Bob Stupak
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Robert Edward Stupak (April 6, 1942 – September 25, 2009) was a Las Vegas casino owner and entrepreneur. He was also a poker player, winning titles at the World Series of Poker and the Super Bowl of Poker. He also competed on the World Poker Tour, and various other tournaments, as well as cash games, including High Stakes Poker on GSN. He once played a computer for half a million dollars and won.


Early life

Bob Stupak was the son of Chester and Florence Stupak. He was born in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. Chester Stupak ran a dice game called the Lotus Club in Pittsburgh for over 50 years. Stupak as a teenager was mainly interested in motorcycle racing, and once ranked third in the world after breaking a speed record.


Gambling career

Stupak moved back to Las Vegas in 1971. He bought the Vault casino in downtown and changed its name to Glitter Gulch. He created a cowgirl sign named Vegas Vicki to match the Vegas Vic sign at the Pioneer Club. Stupak bought a parcel north of
Sahara Avenue Sahara Avenue is a major east-west roadway in the Las Vegas Valley. The former State Route 589 (SR 589) comprised a large portion of the street. The roadway is named after the Sahara Hotel and Casino, which itself is named after the Sahara ...
at
Las Vegas Boulevard Las Vegas Boulevard is a major road in Clark County, Nevada, United States, best known for the Las Vegas Strip portion of the road and its casinos. Formerly carrying U.S. Route 91 (US 91), which had been the main highway between Los Angel ...
South. On March 31, 1974, Bob Stupak's World Famous Historic Gambling Museum opened. "The name was about longer than the casino", Stupak recalled years later. On May 21, an air conditioner caught fire and the building burned down. Two years later, Valley Bank's Perry Thomas loaned Stupak a million dollars to build the original Vegas World on the site of the former gambling museum. In 1979. Stupak opened Bob Stupak's
Vegas World Vegas World was a space-themed casino and hotel on Las Vegas Boulevard in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was owned and operated by Bob Stupak, and was also signed as Bob Stupak's Vegas World. Stupak initially opened a small casino, Bob Stupak's World Fa ...
hotel and casino known for its promotions and the world's largest sign (which later blew down in a wind storm), and new twists on games, including the world's first quarter million and million dollar jackpot. At its peak in the mid-1980s, Vegas World grossed in excess of $100 million per year. In the meantime, Stupak donated $100,000 to the United Negro College Fund in exchange for a chance to play with the Harlem Globetrotters. He got his wish, and his appearance on the court in a Globetrotters uniform during one of their games shooting hoops made international news. Then, taking a page from
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
with his ''Trump'' board game, Stupak came up with his own board game he called ''Stupak'' after Trump declined his million dollar challenge for charity playing ''Trump: The Game''. In the mid-1990s, Stupak was inducted into the Gambling Hall of Fame. Stupak's unique promotions included the world's first one quarter million dollar jackpot followed shortly thereafter by the world's first million dollar jackpot. He also was wildly successful with his direct-mail marketing called the "Vegas Vacation Club" that enticed vacationers to Vegas World with what was almost a cost-free vacation package including room, meals, and vouchers for casino play. Participants returned year after year and spread the word until hotel occupancy was 100% year round. In 1987, Stupak was considering the purchase of a local television station, as well as starting a weekly newspaper. In 1988, Stupak was the chairman of the newly formed Committee for Olympics in Nevada, and advocated for the Summer Olympic Games to be held in Las Vegas in 1996 or in 2000. In 1989, Stupak won a widely publicized million-dollar wager on
Super Bowl XXIII Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...
. Later that year, he won the Deuce to Seven Lowball championship
bracelet A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a supportive function to hold other items of decoration, suc ...
at the
World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker p ...
and the Super Bowl of poker at Caesars Palace, both times edging out world-renowned lowball poker legend Billy Baxter for the championship. One of Stupak's most talked about promotions came when he paid a daredevil one million dollars to jump off the top of Vegas World, then charged him a $990,000 landing fee. In 1990, Stupak approached the mayor and city council with a plan to build the largest free-standing sign in the world. His plan was for an 1,800-foot-tall neon sign that would tower over Las Vegas. Then-Councilman Steve Miller, an airline instructor pilot, convinced Stupak to redesign the structure to include an observation deck. Miller took Stupak for a flight over Vegas World in Miller's private plane. There they circled for over an hour at altitudes ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 feet watching the sun set. Stupak told Miller that to not share such a beautiful sight would be a sin, and he immediately went to work revising his plans to include a restaurant and amusement rides at the top of what was then to be called the "Stupak Tower". Stupak held a press conference and announced his plan with the caveat that his tower would be the icon of Las Vegas, and Steve Wynn's Mirage would be two miles from him, not the other way around. Within a year of Stupak's announcement, the construction on the tower began. In 1995, Stupak suffered a motorcycle accident, breaking every bone in his face and going into a coma. Although the initial prognosis was that he would not survive, Stupak's next of kin, son Nevada Stupak, approved a non-FDA-approved experimental drug to reduce the swelling to his head and brain. Stupak recovered, although with lingering health problems. At the time of his motorcycle crash, Stupak was developing what had become known as
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 ...
, the largest structure west of the Mississippi and top 10 tallest structure in the world. The accident was only three weeks after Stupak agreed to bring in fellow poker player buddy
Lyle Berman Lyle Arnold Berman (born August 6, 1941, in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American professional poker player and business executive. Business Berman grew up in Minnesota and attended the University of Minnesota where he was graduated in 1964 wi ...
and his company Grand Casinos in as investors in the project, in large part due to the $550 million in capital they agreed to invest. This was Grand Casinos' big opportunity to enter the Las Vegas market due in large part to the overwhelming success in the Indian gaming market. Stupak called this the most difficult decision of his life as he had never had a partner and was always sole owner. The tower opened in late April 1996, making it the third most expensive casino development in history at the time; within a year Stupak was out as Chairman of the Board and the project ultimately ended as a financial disaster. Stupak lost nearly $200 million personally. Stupak continued to plan Vegas projects, including a purchase of the
Moulin Rouge Hotel The Moulin Rouge Hotel was a hotel and casino located in West Las Vegas that was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1992. Although its peak operation lasted only six months in the second half of 1955, it was the first dese ...
and a huge hotel shaped like the RMS ''Titanic'', but these endeavors never bore fruit. Stupak appeared in the first season of the GSN series ''
High Stakes Poker ''High Stakes Poker'' is an American cash game poker television program. The poker variant played on the show is no limit Texas hold 'em. The first four seasons ran from January 16, 2006 to December 17, 2007 on GSN. The next three seasons ran f ...
''. He also appeared at a final table during the first season of the
World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the f ...
. As of 2008, his total live tournament winnings exceeded $865,000. With his World Series of Poker Bracelet in the Deuce to Seven Championship and his wife Sandy in the Casino Owner's Championship at Binion's Horseshoe, they were the first husband-and-wife combo to hold WSOP bracelets.


Political career

Stupak ran for mayor of Las Vegas twice. In 1983, Stupak ran against then-current mayor William H. Briare, as well as six other candidates. Stupak came in second place, with 33.1 percent of the vote, losing to Briare, who attained 62.5 percent and won re-election. Stupak ran for mayor again in 1987, and clashed often with the media. During the campaign, Stupak released financial documents that indicated his net worth at about $54 million. Stupak almost succeeded in being elected mayor. After defeating a dozen other candidates in the primary, Stupak forced an incumbent city council member into a runoff general election contest. Following what many believed was a tampered vote count, Stupak lost the election. In 2006, Stupak unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat for
Lieutenant Governor of Nevada The lieutenant governor of Nevada is a constitutional officer in the executive branch, executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Nevada. The lieutenant governor maintains an office in Carson City, Nevada at the Nevada State Capitol and i ...
.


Personal life

While in Australia, Stupak was briefly married to Annette Suna, and they had a daughter, Nicole. From 1971 to 1985, Stupak was married to Sandra Joyce Wilkinson, and had two more children, Nevada and Summer.


Death and legacy

Stupak died of
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
on September 25, 2009, at 67. In February 2016, the Las Vegas Planning Commission and the Las Vegas City Council unanimously approved the renaming of one block of Baltimore Avenue as Bob Stupak Avenue. The renaming occurred on Stupak's birthday, April 6, 2016, as part of a 20th anniversary celebration held for the Stratosphere on the property's south side, near the corner of Baltimore Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard. A community center and a park named after Stupak are located near the Stratosphere. The community center was opened in 1992, and was demolished in 2010, to be replaced by the new Stupak Park. A new Stupak Community Center was opened on January 4, 2010. The new facility is 34,183 square feet and cost $7.5 million to construct. The community center celebrated its 25th anniversary in January 2017.


References


Further reading

*Smith, John L. 1997. ''No Limit: The Rise and Fall of Bob Stupak and Las Vegas' Stratosphere Tower''. Huntington Press.


External links


The Great Chip Caper Horseshoe redeems chipsWorld Poker Tour ProfileHendon Mob tournament resultsPokerListings.com Player Profile


{{DEFAULTSORT:Stupak, Bob 1942 births 2009 deaths American poker players American casino industry businesspeople Deaths from cancer in Nevada Deaths from leukemia Nevada Democrats People from the Las Vegas Valley Businesspeople from Pittsburgh Super Bowl of Poker event winners World Series of Poker bracelet winners American people of Polish descent 20th-century American businesspeople