Arizona Charlie's Decatur is a 258-room hotel and casino with a

locals casino A locals casino is a casino designed primarily to attract residents of the area in which it was built rather than tourists or vacationers. The term is most commonly associated with casinos in Nevada, United States, to distinguish them from casino ...

in the Charleston Heights area of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is owned and operated by

Golden Entertainment Golden Entertainment is an American gaming company based in Enterprise, Nevada that operates casinos, taverns and slot routes. It was formed in 2015 by the merger of Golden Gaming (founded in 2001 by Blake Sartini) and Lakes Entertainment. It is ...

History

Arizona Charlie's Decatur (and

Arizona Charlie's Boulder Arizona Charlie's Boulder is a 301-room hotel and a locals casino located in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It is owned and operated by Golden Entertainment. It is located on Boulder Highway between Boulder Station and Sam's Town. History A ...

) are the results of original efforts by the Becker family, long established developers in Las Vegas. In 1963, just south of a shopping project on Decatur, between Charleston Boulevard and what was formerly West Fremont Street (presently now

US 95 US Route 95 (US 95) is a major north–south US Highway in the western United States. It travels through the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho, staying inland from the Pacific Coast. US 95 begins in San Luis, ...

), the Becker family built Charleston Heights Bowling, a bowling alley with 36 lanes and slot machines. Their son Bruce Becker came to Las Vegas in 1971 and was put in charge of running Charleston Heights Bowling. He made the decision to expand the bowling alley into a casino. The casino's namesake was a distant relative, "Arizona" Charlie Meadows, a performer in

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but he lived for several years in ...

. The $18 million casino resort opened in April 1988. It underwent a $40 million expansion in 1994, when the 31-year-old bowling alley,

Vons Vons is a Southern California and Southern Nevada supermarket chain owned by Albertsons. It is headquartered in Fullerton, California, and operates stores under the Vons and Pavilions banners. It was owned by Safeway Inc. and headquartered in Ar ...

supermarket and former location of Pistol Pete's/Peter Piper's Pizza were demolished to make way for a larger casino, quickly becoming a neighborhood favorite and local's hangout. In November 1997 investor

Carl Icahn Carl Celian Icahn (; born February 16, 1936) is an American financier. He is the founder and controlling shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, a public company and diversified conglomerate holding company based in Sunny Isles Beach. Icahn takes l ...

bought a majority of Arizona Charlie's mortgage notes, making him the bankrupt resort's largest creditor. Icahn fought for control of Arizona Charlie's throughout the bankruptcy process. In July 1998, Bruce Becker's $92 million loan from

United Healthcare UnitedHealth Group Incorporated is an American multinational managed healthcare and insurance company based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. It offers health care products and insurance services. UnitedHealth Group is the world's seventh largest c ...

collapsed and ownership of the property passed to Carl Icahn and

American Casino & Entertainment Properties American Casino & Entertainment Properties (ACEP) owned and operated 4 casinos. It was purchased by Golden Entertainment in October 2017 for $850 million. ACEP was a casino holding company headquartered at the Stratosphere Las Vegas. ACEP was a wh ...

(ACEP). In January 2000, American Casino & Entertainment Properties purchased Sunrise Suites on Clark County's Boulder Highway for $43.3 million. The property was renamed

, as a companion name to Arizona Charlie's Decatur. The two properties are apart, with a third ACEP property, Stratosphere Tower located approximately midway between the two. In October 2017, Golden Entertainment closed its $850 million purchase of

which expanded the company's casino portfolio by four: the

Stratosphere Las Vegas The Strat Hotel, Casino and SkyPod (formerly the Stratosphere) is a hotel and casino located in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It includes a observation tower, the tallest in the United States. It is also the second-tallest observation tower ...

, Arizona Charlie's Decatur and the

Aquarius Casino Resort The Aquarius Casino Resort (formerly Flamingo Hilton Laughlin and Flamingo Laughlin) is a hotel and casino located on the banks of the Colorado River in Laughlin, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Golden Entertainment and is the largest hotel i ...

References

External links

Arizona Charlie's website

{{Golden Entertainment 1988 establishments in Nevada Casino hotels Casinos in the Las Vegas Valley Golden Entertainment Hotel buildings completed in 1988 Hotels in Las Vegas

History

See also

References

External links