Downtown Casino figures late 1970's

This photo from the late 1970's shows some of the prominent casino owners and executives Jimmy Powers, Benny Binion, Steve Wynn, Jeanne Hood, Bill Boyd, Kenny Epstein, Ted Binion, Andrew Zorn, Mel Exber

This photo from the late 1970's shows some of the prominent casino owners and executives of an earlier downtown Las Vegas. It floated around the internet for years and raised questions about who some of these figures were.

It is undated, unsourced, and never had any names attached to the faces. A few of the figures are well known and others were more of a mystery as they weren't as often photographed and identified. So I spent a few months researching the unknown figures including correspondence with contemporaries of the people in the photograph and also one of the actual people in the photo!

I am 99.97% sure of all of the identities. (I never say 100%)

Here's a little information on the figures in the photo from left to right:

Jimmy Powers-

Identified from a newspaper photo from June 5, 1977 as manager of the Fremont Hotel Casino under the Argent Corporation. He replaced Frank Fertitta in January of 1977 when he moved from the Stardust.

Benny Binion –

Owner of the Horseshoe and gambling pioneer. There's plenty of information out there on Benny. I am not going to repeat it here!

For a great read on his life I recommend:

Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, the Texas Gangster Who Created Vegas Poker by Doug Swanson

Steve Wynn-

In 1973 at the age of 31, Steve Wynn bought controlling interest in the Golden Nugget. Jackie Gaughn owned 25% of the Nugget and mentored the less experienced Wynn. I think you recognize his name from the current huge properties on the Las Vegas Strip that are emblazoned with his name. Looking at the guy in the picture with the tank top and sandals is a good lesson not to judge people by first impressions.

Jeanne Hood-

President of Elsinore Corp. which was owned by the Hyatt Corp. (Pritzker Family) Jeanne Hood made history in Las Vegas as one of the first women to run a major hotel-casino. She operated the Four Queens from 1977 until 1993 and helped with the revitalization efforts of downtown in the early 1990s.

Read more about her interesting life at: UNLV

Bill Boyd-

The son of Sam Boyd, one of the earliest downtown Las Vegas casino owners. Bill and Sam opened the California Casino in 1975. Along with then Golden Nugget owner Steve Wynn, the Boyds were the driving force behind the development of the Fremont Street Experience, which opened in 1995. Today, Boyd Gaming is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, operates 22 hotel-casinos in eight states and employs more 24,000 workers nationwide.

Kenny Epstein-

In 1975 Kenny Epstein became a partner in the El Cortez. He first met the El Cortez owner Jackie Gaughan in Lake Tahoe in 1956 when Epstein was just 15 years old. Kenny is now the The El Cortez CEO and Chairman and personally verified some of the identities in this photo.

Ted Binion-

In 1973 Ted was reported as a 20% owner and secretary treasurer of the Horseshoe. He was one of two sons of Benny Binion along with his brother Jack Binion who at the time had 52.5% of the stock and was president. Benny also had three daughters, Barbara, Brenda, and Becky who were involved with the family run operation. Throughout Ted's life he struggled with drugs and alcohol which finally cost him his stake in the Horseshoe. He died on Sept. 17, 1998, at the age of 55.

His life and murder is the stuff of crime novels including Quicksilver, an account of the courtroom drama as reported by Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist and photographer John L. Smith and Jeff Scheid.

Andrew Zorne-

Zorne served as Mint keno director in 1968 and was named assistant general manager in 1973. In 1974 he served as general manager of Del Webb's Kuilima (Hawaii) for one year before returning as Mint general manager.” (from WEBB SPINNER March/April 1982)

John Elardi-

Brothers John and Tom Elardi were part of the Famous Pioneer Club. Their mother, Margaret Inez Elardi, owned the Famous Pioneer Club from June 29, 1967 to December 31, 1982.

Mel Exber-

In 1949, "Sky's-the-limit" Mel Exber, was the manager of Benny Binion's Eldorado Club's new Sports Events department. He went on to become one of the key figures in Las Vegas. He was a one-third partner, along with Jackie Gaughn and Lawrence Hezzelwood in the Las Vegas Club in 1961. He was involved as an owner in many of the downtown casinos including the El Cortez, Club Bingo, Plaza, Western, Gold Spike, and Barbary Coast. In the early 1970's Mel Exber and Jackie Gaughan even owned Fremont Street's Glitter Gulch strip club.