My first trip to Las Vegas was in the spring of 1969. I was a 21 year old Army draftee Pfc on a 3 day pass.
Played poker, blackjack and/or craps at the Bonanza, Dunes, Mint, Landmark, and the (old) Aladdin. Drove by the Stardust, Desert Inn, Sands, etc. All of these casino/hotels are now gone.
Howard Hughes was living on the top floor of the Desert Inn, but I never saw him. A young Kirk Kerkorian had just built the largerst hotel in the world (International) and he would repeat this feat twice more in Las Vegas. Elvis was in town playing at the International - but he was all washed up so why go see his show?
Walked into Binions Horseshoe downtown and found no poker room. They didn't have one until a few years later when they bought the next door Mint Casino. I had read about the 1950 poker match between Nick the Greek and Johnny Moss in the front doorway. I guess I thought they were still there. NOTE: The first WSOP was held at Binions Horseshoe later in 1969.
Walked thru the Flamingo without knowing what I was looking for. Yow -- at that time it still had much of the original Bugsy Sigel buildings etc. Also, Johnny Moss was the poker room manager there.
Dunes (current site of Bellagio) was on my "must see" list. I played some blackjack there and did find their poker room. Lost $1.75 playing 7 stud and left. If only I had known that this was the location of the big game and the big players were all there.
Heard of the Tropicana Casino - but it was WAY out there on Tropicana Ave. Who would ever go WAY out there?
Stayed at the Bonanza Casino and Hotel on the LV Strip. Current site of Ballys
It was a Western themed casino with wood floors and decor. Played my first casino poker there. Game was straight 7 stud. Ante and minimum bet was 25 cents. Max bet was $2. Game was a mix of tourists and locals with a lot of old Jewish men. One player was an off duty showgirl wearing nothing under a loose fitting V-neck shirt. She would "peek out" whenever she put chips into the pot. Las Vegas was making a good first impression on me. I won a couple bucks in the game and decided to just take the winnings in 25 cent chips back home with me. Those chips are now chip collector rarities and sell for about $300 each. Where did I put them all?
Bonanza Casino had all the casino games. I was trying to play Blackjack and do a simple card count. As long as I tipped the dealer, he would help a little as long as the pit boss didn't hear. One time a dealer even exposed his hand to me. He had the Jack of Spades as his up card and went to check his hole card. When I looked back the Jack of Clubs was face up. Hmmm. I hit my 18 and busted. The player next to me said what a terrible player I was and then he lost to the dealers 20.
Went to the Craps table with 5 $1 chips. Table had no players - just a boxman, stickman and two dealers. I truthfully told them I really didn't understand the game, but wanted to learn. They took their time and explained all the bets and led me thru it. I got to experiment with most of the bets and was learning how it all worked when I lost the last of my $5. The boxman then tossed me another 5 chips and told me to keep betting. I was now a casino shill. By the next night I was a Craps regular and shot dice at a table with Wolfman Jack.
I really enjoyed my first trip to Las Vegas and was anxious to return - which I did - a mere 28 years later in 1997.
