By Tom Crosby

Las Vegas has taken on many guises in its evolution from a small city in the desert with 5,000 residents when it was incorporated in 1911 (gambling was legalized in 1931) to its recent elevation as the number one tourist destination in the United States with 40 million visitors annually.

The metamorphosis to a 24/7 party town began in the 1960s with the Rat Pack - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford - and legendary entertainers like Liberace and Elvis.

As the Rat Pack aged and the number of tourists/gamblers sagged in the 1990s, the image of a family destination with family entertainment was enthusiastically courted by the city fathers.

Casinos began offering video games, circus shows, rope climbs, children entertainment centers and participatory events for children too young to pull a slot machine handle. New hotels like Excalibur, Treasure Island, Circus Circus and Luxor marketed heavily to families with children.

Trips to Hoover Dam, Lake Mead (the largest man-made lake in the state) and Boulder City (the only city in Nevada without public gambling) were boosted as attractive alternatives to spending hours in windowless, clockless casinos listening to the chimes of slot machines or watching dealers shuffle cards.
Circus Circus, Stardust, Frontier and Excalibur still cater to families, among other casinos.
           
Vegas on TV
Today “Sin City” is all about adult entertainment, fueled by fabulous celebrity chef restaurants and top ranked television drama (CSI), a game show (King of Vegas), televised poker championships (World Series of Poker, Celebrity Poker Challenge) and a seemingly nonstop advertising campaign with the slogan: “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”

Professional poker players receive national endorsements, and casinos that closed their poker rooms because of too few players have reopened and expanded them with great success.

“The interest in poker has just exploded,” said Michael Matts, 39, manager of Caesar Palace’s poker room, which hosts World Poker Tour events and is the largest poker facility in Nevada, according to Matts.

“More and more people are learning to play by watching television,” said Matts, “so we see people of all ages and genders.”

Two modern mega-corporations vie for control of the town once dominated by billionaire Howard Hughes. His legacy still exists, and Hughes Corporation owns property slated to become the site high-rise luxury condominiums).

Harrah’s, which is a bigger corporation worldwide, includes Bally’s, Paris, Rio, Flamingo and Caesar Palace. MGM has more rooms in Las Vegas and operates hotels such as Mandalay Bay, Mirage, Luxor, Bellagio and Treasure Island.
Independents still exist however, like Wynn Las Vegas, owned by developer Steve Wynn and a popular luxury hotel.  

Vegas Facts
The average stay is 2.5 days, with 87 percent of visitors spending an average of $545 each, gambling for about 3.3 hours per day, but 5 percent of Las Vegas' revenue is from hotel and restaurants. Slot machines are the most popular type of gambling, followed by blackjack. Poker has yet to make it into the top three. Total amount gambled - more than $33 billion.

• Museums and art galleries, such as the Liberace,  Neon and Guggenheim-Hermitage museums and the Donna Beam and Bellagio art galleries.
• With 13 of the 120 Master Wine Sommeliers in the world, Las Vegas has the highest concentration in the United States. More than 30 top chefs work in Vegas and it is considered one of the top five restaurant cities in the nation. Cooking classes are becoming popular. Mandalay Bay offers a full tasting menu.
• More superstar entertainers and production spectaculars appear in Vegas than in any other city. Nightclubs that rock from late evening to sunrise and beyond testify that Vegas is the “city that never sleeps.”
• Year-round natural attractions include several breath-taking parks within a two-hour drive, like Red Rock Canyon, Mt. Charleston and Mojave National Preserve.
• More than a dozen world-class spas have sprung up to cater to hands-on relaxation requests, including the Spa by Mandara at Paris Las Vegas and The Spa at the Palms.

And if Vegas hasn’t changed enough in its 95-plus years, consider that there are currently $24 billion in construction or renovation projects underway. What will Vegas be like 10 years from now?