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STARDUST HOTEL CHIPS

Wednesday, November 1, 2006 ·

Stardust sees last roll of dice

By RYAN NAKASHIMA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

LAS VEGAS -- The Stardust, the neon-wrapped casino with a mobbed-up past whose 1,065 rooms once set the standard for size on the Las Vegas Strip, witnessed its last roll of the dice Wednesday.  Wistful longtime employees and loyal gamblers gathered for a last farewell to the iconic 48-year-old institution, which is to be razed early next year to make way for Boyd Gaming Corp.'s planned $4 billion Echelon Place resort.

The Stardust opened July 2, 1958, as the world's largest hotel and catered to middle America with $6-a-night rooms and low-minimum stakes gambling. But as bigger, classier casinos sprung up around it in the late 1980s and '90s and patrons began shelling out more for rooms, food and drinks, its luster began to fade.

The resort became as famous for its familiar friendliness as its mob connections. In the 1995 movie "Casino," Robert DeNiro played a character inspired by the finely tailored Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, who ran the hotel-casino in the mid-1970s.

 

He truly was Cadillac sharp all the time," said Mickey Jones, a drummer and actor who appeared as a guest on Rosenthal's television broadcast from the hotel. "When the mob ran this town, everything functioned like clockwork."  Cocktail waitress Emma Houston remembered how Rosenthal sent money to make her mortgage payment when she was hospitalized for surgery in 1974. "They knew everybody by name, not by badge," she said. "It was different back in that day."

In its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, Elvis Presley would drop by. Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown co-hosted a radio show from the sports book. One night, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin showed up at the "Moby Dick" restaurant in the Stardust, just as chef Frank Perkins, now 60, was closing. He reopened in a hurry. "Sinatra said, 'You can cook for me anytime,'" Perkins said. "So I will never forget that."

With the 1980s came a crackdown by Nevada regulators on organized skimming from the casino cages. Boyd was brought in as an operator in 1983, and bought the Stardust in 1985 when the mobbed-up owners lost their gambling license.

While the explosion of upscale resorts - starting with The Mirage in 1989 - reinvigorated Las Vegas, it wasn't long before Boyd chairman Bill Boyd realized Stardust's best days were behind it. "We saw a new wave of Las Vegas reinventing itself," he said. "We saw many new properties with new amenities that we didn't have. We started to realize before too many years that we would have to implode the Stardust and start over."

The property's decline could be charted in more ways than one.

In its last throes, Boyd signed crooner Wayne Newton in 2000 to a five-year deal to become its headline performer as the company focused its marketing on the older, nostalgic crowd. But even its frequent players list was losing steam as the clients simply aged. For the past several years, the Stardust has resorted to a swinging couples convention, "Lifestyles," to fill its rooms for a week in the summer.

The new resort, Echelon Place, is expected to open in mid-2010 with more than 5,000 hotel rooms, two theaters, a shopping mall and more than 1 million square feet of meeting space.

Stardust memorabilia will not be lost. The company is auctioning off equipment, photos and other mementoes beginning Nov. 17. And its famous 18-story Stardust sign is being donated to the Neon Museum, a local nonprofit group that hopes to restore it.

 

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STARDUST $1 CASINO CHIPS, 10 Gram
Price ... $5.00 each

The Stardust  Hotel Casino has just closed. Here are the 48 year commemorative $1 chip purchased the last day the casino was open from the casino cashier. They are 10 gram and real clay.

STARDUST $1 METAL INLAY CHIPS
Price ... $5.00 each

The Stardust  Hotel Casino has just closed. Here are metal inlay $1 chip purchased the last day the casino was open from the casino cashier.

500 Chip Case - Aluminum Hard Side

Price: $25.95 for empty 500 chip case

These chip cases will offer the most protection for your investment. They are made of heavy duty, yet lightweight aluminum available in brilliant silver. The interior is Green felt-like material with space for 500 chips 2 decks of cards and 5 dice.


300 Chip Case - Aluminum Hard Side

Price: $21.95 for empty 300 chip case

These chip cases will offer the most protection for your investment. They are made of heavy duty, yet lightweight aluminum available in brilliant silver. The interior is Green felt-like material with space for 300 chips 2 decks of cards and 5 dice.


Solid Wood 500 Poker Chip Box

Price: $59.95 for empty 500 chip case

This beautiful OAK chip carrying case holds 500 casino chips. There are five individual 100 chip trays that are removeable from the master case. The hardware is made of solid brass. The handle is also produced from OAK. The inside of the case is lined with green colored felt. This is a very nice case and well worth the money.

Solid Wood 300 Poker Chip Box

Price: $39.95 for empty 300 chip case

This beautiful OAK chip carrying case holds 300 casino chips. There are three individual 100 chip trays that are removeable from the master case. The hardware is made of solid brass. The handle is also produced from OAK. The inside of the case is lined with green colored felt. This is a very nice case and well worth the money.

Mahogany 750 Chip Case

Price: $119.95 for empty 750 chip case

This beautiful dark mahogany poker chip case is one of the finest cases we have ever sold. At first glance it may resemble a fine cigar humidor. It is a deep dark stained mahogany and is very solid. Made of 1/2 inch pieces of solid mahogany wood, this case is as solid as could be. The finish on this case is a smooth polished lacquered finish. The tray inside is removable revealing a bottom layer that holds chips and playing cards. The woodwork on the inside and outside is as fine as any piece of furniture in your house.

The hardware on this case is solid brass. There are 2  well built handles that are very strong and artistic in design. The best feature of all on this case is the key lock to keep your poker chips secured. The key itself is artistic and also fits in with the decor. It is an old style key made from solid brass with a tassel hanging from it. This is a collector's item as well as a fully functional chip case for the person who appreciates the finer things in life. 

For a finishing touch on this fine piece, there is a solid brass name plate that is ready for engraving (engraving not offered). Once you receive this case you will want to get the name plate engraved and then you can easily mount it on the case as it has an adhesive surface on the back.

The top rack in this case comfortably holds 450 chips and the bottom rack holds 300 chips for a total chip capacity of 750 chips. Also on the bottom there is enough space for 2 decks of cards and a dealer button for all your Texas Hold'em games. Chips, cards and button sold separately.

The case is 13 inches by 12.5 inches and stands 6.25 inches high when in the closed position.

Mahogany 500 Chip Case

Price: $79.95 for empty 500 chip case

This beautiful dark mahogany poker chip case is one of the finest cases we have ever sold. At first glance it may resemble a fine cigar humidor. It is a deep dark stained mahogany and is very solid. Made of 1/2 inch pieces of solid mahogany wood, this case is as solid as could be. The finish on this case is a smooth polished lacquered finish. The tray inside is removable revealing a bottom layer that holds chips and playing cards. The woodwork on the inside and outside is as fine as any piece of furniture in your house.

The hardware on this case is solid brass. There are 2  well built handles that are very strong and artistic in design. The best feature of all on this case is the key lock to keep your poker chips secured. The key itself is artistic and also fits in with the decor. It is an old style key made from solid brass with a tassel hanging from it. This is a collector's item as well as a fully functional chip case for the person who appreciates the finer things in life. 

For a finishing touch on this fine piece, there is a solid brass name plate that is ready for engraving (engraving not offered). Once you receive this case you will want to get the name plate engraved and then you can easily mount it on the case as it has an adhesive surface on the back.

The top rack in this case comfortably holds 300 - 340 chips as the bottom rack holds 200 - 230chips for a total chip capacity of 500 chips.  Also on the bottom there is enough space for 3 decks of cards. 

The case is 12 3/4 inches by 9 3/16 inches and stands 5 inches high when in the closed position.

Mahogany 100 Chip Case

Price: $19.95 for empty 100 chip case

This beautiful dark wood poker chip case is one of the finest cases we have ever sold. At first glance it may resemble a fine cigar humidor. It is a deep dark stained wood and is very solid. The finish on this case is a smooth polished finish. It not only holds 100 of your finest poker chips, but also 2 decks of cards and 5 dice as well. The woodwork on the inside and outside is as fine as any piece of furniture in your house.

The hardware on this case is solid brass. A small but powerful magnet holds the cover shut, which adds to the simplistic elegance of this case. Its black felt bottom will protect any table top and helps the case from slippage. This is a collector's item as well as a fully functional chip case for the person who appreciates the finer things in life.

The case measures 8 3/8 inches by 7 7/8 inches and stands 2 5/16 inches high when in the closed position.

500 Chip Capacity Glossy Wood

Price: $79.95 for empty 500 chip case

Elegant cigar humidor look alike wood chip case with space for 500 chips, 2 decks of cards and 5 dice. Has handles on both sides for carrying. Removable top tray inside holds 300 chips.  (Chips, Cards and dice not included.)