Venue History
The Lucky Casino opened its doors on May 6, 1963, at 117 E Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, following an extensive four-month remodeling of the former Lucky Strike Club location. Helmed by general manager Al Garbia—a seasoned gaming executive with a career spanning the early days of the Sahara, Fremont, Aladdin, Hacienda and California hotels—the Lucky Casino aimed to capture a vibrant slice of downtown’s growing gaming scene. One of its most eye-catching features was a monumental 17-story neon sign built by the Young Electric Sign Company. Weighing an astounding 60 tons and adorned with three miles of neon tubing and over 11,000 lamps, it dominated the skyline and competed directly with neighboring icons like the Golden Nugget. Inside, the new casino added modernization—notably a second-floor bingo parlor and the city’s only escalator at the time. The grand opening celebration on May 16, 1963 featured over $10,000 in cash prizes and promotions such as “win your weight in silver dollars”— bold marketing befitting the era’s neon-soaked charm. Despite its flash and ambition, the Lucky Casino’s lifespan was relatively short. It operated only until about 1967 before being shuttered. Though relatively brief, the Lucky Casino stands as a vivid snapshot of mid-1960s Las Vegas—a time when downtown still held its own in the shadow of the growing Strip. With its colossal grandiose sign, modern amenities and promotional flair, the property embodied a transitional moment in the city’s gaming history. Today, while the physical casino has long since vanished, the legacy of Lucky Casino and its flamboyant presence on Fremont Street lives on in vintage photographs and the collective memory of a city built on reinvention and spectacle. The property upon which Lucky Casino sat is now a part of the Golden Nugget complex.
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