of one of these big corporations. He's just a regular guy. There's nobody like him. He's just a Midwesterner."

Casino impresario Steve Wynn knows Gaughan as a mentor who played an integral role in his career when he took over the Golden Nugget in 1973.

"What I remember and am most grateful for is, as green as I was in that position, Jackie treated me with great respect," Wynn recalls. "He treated me as a young guy that should be helped. He did nothing but help me. If I called him six times a day, he'd be nothing but warm and supportive."

Wynn has met his share of characters, but few match Gaughan. Mention those sport coats, and you can't help but smile.

"He's one of the most colorful, delightful, warm, and sincere men I've ever known," Wynn says. "And he was a real category breaker. No one dressed like him except him."

But unpretentious doesn't mean simple.

When Wynn made the acquaintance of billionaire Warren Buffett, who was the first person the financial wizard of Berkshire Hathaway inquired about?

His old friend Jackie Gaughan.

Gaughan was a gifted businessman, but he could also be a soft touch. He kept the Western open long after it was no longer profitable. He didn't have the heart to tell the employees they would have to look for a new job.

Michael Gaughan laughs at the memory of a late-night phone call a few years ago from his father. Jackie was worried about the homely little Western.

"I said, 'It loses money. Not making money causes problems,'" Michael says. "He took the loss. Until we sold it two or three years later, he took the loss. You don't have people like this any more.

"He sincerely cared about his people. There are some people who talk about it. My dad always cared about his employees, and he had a fabulous pension plan."

I asked the son about his father's generation of royal casino characters who managed to trade notoriety for secular salvation in the land where gambling was legal.

"Everyone else is gone," Michael Gaughan says, wistfully. "Even people you don't know about. He's the last one."

Here's to the town that had such kings in it.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. you dont get it wrote on October 25, 2009 08:34 PM: To slot idiot, You'll never get it. For better or worse, it's our history. These old guys are "our guys." And, it's going to be a sad day in Vegas lore when none of them are left. They built the town, they employed our parents, and some of them gave a little back too! It wouldn't surprise me if you weren't from here the way you spewed your B.S. about remembering them and the famous addresses they built. Then again, you're a nobody and what you do it what all nobodies do...talk sh&t. John L, keep on writing about the Gaughns, Stupaks, and other "men" who took a chance and with a little personal touch and business savvy built Downtown Las Vegas. And if nobodies like slot idiot don't like it they can move to Baker CA, climb to the top of the thermometer and sit on it for all I care. Kevin Drew wrote on October 25, 2009 05:44 PM: My father always said that Jackie had the magic touch. My father was at the El Cortez with Jackie when at the stroke of midmight Dec 31 1963 they started there journey. My father said it was the best 25 years of his life. I remember asking my dad why he drank VO and ginger. He replied, im drinking what Jackie's drinking ! I hope to be able to thank Jackie in person for everything he did for our family. God Bless The USA and God Bless Jackie. Greatful wrote on October 25, 2009 05:18 PM: i have worked for Jackie 16ys he is everything you have said and more. love him. he was a great boss and yes he did clean his casino and never had anyone with him just one of the guys.He always greeted us by name and gave free dinner cert. He is a great man and the best boss you could ever have.His birthday party was great Saturday yea i still work there.see him all the time.I am greatful to have met him and still know him.Downtown is safer then the strip and cleaner no pee smell no garbage or homeless.Metro on bike all nite and day.i have been on fremont at 1am many times and never had a problem.I enjoyed myself and so did my sons. love the light show.El cortez is the cleanest hotel/casino i have ever seen.they clean it all day and nite.go to website ecvegas.com and see for yourself.Slot idiot has no clue about what he is talking about must be from other planet. hope he gets a life.i wouldn't want to work for another place. cmg Slot idiots wrote on October 25, 2009 02:29 PM: John, Those who like your columns are the type like the poster who said it would be a great family outing to tour downtown Las Vegas to see all the old joints. Yes, bring the kids, smell the urine, marvel at the meandering homeless who are drug soaked and mentally ill, see the stained carpets, and smell the cigar and cigarette smoke dripped curtains and walls...for fun, peek at the disgusting bathrooms with lovely comments on the wall,,,and remember how wonderful these titans of the gaming industry are....gently stroke your chin as you ponder how nice Mr. Jackie would be if you wanted your rent money back... yeah, they are all a bunch of real princes these dice hacks are...what they are is nothing more than saloon keepers with a roulette wheel and poker chips. Nothing wrong with that, but for Christ's sake Smith, stop with the apotheosis of the Gaughans of the world who are no more or less than a gambling and gin joint purveyor. They ain't so caring if you TAKE their money. jerry wrote on October 25, 2009 01:39 PM: i met jackiein 88 at the elks club we were watinging in the outer room waiting to enter i asked him about somebody in omaha who he said he knew he bought all his meat from him you would see him in the elcortez picking up paper from the floor what a class act butch junior wrote on October 25, 2009 12:29 PM: John, I always enjoy reading your column in the online edition of the LVRJ. Today's article about Jackie Gaughan reads like a " Happy Birthday " walk down memory lane, about a truly colorful character. My wife and I saw him having dinner at his special table at the Plaza several years ago, with the great view straight down Fremont Street. It's sad to think he's the last of his generation of true La Vegas characters. Jason wrote on October 25, 2009 11:48 AM: I can't wait for the book on this great colorful Las Vegan. I hope someone is creating a book before he may leave us and we may lose some great stories about downtown Vegas throughout the years. Gregorio wrote on October 25, 2009 10:09 AM: When Stupak was young and I was younger running his casino, we would run out of money who would bail us out? Jackie or Benny would anytime day or night.No loan papers,just your word.Those days are over.Those people had honor and were respected for it. son of old vegas wrote on October 25, 2009 06:58 AM: Great story John! It gave me an idea that some fruitcake marketing firm can use to remember these old guys. Downtown needs a trail for tourists to follow that shows them the beginnings of downtown and the guys who took chances to make it work. Boston has a trail where you can see Paul Revere's house and other monuments and you can stop and read about it. WE CAN DO THE SAME THING DOWNTOWN WITH OUR RICH HISTORY OF GAMING OPERATORS AND ESTABLISHMENTS. Get rid of the fremont street experience! It's what stifling growth. You want people to stop in front of your joint, give them a reason to read a short blurb and small pic about the history of that address. Maybe they'll have a connection somehow and want to come in and see how it is now. Make it a trail and advertise it so people can have a map and follow it around to ALL THE HOTELS DOWNTOWN. What a great family outing! And every joint left down there can have an audience to attract business. You'll even get people from the "strip" to come down and see the history of Las Vegas as it once was. Let's remember the Benny Binions, Bob Stupaks, Jackie Gaughans, Steve Wynns, and other colorful characters and addresses. It won't work if you have a ceiling like the fremont street EXPERIMENT. Scrap it and lets use our natural history to draw the people back. Just a take from a son of the old vegas guys who toiled for years in these joints to help build our city. God bless Las Vegas! God bless Jackie Gaughan!