Sam's Town Hotel And Gambling Hall, Las Vegas
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Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Las Vegas, also known as Sam's Town Las Vegas, is a
hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...
and
locals casino A locals casino is a casino designed primarily to attract residents of the area in which it was built rather than Tourism, tourists or vacationers. The term is most commonly associated with casinos in Nevada, United States, to distinguish them fro ...
in
Sunrise Manor, Nevada Sunrise Manor is a census-designated place in Clark County, Nevada, United States, located on the western base of Frenchman Mountain, east of Las Vegas. The population was 205,618 at the 2020 census. If Sunrise Manor were to be incorporated, ...
, located east of
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
. It is named after
Sam Boyd Samuel A. Boyd (April 23, 1910 – January 15, 1993) was an American entrepreneur, casino manager and developer. He was noted for introducing successful marketing, gambling and entertainment innovations into the casino gambling industry, as ...
, and is owned and operated by
Boyd Gaming Boyd Gaming Corporation is an American gaming and hospitality company based in Paradise, Nevada. The company continues to be run by founder Sam Boyd's family under the management of Sam's granddaughter, Marianne Boyd-Johnson, who currently serv ...
. It includes a casino, a nine-story hotel with 646 rooms, and an RV park. Sam's Town opened in March 1979, with 204 rooms. The property would expand multiple times to add new features, including a 56-lane bowling alley in 1981. The original hotel rooms were later demolished to make way for the nine-story tower, which opened in 1994. The tower's atrium includes an indoor park, which serves as the venue for a nightly laser and water show. Another expansion, completed in 2000, included the addition of a movie theater. From 1998 to 2014, the property sponsored the
Sam's Town 300 Stock car racing events in the NASCAR Xfinity Series have been held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada since the track opened in 1997. Currently, the track holds two Xfinity Series races. The 300-mile (480 km) spring race is ...
, an annual
NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...
race held at nearby
Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway (track complex formerly known as Las Vegas Speedway Park from 1993 to 1996, Las Vegas Speedway in 1992, Las Vegas International Speedway from 1990 to 1992, as the Las Vegas International Speedrome from 1972 to 1990) is a ...


History

Sam's Town was announced in April 1978. Named after local businessman
Sam Boyd Samuel A. Boyd (April 23, 1910 – January 15, 1993) was an American entrepreneur, casino manager and developer. He was noted for introducing successful marketing, gambling and entertainment innovations into the casino gambling industry, as ...
, it would be operated by him and his son Bill, owners of the
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
hotel-casino in
downtown Las Vegas Downtown Las Vegas (commonly abbreviated as DTLV) is the central business district and historic center of Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is the original townsite, and the Downtown gaming Las Vegas, Downtown Gaming Area was the primary gambl ...
and the Eldorado casino in nearby Henderson. Bill Boyd traveled between the two casinos daily along
Boulder Highway State Route 582 (SR 582) is a major highway in the Las Vegas Valley. The highway is the former route of U.S. Route 93 (US 93) and US 95 (and, historically, US 466) before they were moved to the current freeway alignment sh ...
, where he owned one-fourth of a five-acre site. He and his partners eventually purchased the full site and adjacent acreage, all of which would be used for Sam's Town. The site was considered desirable because of its high vehicle traffic, but due to its remote location at the time, executives in the gaming industry were skeptical that the project would succeed. As Bill Boyd later recalled, "They said 'You must be out of your mind going out into the desert to build a casino.'" Sam's Town was built along the Boulder Strip, which would later include rivals
Boulder Station The Boulder station is a retired train depot in Boulder, Colorado. It was originally built in 1890 in downtown Boulder to serve as a depot for the Union Pacific railroad. The depot was built in a modified Richardson Romanesque style from nativ ...
and Arizona Charlie's Boulder. Before Sam's Town was announced, Sam Boyd had wanted to build a hotel in Henderson, although he encountered problems in his effort to do so.
Groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, turf-cutting, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such cer ...
for Sam's Town took place on September 6, 1978. The hotel portion opened in early March 1979, and the casino debuted on March 22. Sam's Town opened with an
Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...
theme and was decorated in Sam Boyd's favorite colors: red, black and gold. The property included 204 rooms in a three-floor hotel, which surrounded a swimming pool. The casino had 400 slot machines and 21 table games. Other features included a banquet room with seating for 400 people. The property cost $12 million. Sam's Town was built as a
locals casino A locals casino is a casino designed primarily to attract residents of the area in which it was built rather than Tourism, tourists or vacationers. The term is most commonly associated with casinos in Nevada, United States, to distinguish them fro ...
and became a popular gathering place among area residents, who would make up nearly 85 percent of its clientele as of 1999. The brand also expanded to other locales, with Sam's Town Gold River (1984), Sam's Town Tunica (1994), Sam's Town Kansas City (1995), and Sam's Town Shreveport (2004). The original Sam's Town in Las Vegas would be expanded many times. Plans for an RV park were approved by the county six months after the property opened. In 1981, Sam's Town added the Western Emporium, and a 56-lane bowling center, which would go on to host numerous tournaments. In 1983, gaming space was expanded in a $3.5 million project that included a 600-seat bingo room and a larger poker room. In 1985, to deal with high demand for its
sports book A sportsbook is a venue where a gambler can wager on various sports competitions, such as golf, football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, soccer, horse racing, greyhound racing, boxing, and mixed martial arts. The method of betting varies wit ...
, the casino added a drive-through feature, inspired by a similar concept already present at a casino in
Laughlin, Nevada Laughlin () is an unincorporated community in Clark County, Nevada, United States. Laughlin lies south of Las Vegas, in the far southern tip of Nevada. As a resort town, it is known for its gaming and water recreation. As of the 2020 census, t ...
. A $25 million expansion took place in 1987. It included an enlargement of the casino floor, new restaurants, and a parking garage. The project also added 293 spaces to the RV park, for a total of 500. Sam Boyd died in 1993, at the age of 82. Construction of a nine-story hotel tower began later that year, as part of another expansion project completed in 1994. The original hotel rooms were demolished to accommodate the tower, which has 646 rooms. The 1994 expansion also added two new restaurants, a food court, a sports bar, and a second parking garage. From 1980 to 1998, the studios of Nevada Public Radio were located in a separate building on the Sam's Town property. In 1998, the property began sponsoring the
Sam's Town 300 Stock car racing events in the NASCAR Xfinity Series have been held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada since the track opened in 1997. Currently, the track holds two Xfinity Series races. The 300-mile (480 km) spring race is ...
, an annual
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
race held at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway (track complex formerly known as Las Vegas Speedway Park from 1993 to 1996, Las Vegas Speedway in 1992, Las Vegas International Speedway from 1990 to 1992, as the Las Vegas International Speedrome from 1972 to 1990) is a ...
. It would be renamed the Boyd Gaming 300 in 2014. Sam's Town has also been the site of race registration and awards banquets for the Silver State Classic Challenge. By 1998, Sam's Town sought to broaden its customer base beyond the 55-to-65 age demographic, hoping to attract both younger and older clients. The property was also considered too small to meet customer demand. An $86 million renovation and expansion took place from 1999 to 2000, a project which toned down the property's country theme. The Western Emporium was gutted to make way for more casino space, and other new features included an updated buffet, a pool, a child-care center, and a third parking garage. Sam's Town also added an 18-screen Century Theatres facility, which would help it to compete against newer, nearby rivals
Boulder Station The Boulder station is a retired train depot in Boulder, Colorado. It was originally built in 1890 in downtown Boulder to serve as a depot for the Union Pacific railroad. The depot was built in a modified Richardson Romanesque style from nativ ...
and Sunset Station. Another new feature was Sam's Town Live, a 1,050-seat showroom, which helped to broaden the property's client base.
The Killers The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bas ...
, a Las Vegas-based band, named their 2006 album ''
Sam's Town ''Sam's Town'' is the second studio album by American rock band the Killers. It was released on September 27, 2006, by Island Records. Regarding the album, frontman Brandon Flowers noted that he "wanted to create an album that captured, chrono ...
'' in honor of the property. From 2007 to 2008, Sam's Town spent $20 million on upgrades to remain competitive, as the opening of nearby Eastside Cannery approached. Changes included sports book improvements and dining updates. In 2014,
Boyd Gaming Boyd Gaming Corporation is an American gaming and hospitality company based in Paradise, Nevada. The company continues to be run by founder Sam Boyd's family under the management of Sam's granddaughter, Marianne Boyd-Johnson, who currently serv ...
made a deal for the RV park to rebrand as a
Kampgrounds of America KOA (short for Kampgrounds of America) is an American franchise of privately owned campgrounds. Having more than 500 locations across the United States and Canada, it is the world's largest system of privately owned campgrounds. It was founded ...
franchise. A new restaurant, Angry Butcher Steakhouse, debuted in 2016. As of 2017, the casino includes of gaming space. In 2023, it became the last known casino to remove Full Pay Deuces Wild, a variant of
video poker Video poker is a casino game based on five-card draw poker. It is played on a computerized console similar in size to a slot machine. History Video poker first became commercially viable when it became economical to combine a television-like mo ...
known for its vulnerability to advantage play.


Atrium and show

The hotel tower has an atrium which includes a indoor park, Mystic Falls, on the ground floor. This area includes trees, pathways, streams, a faux mountain and waterfall, and decorative building facades. During the day, these features are illuminated by sunlight from the atrium's glass ceiling. The atrium's walls are lined with hotel room windows that overlook Mystic Falls. Since its 1994 opening, Mystic Falls has featured a free, nightly laser and water show. At the end of each year, Mystic Falls and the show are updated with a Christmas theme, making them a popular holiday attraction among locals. The Christmas show is accompanied by fake snow and
animatronic An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions. Anim ...
animals, which are synchronized to music. The show was updated in 2011, to include brighter lasers. File:Sam's Town atrium in Las Vegas (2015).jpg File:Las Vegas. Sam's Town. 03.jpg File:Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, Las Vegas.jpg File:Las Vegas. Sam's Town. 01.jpg


References


External links

* {{Boyd Gaming 1979 establishments in Nevada Boyd Gaming Buildings and structures in Sunrise Manor, Nevada Casinos in the Las Vegas Valley Landmarks in Nevada Hotels established in 1979 Casino hotels in the Las Vegas Valley