Jackie Gaughan

EARLY LIFE

Las Vegas casino owner John “Jackie” Gaughan poses outside is his El Cortez casino on April 22, 1965. Gaughan, a Las Vegas gambling pioneer who once owned much of the downtown casino market. Photo Courtesy: Las Vegas News Bureau

Jackie Gaughan, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, first visited the Las Vegas area in 1942, serving as a gunnery instructor for the U.S. Army Air Corps at both Tonopah and Nellis Air Force Bases. The city left an indelible mark on Gaughan who, upon reintegrating into civilian life, moved to the city with his wife, Bertie, and their two young sons, Michael and John, in 1951. Gaughan received further encouragement from his mother, who helped him invest in the Flamingo Hotel & Casino on the famous Las Vegas Strip. Despite this initial foray into the industry, a vast majority of Gaughan’s work was handled in the downtown area, to the extent that Gaughan himself was christened “Mr. Downtown Las Vegas,” and served as an unofficial ambassador to the area until his passing in 2014.

Born John Davis Gaughan on October 24, 1920 to parents Kitty and Michael Gaughan, Jackie followed in his father’s footsteps by earning his living as a bookmaker. When bookmaking began to face increased legal scrutiny in Omaha, and with the added financial incentive from his family, Gaughan uprooting his family to Las Vegas made sense. The first instances of Gaughan working as a bookmaker in the city appear in 1953, in which he and his longtime business partner, Mel Exber, provided odds on everything from college sports to presidential election outcomes. By 1958, the duo were referred to by the Las Vegas Review-Journal as the “oldest and most reliable sports bookmakers in Southern Nevada.” Gaughan leveraged this success by investing into the city’s downtown, in two properties that would go on to be massive parts of his legacy: the Las Vegas Club and, perhaps most notably, the El Cortez Hotel & Casino, in 1961 and 1963, respectively.

DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS

While Gaughan would go on hold more gaming licenses than any other single property owner in the city—sources range from seven to over a dozen—the property he is most associated with is the El Cortez Hotel & Casino. Gaughan and Exber, alongside original El Cortez founder J. Kell Houssels, Jr., rung in 1963 by purchasing the property for an estimated $4.3 million, announcing plans to invest an additional $5 million in expansions to the property, which would include 700 rooms, multiple swimming pools, and a multistory parking setup. These expansions and renovations continued through the 1960s and 1970s, and by 1980, Gaughan and his wife called the top floor penthouse of the El Cortez their permanent home. While Gaughan and his associates opened and acquired properties such as the Union Plaza, Barbary Coast, and Gold Spike Hotel, experiencing various degrees of success and through numerous legal roadblocks, the El Cortez was a constant not just in Gaughan’s career, but also in his personal life.

Gaughan was a fixture at the El Cortez throughout his tenure as property owner, giving out free candy on holidays and passing out coupons and vouchers to visitors on the gaming floor. In 1984 alone, Gaughan gave away an estimated $6.8 million in “comps” to El Cortez patrons, which included nearly $2 million in food, $1.6 million in alcohol, and nearly $600,000 in free hotel rooms. When questioned about his generous business mentality, Gaughan told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “Maybe I’m too free and easy and just a giveaway guy, but [comps are] good for business.” While others might have categorized Gaughan as “too free and easy,” he was undoubtedly a shrewd businessman who frequently missed meals and family vacations to tend to his various properties, often handling his business or conducting negotiations out of a booth at the El Cortez’s coffee shop, the Café Cortez.

In true Jackie Gaughan fashion, reflecting on his business ethos, he humbly stated, “When you like your work, it really doesn’t tear you up.”

LEGACY

Then-Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, left, presents a key to the city to casino legend Jackie Gaughan in front of the El Cortez Cabana Suites, 600 E. Fremont St., on Oct. 13, 2008. Photo Courtesy: Larry Cruikshank

Jackie Gaughan sold the El Cortez Hotel & Casino in 2008 to longtime friend and business associate Kenny Epstein, who still owns the property to this day. Even after his retirement, Gaughan was a fixture on the gaming floor, greeting guests and talking with employees, and he always had a desk reserved for him in the offices of the El Cortez. Gaughan called the El Cortez home from 1980 until his passing in 2014, at 93-years old. He was fondly remembered by his peers, with Epstein telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “Las Vegas lost a legend today and [the] El Cortez lost its patriarch in Jackie.” Gaughan’s funeral was attended by politicians, friends, and peers, including Steve Wynn and Jack Binion.

In the community, Gaughan was equally as known for his philanthropy as he was for his business endeavors or personal life. Gaughan was awarded with an Alumni Merit Award from his alma mater, Creighton University, and was active with the Boy Scouts of America, the Rebels Club, United Way, and he was named Irishman of the Year by the Las Vegas Chapter of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in 1970. Today, his former top-floor penthouse at the El Cortez bears his name, as does a chapter of the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada, the Multicultural Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a plaza located in the heart of downtown Las Vegas, just steps away from front doors of the El Cortez, through which Gaughan started and ended his workday for over half a century.

Remembering his father in a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal in the wake of his passing, Michael Gaughan stated, “Downtown is where Jackie belonged.”