RIP Stardust! Thoughts, Memories?

[MR. LOCK]

Wow. Just found out that the Stardust closed it's doors for the last time yesterday.

The Stardust was my favorite Casino. It was a no frills casino without the glitz and glamour. The Stardust was the place 4 the real gambler. You didn't have 2 worry about some stupid Beetch or some rich fu@k hitting on 16 when the dealer is showing 16. When playing Craps u didn't have 2 worry every 5 minutes of some dumb fu@k askin how do play this game?

Memory lane:

The first time I gambled at a casino was at the Stardust. I played craps and got on a big-time roll. I had the dice 4 45 minutes. I only made $700 because i was young and didn't have much scratch. I rememeber when the roll was over the Pit boss coming over 2 me and asking me my name and address. I was scared. I thought that I was going 2 get banned. I later found out that he wanted the info 4 a "rating".

I also remember that I bet 5K on a pre-season game at the Stardust. I bet the game early. I had the 49ers -5 1/2.The line closed @ 49ers -5 I don't remember the other team.I watch the whole game at their sportbook. It was the 4th 1/4, less than a minute left in the game, the 49ers were down by 2, their 3rd string 1/4 back was in the game. They scored a touchdown with 15 seconds left in the game. Seifort was the coach. Now the 49ers r up by 4. I'm yelling like a mad man seiford go 4 2!!! Most everyone else had the 49ers -5 or the other team +5. I remember everyone telling me 2 shut up. They would all be satisfied with a push. As it turns out Seifort callls a time out. They break 4 a commercial. I'm pacing back and forth and saying go 4 2!! They break from commercial and the 49ers line up 4 the 2 point conversion. the 1/4 back drops back throws a pass in the end zone and TOUCHDOWN!!. The 49ers take a 6 point lead and i'm jumping up and down and all the people who backed the 49ers -5 were all high fiving me. High five was big in the early nineties 4 u young folk. I cashed in and had a long and profitable night at the craps table.

Mr. lock

 

[Terryray]

posted this while back in Vegas question thread:

posted this while back in Vegas question thread:

Stardust was gonna close later in year, with the sportsbook going first, but employee shortages (they announced the closure in January) have forced them to move up the date.

the famous sportsbetting radio show "The Stardust Line" had it's final broadcast June 30. The final weekend b'cast was June 25.

They had free food and soft drinks for the cheapskate hungry sports bettor crowd that night--- I showed up 10 minutes late and almost missed out on it :mj07:


Dave Cokin, Alan Boston and such reminisced about the history. But no one there was around when Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal did the show.

Lefty's also the one who created the big theatre style mega-sportsbook that every place on strip has copied, and was rather glamorously depicted in the movie "Casino".


the old gal has alot of history, and more fossil viewing pleasure was available as genuine Las Vegas headliners close the showroom and hotel in final week---Steve and Eydie Gorme!


Then the implosion, but implosion parties aren't what they used to be in Las Vegas. After a string of them, and 9/11, they've kept these events rather lowkey.

Noticed Stardust website took down other day


the friday night heads-up Stardust Invitational Handicapping tourney is now on KSHP 1400-AM and called "Money Talks". It is hosted by Leroy's sportsbooks, out of the Silverton Casino location. Same format with handicapper explaining each selection and very informative.

They haven't been doing so well, tho.


"Echelon Place", the $4 billion dollar project replacing the Stardust (and more property, totalling 63 acres) is supposed to open mid 2010.

 

[danmurphy jr]

Best Sportsbok on the Planet.!

 

[IntenseOperator]

I know I was there a number of times...

I just have no memory of it.

 

[smurphy]

$9.95 steak and lobster!

 

[bjfinste]

My first-ever trip to Vegas was at the Dust. Have spent many a hour in the sportsbook. It's a shame.

 

[alb]

I have one of my best memories here. The last time I was in Vegas I stayed there. I was best man at a wedding. They were using the hotel to film Saved By The Bell; Wedding in Las Vegas. Sounds cheesy but at that time, it was my 2nd favourite show (Cheers 1st). I got to meet the main cast. Played craps with Tiffani Amber....talked to future porn star Dustin. Even watched game 7 of the NY Rangers Stanley Cup victory with Mark-Paul (a bit egostical).
For the record....you can't tell on TV but Lark Voorhies had one of the best bodies I've ever seen (I stuttered like a love-sick nerd when talking to her). We got to stay on sets....appear in the background etc... I still reminesce when I see the movie filling air time at 4am.

Yea I know....lame!!!

My friends are still married.

 

[Another Steve]

Stayed there once, SEX was Great, traveled to others mostly but SEX was Great

 

[ageecee]

1st time i went to vegas all i did was stay at the Stardust sportsbook. Do you remember the Westward Ho? thats where i stayed about 20 yrs ago and we would walk to the Stardust everyday.

Is the Westward Ho still there?

 

[zoomer]

1st time i went to vegas all i did was stay at the Stardust sportsbook. Do you remember the Westward Ho? thats where i stayed about 20 yrs ago and we would walk to the Stardust everyday.

Is the Westward Ho still there?

Westward Ho has been closed one year. Do you remember the "HO" Dog.? Their 1 Lb hot dog made from the finest Moose Lips in Nevada?

 

[Terryray]

the HO!

the HO!

In my po' days I ate more than a few of those gutbuster Ho Dogs!

some folks can't believe someone can eat the ho thing. Especially with cheese and chili, you taste that fine meal for hours afterwards!

A luxury hi-rise condo was to be developed at Ho property, but that fell thru.

Harrah's got the parcel, and traded it (with others) recently to Boyd gaming for their Barbary Coast property. It will be folded into the Echelon development of the Stardust parcel.

 

[maverick2112]

Westward Ho has been closed one year. Do you remember the "HO" Dog.? Their 1 Lb hot dog made from the finest Moose Lips in Nevada?

One night I was playing BJ at the "Ho" and started with about $4000 ...(lots of college student loan funds)....was going to bet pro and college foots for the weekend so brought every nickel I had.........started drinking and getting lit up pulling 100 bills out of my wallet........sure enough I was on a losing streak from hell and getting drunk........and then getting really PISSED off.........I look into my wallet and my wad of 100 bills has dwindled to almost nothing........I count my $$$ and have a measley $400 left.........so I am down 3600 in a matter of a couple of hrs playing 25 to 100 a hand..........so I take that $400 and start playing 2 hands at $200 each.......I couldnt even believe I had alreadly blown all my $$........I then proceed to go on a streak that I will never forget..........I must have won for the next 30 minutes hand after hand at $400 a pop and doubling down here and there.........I turned that $400 into $9000..........Man what a party after that..........the pit boss calls me over after I am ready to leave the table and gets my name and addy ...........for the next few years I would get these deals for rooms at the Westward Ho for almost nothing but after awhile I guess they figured I wasnt really much of a big player except for that night so I didnt get invited back.........I remember a I would get one of those apartment like rooms with a jacuzzi right outside the door..........a McDonalds right across the parking lot..........and next to the McDonalds..........the door into the Duster's Sportsbook..........I REMEMBER THINKING TO MYSELF "HELL A GUY COULD LIVE HERE "..........WHAT MORE DOES A GUY NEED.........AN APARTMENT, FOOD, A SPORTSBOOK, CHICKS RUNNING AROUND, ALL WITHIN AN EARSHOT OF EACH OTHER..........it seemed like heaven.............

 

[Taximike]

I also remember that I bet 5K on a pre-season game at the Stardust. I bet the game early. I had the 49ers -5 1/2.The line closed @ 49ers -5 I don't remember the other team.I watch the whole game at their sportbook. It was the 4th 1/4, less than a minute left in the game, the 49ers were down by 2, their 3rd string 1/4 back was in the game. They scored a touchdown with 15 seconds left in the game. Seifort was the coach. Now the 49ers r up by 4. I'm yelling like a mad man seiford go 4 2!!!

I remember this game well. I was younger and dumber, and me and a couple friends went together on a 'service', which ended up being a scamdicapper; Well they had the niners for like 10 stars or something for this preseason game and i got the line at 5, but my buddies got it at 5.5 like you did. I was rooting for going 4 the xp, but as luck would have it this was the year the nfl introduced the 2 point conversion, so the niners wanted to practice it. What a sweet win that was, thanks for reminding me of it. (Course the scamdicappers taught us a lesson in the next few weeks, but that's another story)

First place i stayed in vegas was the stardust, in the "motor lodge" in the back. Rooms were a joke, but i liked em cause we could pull our rental car right up to our door. Ill remember the stunning (but not over the top) neon purple lighting on the stardust tower as we drove on the strip to the hotel for the first time.

 

[MR. LOCK]

:toast:

I remember this game well. I was younger and dumber, and me and a couple friends went together on a 'service', which ended up being a scamdicapper; Well they had the niners for like 10 stars or something for this preseason game and i got the line at 5, but my buddies got it at 5.5 like you did. I was rooting for going 4 the xp, but as luck would have it this was the year the nfl introduced the 2 point conversion, so the niners wanted to practice it. What a sweet win that was, thanks for reminding me of it. (Course the scamdicappers taught us a lesson in the next few weeks, but that's another story)

First place i stayed in vegas was the stardust, in the "motor lodge" in the back. Rooms were a joke, but i liked em cause we could pull our rental car right up to our door. Ill remember the stunning (but not over the top) neon purple lighting on the stardust tower as we drove on the strip to the hotel for the first time.

We're freakin sick gamblers:mj08: Remembering a pre-season game but I love it:spotting: I can't believe someone else remembers this game. Taximike u r my friend 4 life!

BTW lets not forget the Slot of Fun!. I used 2 get juiced up there first. Back in the day .50 cent Corona or Heineken.:toast:

Here's another story. I was at the Slots of Fun getting juiced up before a Rush concert at Thomas and Mack. Back then I didn't know anything about slots. Not thats its that difficult. Anyways while buying time I decided 2 play the Slots. I remember my flight # was 777. I decided 2 play a dollar machine that had 777 on it. I put in about 10 dollars in the machine and sure enough it came in 777. I was eleated but wait no money or sirens r going off!! WTF I said. I rang the bell and said WTF. The attendant looked @ me kind of strange and said ."there's nothing wrong with the machine" "you have to put in $3 to win the jackpot" :cuss: I sure learned a hard lesson. Would have won 3 large. Huge money for the Slots of Fun.:mj07:

Mr. Lock

ps: Sorry for reminiscing, I just can't help myself:shrug:

 

[Phenom]

I still have some outstanding sportsbook tickets for the 2007 NCAA Football BCS championship, are those tickets worthless now??? :scared

 

[zoomer]

I still have some outstanding sportsbook tickets for the 2007 NCAA Football BCS championship, are those tickets worthless now??? :scared

If they say Auburn on them they are.
JK.

I believe Nevada law states funds must be available for any wager accepted and held in an escrow type account in case of such circumstances.

Buit here is a link to Boyd gaming where you can email them with questions. My guess is one of their other properties(The Orleans maybe) will honor that bet.

http://www.stardustlv.com/site/contact/

 

[Taximike]

If they say Auburn on them they are.

:142smilie :mj07: :142smilie

 

[Senor Capper]

The closing of the Stardust this week marks the end of an era ? the era of jeweled-and-feathered showgirls, bargain-priced gaming, a gangster heritage and middle-class appeal.

In a few months, probably in April, what?s left of the Stardust will be leveled and, in its place, construction will begin on Boyd Gaming?s ultra-chic, 5,300-room Echelon Place project.

Following the lead of other upscale resorts on the Strip ? Bellagio, The Venetian, Palazzo, Wynn Las Vegas ? Echelon Place will be an upscale mega-property replete with a hotel, condominiums, entertainment, dining, shopping and other amenities,

Although many will agree that the Stardust had grown tired and ordinary in recent years, there?s no question that since it debuted on July 2, 1958, the resort was more often than not a trend-setter and hot spot on the Las Vegas Strip.

When it opened it was the largest resort in the world, boasting 1,065 rooms and the largest swimming pool in Nevada. Its casino floor was also the biggest in Nevada.

Despite the bright neon lights and retro architecture, the Stardust had plenty of middle-class appeal. In 1958, its hotel rooms started at $8 a night and remained cheaper than other Strip hotels for decades.

Like many of the other Strip resorts, such as the Riviera, Sands and Dunes, the Stardust relied on innovative and sometimes spectacular entertainment to gain favor with the Hollywood crowd.

The resort?s first stage spectacular was the tantalizing Lido de Paris. The show debuted on the Stardust?s opening night, attracting more than 10 million people in its first 17 years.

One of the Lido?s biggest attractions was the topless showgirls, who a newspaper reviewer once promised were "all very artistic and not offensive." Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper reported that during the show?s early run, 1,000 people were turned away every night.

Lido de Paris also featured jugglers, mimes and ice skaters, and it also launched the career of Siegfried & Roy who catapulted to stardom while playing to packed audiences every night.

In subsequent years, the Stardust opened a golf course, car racing track and drive-in theater on the property. It also featured Las Vegas? first sports book (see accompanying page 1 story), with a record-high betting limit of $100,000 (most limits ranged from $1,000 to $5,000).

If anything could upstage the Stardust?s entertainment offerings and casino action, it was the hotel?s mob connections.

In 1976, the Stardust was exposed by Nevada investigators as a Mafia front and accused of skimming more than $7 million ? in quarters! ? off its slots for distribution to Midwestern mobsters.

The Stardust?s owner, Allen Glick, was forced to sell the casino. Another top Stardust boss and sports book founder, Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, against whom Glick testified, was banned from Nevada casinos. Rosenthal later survived an attempt on his life, but his business associate, mob-affiliated Tony Spilotro, wasn?t so lucky. He and his brother turned up dead in an Indiana cornfield.

The Rosenthal era was loosely chronicled in the movie "Casino," the story of the last great mob scandal in Las Vegas.

It wasn?t long after the Rosenthal scandal that the Boyd Gaming Corp. acquired the property.

The Stardust had a few successes in the intervening years, most notably scoring Wayne Newton as a headliner.

But its glory days were in the past. By the mid 1990s, the Lido de Paris had closed, the Stardust?s signature sign had lost its space-age font and its all-you-can-eat buffets and discount slots had become standard fare for Vegas.

When the Stardust shuts its doors, Las Vegas will have lost another of its colorful links to its Sodom & Gomorrah past, a past in which people came to town to cast off their sins and revel in decadence, at least for awhile.

The Stardust will have gone from the world?s largest hotel to just another "grind operation" on the Strip, from glamour to middle-class normalcy.

And, as we?ve seen so many times before, normalcy here is a prelude to the wrecking ball.

 

[Blazer]

I won my first poker chip in the Stardust.

I still have it today.

I use it as my card cover, it is orange and white with a metal center. I thought it was pretty freaking cool when i won it.


Thanks Stardust. :sadwave:

 

[Taximike]

I use it as my card cover, it is orange and white with a metal center. I thought it was pretty freaking cool when i won it.

I thought they were so cool, i bought and took $200 worth of those one dollar chips and used em in my house game for years. (till it got raided, and i suppose they are now in some Akron policmans house game)