The D Las Vegas Casino Hotel (formerly Fitzgeralds) is a 34-story, 639-room hotel and casino in

downtown Las Vegas Downtown Las Vegas (commonly abbreviated as DTLV) is the central business district and historic center of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is the original townsite, and the Downtown gaming area was the primary gambling district of Las Vegas prior to the St ...

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 ...

, owned and operated by

Derek Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of '' Diederik'', the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler". Common variants of the name ar ...

and Greg Stevens. The D is located at the eastern end of the

Fremont Street Experience The Fremont Street Experience (FSE) is a pedestrian mall and attraction in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. The FSE occupies the westernmost five blocks of Fremont Street, including the area known for years as "Glitter Gulch", and portions of some ot ...

. It has a casino, several restaurants, a business center, and a pool. The casino has more than 1,000 slot machines and 22 table games located on two floors. It is the tallest building in downtown Las Vegas and the second-tallest inside the city limits, having been surpassed by

Allure Las Vegas Allure Las Vegas is a condominium tower in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 41-story, tower was built between 2005 and 2007 and was designed by EDI Architecture. Construction was managed by Bovis Lend Lease. A second tower was to be built on property adja ...

in 2007. As Fitzgeralds, it had a "luck of the Irish" theme, with

shamrock A shamrock is a young sprig, used as a symbol of Ireland. Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity. The name ''shamrock'' comes from Irish (), which is the diminutive of ...

s and a

leprechaun A leprechaun ( ga, leipreachán/luchorpán) is a diminutive supernatural being in Irish folklore, classed by some as a type of solitary fairy. They are usually depicted as little bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, who partake in mischief. I ...

. In fall 2012, The D completed a property-wide renovation and rebranding to replace the Irish theme.

History

Sundance Hotel (1980–1987)

The Sundance Hotel opened on July 2, 1980 on land owned by

Moe Dalitz Morris Barney Dalitz (December 25, 1899 – August 31, 1989) was an American gangster, businessman, casino owner, and philanthropist. He was one of the major figures who shaped Las Vegas in the 20th century. He was often referred to as "Mr. Las V ...

. Dalitz, an organized crime figure, faced difficulty from the Gaming Commission, so the casino was nominally run by his associates, Al Sachs and Herb Tobman, who also owned the Stardust and Fremont casinos. In 1983, Sachs and Tobman faced suspension of their gaming licenses due to charges of skimming. Dalitz applied to manage the Sundance himself, but the Gaming Commission stalled on his application, until July 1984, when he agreed to surrender management to

Jackie Gaughan John Davis Gaughan, Sr. (October 24, 1920 – March 12, 2014) was a casino owner and operator from the early 1950s in Las Vegas, Nevada. He had an ownership stake in many casinos throughout his career, but he is best known for his ownership of th ...

until the casino could be sold.

Fitzgeralds Hotel and Casino (1987–2012)

Finally, in 1987, the Sundance was sold to Lincoln Management Group (later Fitzgeralds Gaming) and renamed as Fitzgeralds Las Vegas. In December 2001, with Fitzgeralds Gaming in bankruptcy,

The Majestic Star Casino, LLC The Majestic Star Casino, LLC was a gaming holding company founded in Gary, Indiana by Don H. Barden and was based in Las Vegas, Nevada. History The company was formed on December 8, 1993. It opened the Majestic Star Casino in Gary, Indiana on J ...

, owned by Don Barden, bought the property, along with two other Fitzgeralds casinos in Colorado and Mississippi, for a total of $149 million. At that point, Barden became the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

casino owner in Las Vegas. Barden separated Fitzgeralds Las Vegas from the Majestic Star umbrella two years later, to free it from restrictions imposed by the company's lenders. Barden began a multimillion-dollar renovation of the property, including the buffet, steakhouse, and showroom. New exterior paint was also applied. The renovations were successful and resulted in increased customer visitation. In February 2006, Barden announced that a nearby office building had been purchased for relocation of his company, Barden Nevada Gaming, which had been operating on the 12th floor of Fitzgeralds. The move would free up space in Fitzgeralds that could be redeveloped. In May 2008, it was reported that Barden was pledging the property to generate a $35-million equity stake in a slots-only casino in Pittsburgh, making a sale likely for Fitzgeralds Las Vegas. It was subsequently reported, however, that Barden had no need to sell Fitzgeralds to maintain a stake in the slots-only casino in Pittsburgh and that it would remain an asset which he could use to generate cash for his struggling gambling portfolio. In October 2011, several months after Barden's death, his estate sold Fitzgeralds to brothers

and Greg Stevens, majority owners of the

Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by th ...

casino. Derek took a 78% ownership share, with 22% for Greg.

The D Las Vegas (2012–present)

The new owners completed a $22 million renovation and rebranding to become the D Las Vegas in Fall 2012. The letter D stands for "downtown", and also refers to Derek Stevens' nickname, and the Stevens' hometown of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. The remodel gave the property a more modern feel, including the addition of dancing dealers in table games. The second-floor casino has a "Vintage Vegas" theme featuring the only operational

Sigma Derby Sigma Derby is an electro-mechanical horse race used for gambling manufactured by Japanese manufacturer Sigma Game Inc. and introduced in 1985. Up to ten players can buy in with quarters and place bets on the five horses; a quinella of two hors ...

game in Las Vegas. The multimillion-dollar renovation upgraded all of the guest rooms and created luxury suites. The D also added a fine Italian steakhouse, Joe Vicari's Andiamo Italian Steakhouse, and opened the first

American Coney Island A Coney Island is a type of restaurant that is popular in the northern United States, particularly in Michigan as well as the name for the Coney Island hot dog after which the restaurant style is named. Origins "Coney Islands", as they are ...

outside of Michigan on the building's Fremont Street frontage. The property also features three distinct bars: Longbar, said to be the longest bar in Nevada at just fewer than 100 feet long; D Bar – a permanent outdoor bar on Fremont Street Experience featuring flair bartenders as well as dancing bartenders; and Vue Bar inside the second floor casino. The property's Fremont Street façade was enhanced with the addition of an exterior escalator and interactive video exhibition created by former Cirque du Soleil producer Roger Parent, which together feature more than 40 giant flat-screen monitors combined with hundreds of feet of LED signage. Parent is also responsible for the casino's interior escalator which uses LED technology and music depicting vintage imagery to transport guests to the vintage second-floor casino. In 2013, the D expanded into hosting

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

events as the venue hoste
Lion Fight
11, a

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

Tournament. The main event featured a match between

Tetsuya Yamato is a Japanese Lightweight kickboxer. He won the Japanese national K-1 tournament as a Lightweight in 2010. Background Yamato was born in Chita, Aichi, Japan on December 10, 1987 as Tetsuya Iwashita. He took the name Yamato in honour of his gy ...

, former WBC Muay Thai Japan Champion, and Kevin Ross, an American Muay Thai boxer. In addition, Lion Fight 11 was featured on

AXS TV AXS TV is an American cable television channel. Majority-owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, it is devoted primarily to music-related programming (such as concert films, documentaries, and reality series involving musicians) and combat sport ...

, a company founded by

Mark Cuban Mark Cuban (born July 31, 1958) is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor whose net worth is an estimated $4.8 billion, according to ''Forbes'', and ranked No. 177 on the 2020 ''Forbes'' 400 list ...

. In late 2013, the D became the first casino in the world to accept

bitcoin Bitcoin ( abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distr ...

for hotel rooms, restaurants, and gift shop items. Additionally, a

bitcoin ATM Bitcoin ATMs (Automated Teller Machine) are kiosks that allows a person to purchase Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by using cash or debit card. Some Bitcoin ATMs offer bi-directional functionality enabling both the purchase of Bitcoin as well ...

was installed next to the gaming floor where customers can buy and sell bitcoin instantly for cash. In February 2017, The D added an exterior video wall promoted as the "World's Largest Keno Board", displaying a live feed of keno numbers as they're drawn inside the casino.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:D Las Vegas Casinos in the Las Vegas Valley Downtown Las Vegas Skyscraper hotels in Las Vegas Hotels established in 2012 2012 establishments in Nevada Casino hotels