Jackie Gaughan

The son of an Omaha bookmaker and the father of an owner of casinos, Gaughan took the most pride not in bragging of his own accomplishments — which he had earned a right to do — but rather in how his family built a gaming empire that likely will never be equaled on the non-corporate level. In 2000, Gaughan and his son Michael Gaughan surpassed Sam and Bill Boyd as having owned more casinos — nine — than any other father-son duo in Las Vegas history. Gaughan long said that he wouldn’t have lived his family-oriented existence any other way. Jackie Gaughan first bought interest in the Flamingo Hotel from celebrated mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, later sold it and bought El Cortez from pioneering Las Vegas gamer J. Kell Houssels. Up to the year 2000, the Gaughans and the Boyds were tied at eight casinos apiece, with the Boyds owning Sam’s Town, the old Stardust, Fremont, California, Main Street Station and three other resorts. At his peak, Jackie Gaughan by himself owned six Las Vegas casinos, tying him with late reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, the businessman who ushered in the corporate gaming age in Las Vegas. John D. “Jackie” Gaughan, who in 1963 purchased El Cortez and parlayed it into ownership of string of downtown casinos that catered to locals with giveaways and other promotions, died at 4:15 a.m. today in his sleep. He was 93. In 1996, his wife of 54 years, Roberta Mae “Bertie” Gaughan, died at age 75. She and Gaughan were high school sweethearts, and she was long active in the operations of El Cortez, overseeing the operation of the coin-counting room. In 2002, Gaughan’s other son, Jackie “John” Gaughan Jr., who at one time co-owned El Cortez and Gold Spike with his father, died. In addition to Michael Gaughan, Jackie Gaughan is survived by seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.