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The
Golden Nugget is generally described, not least in its own
brochures, as being the one downtown casino that matches the
extravagance and splendor of the Strip. It doesn't. It's a bright,
glittery place that attracts a much more up market clientele than any of
its neighbors, but it's also deeply boring, and very far indeed from
counting as a must-see destination.
The
Golden Nugget has always regarded itself as a cut above its downtown
rivals. It opened in 1946, the same year that the Flamingo was unveiled
on the Strip, with a decor modeled on the opulent saloons of
nineteenth-century San Francisco.
Golden Nugget' significance today, however, is as the place where Las Vegas' premier gaming entrepreneur, Steve Wynn , gained his first
foothold in the casino business.
During the early 1970s, the young Wynn - then a liquor distributor and
real-estate speculator - accumulated enough shares in the ailing Nugget
, together with inside knowledge of corruption among its staff, to
engineer a boardroom coup in 1973.
The
Nugget swiftly prospered under his control, aided by the addition of its
first hotel rooms in 1977. That enabled Wynn first to develop another
Golden Nugget in Atlantic City, and subsequently to build the Mirage,
Treasure Island , and Bellagio on the Strip. Like all those properties,
the Golden Nugget now belongs to the combined MGM-Mirage conglomeration,
while Wynn himself owns Wynn Casino on the Strip.
Although successive remodeling have ensured that the Nugget gleams like
new, it still looks very much like a product of the 1970s, with more
than a hint of Graceland about its long, neat rows of gold-painted light
bulbs, little white leatherette stools for slots players, and plump,
white padded chairs at the gaming tables. On the plus side, at least the
casino proper is well lit and high ceiling, and much less gloomy than
most.
Those parts of the Golden Nugget that lie closest to Fremont Street are
devoted to gambling, with the exception of the small Buffet . In adding
its two hotel towers, further back, the Nugget simply swallowed up and
built over Carson Street for the length of an entire block, replacing
the road with the disappointing Carson Street Café coffee shop.
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A
surprisingly inconspicuous case near the elevators for the North Tower
shows off the hotel's collection of genuine golden nuggets. Pride of
place goes to the Hand of Faith nugget, found in Australia in 1980 and
said to be, at 61 pounds 11 ounces the largest "on public display" in
the world. At current prices, it's worth $296,001. Alongside are several
sizeable Alaskan lumps, including one worn smooth from being carried in
the pocket of its owner as a good-luck charm for 25 years. In that time,
a full two ounces were rubbed off
129 E Fremont St
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