Bob Stupak was a famous entrepreneur who owned one of the biggest Las Vegas casinos, “Vegas World.” This casino was renowned worldwide and attracted a huge audience when it opened. This casino gave people the opportunity to get generous promotions and bonuses for less money than usual.
This gorgeous casino is now called “The Strat” and can be found on the edge of Las Vegas. It may not be one of the most famous casinos now, but he indeed did matter in a brief amount of time.
A Little Bit About Bob Stupak
Bob Stupak was born to Florence and Chester Stupak in Pittsburgh on April 6, 1942. When the mob controlled the gambling operations on the South Side, Chester was the undisputed monarch, and most police officers and elected officials ignored him in exchange for a small sum of money. Bob learned the value of making friends and having an impact on others while he was in knee pants.
When Bob Stupak wasn’t begging for money, hanging out on the corner, going to the movies, or getting expelled from school, he was closely observing his father’s every action. From shortly after World War II until the beginning of the 1980s, little Chester Stupak remained a significant man on the South Side’s streets.
Bob Stupak followed various hobbies at once after finishing school. He ran his illegal card games, bought and sold watches, raced motorcycles, and almost killed himself. He also became a nightclub singer and released several singles while working as “Bobby Star” for a short period. In addition to starting a successful business selling two-for-one coupon books, he served in the National Guard.
He traveled to Australia thanks to the coupon books, where he established a successful telemarketing business. Stupak purchased a quaint 1.5-acre site north of Sahara Avenue at Las Vegas Boulevard South that was formerly a car lot with his own money and money raised from his father’s friends. A modest slot machine parlor with the ludicrous moniker Bob Stupak’s World Famous Historic Gambling Museum sprouted in its stead and debuted on March 31, 1974.
Million-Dollar Gambling Museum and Casino
The first iteration of The Stratosphere, Bob Stupak’s World Famous Million-Dollar Historic Gambling Museum and Casino, debuted in 1974. It was short-lived, though, as the casino burned down two months after it first opened, prompting Stupak’s to make plans to construct a replacement. He inaugurated the Stratosphere in 1979 when it was still known as the Vegas World hotel.
Grand Casinos bought stock in Stupak’s business in 1993 and declared plans to incorporate Vegas World into the Stratosphere resort. Integration and construction had been completed by 1996, but the company had declared bankruptcy. Golden Entertainment currently owns the tower, hotel, and casino. Golden Entertainment intends to spend $140 million and finish the Stratosphere’s renovation in March 2018.
The short lifespan of Bob Stupak’s Million Dollar Historic Gambling Museum and Casino. A significant fire started inside the casino in May 1974, destroying it. According to legend, the flames could be seen for miles.
The insurance company sued Stupak for setting a fire, but the claim was ultimately paid. And the land was still held by Stupak.
Vegas World During The 1970s And 1980s
Following the fire, Stupak convinced Valley Bank to provide him a loan of more than $1 million to finish what would become known as Vegas World. On the same plot of land that housed Stupak’s last casino, construction started on June 22, 1978. On July 13, 1979, Stupak unveiled the space-themed Vegas World, which featured a 15,000 square-foot (1,400 square meters) casino and 90 hotel rooms in an eight-story tower. It cost $7 million to build. The Sky’s Limit was the tagline used when Vegas World first opened. Despite being 1,200 feet north of the Las Vegas Strip, Stupak believed Vegas World to be a part of it. Vegas World initially struggled, earning only $7 million in sales in its first year.
But Vegas World brought in $100 million annually from gambling when it was at its busiest. A 25-story hotel tower that added 400 additional rooms to Vegas World was part of an extension project started by Stupak in 1983. The second and thirteenth floors of the hotel weren’t marked as such, according to Stupak: “At the dice tables, a shooter who rolls a two is considered to be “snake-eyes,” or a loser. No twos mean no loss.” In the end, 80,000 square feet were added to the casino (7,400 m2). The casino had the “world’s largest Big Six wheel,” which had a circumference of 50 to 60 feet and needed an electric motor to spin, as well as the first quarter-million and million-dollar slot machine jackpots in history.
The casino also offered “crapless craps” and double exposure 21, a blackjack variant first shown in 1979. After being introduced at Vegas World, double exposure 21 quickly gained popularity at numerous other Las Vegas casinos. The only casino in the world to offer triple odds craps as of 1980 was Vegas World. The casino was praised for its innovative no-limit betting and gaming coupon policies. Additionally, Vegas World provided cars as jackpot prizes—a practice that other casinos subsequently adopted. Additionally, the resort had what was allegedly the most significant outside sign on the entire globe.
When he fell off the hotel’s roof as part of a stunt on May 19, 1984, a stuntman by the name of Dan Koko broke the world record for the highest “fire fall” when he was wearing a flame-resistant suit that had been lit on fire. On August 30, 1984, Koko pulled off another trick: he scaled a small platform 326 feet above the ground while perched on a 90-foot scaffolding on top of a 25-story hotel tower. Koko then leaped and successfully landed on a $45,000 custom-made, 22-foot-high, 2,000-pound airbag for the occasion. Dar Robinson’s previous record for the highest “high fall” was now held by Koko.
Advertisement And Cheaters
Through national periodicals and direct mail, Stupak promoted Vegas World vacation packages in the late 1980s. The Nevada Gaming Commission filed a complaint against Stupak in October 1990, stating that he had misrepresented vacation packages for Vegas World that included free travel, gifts, and free gaming tokens. Stupak settled the grievance and paid a $125,000 fine to the Nevada Gaming Commission in February 1991.
Stupak kept placing newspaper ads at Vegas World for “free Las Vegas holidays.” Following the prior complaint, the Nevada Consumer Affairs Division met with the gaming commission later that year to review the constitutionality of the marketing. The gaming commission opened an investigation to see if Stupak had violated the terms of his prior settlement agreement; Stupak maintained that the advertisements were legitimate.
In exchange for a three-day, two-night stay at Vegas World, Stupak demanded a $396 check from customers in those advertisements. Along with additional advantages, customers would also receive $400 in cash. We heard of a blackjack player who took advantage of an arrangement that required him to bring a $2500 bankroll and play for $25 per hand for several hours.
The blackjack rules weren’t excellent either—at least not in 1978. However, the bettor in the article I read struck it lucky that weekend and took home $1,500 when playing blackjack for actual money. Due to a mistake they made, the casino also gave him an extra $500.
Bob Stupak: A Genius
Stupak created original and intriguing perspectives on classic games like blackjack and craps. Card counters and ardent players soon got familiar with Double Exposure 21 and Experto. There was Polish Roulette and Crapless Craps. He took high-limit bets at the tables and in his sports book, where he would occasionally carelessly adjust the odds to attract action.
Tens of thousands of people would visit the area for Bob Stupak’s Vegas World Vacation thanks to his coupon campaigns, which would later come back to haunt him and result in significant fines and reprimands from the Missouri attorney general’s office and the casino authorities in Nevada.
Stupak consistently made himself seem reasonable. He had numerous film and television appearances, and he once starred in a “Crime Story” episode from 1987.
He also employed politics as a marketing strategy. In 1987, he ran for mayor, and he won the primary with 33% of the vote, but incumbent Ron Lurie defeated him in the general election. His daughter Nicole Stupak was his next major political candidate, competing against Frank Hawkins for City Council in 1991.
Despite using many unethical tactics and spending a significant sum of money, Hawkins prevailed. Additionally, Stupak contributed significantly to his son Nevada’s 1999 attempt to unseat Ward 3 Councilman Gary Reese. Reese won by a slim margin.
Many of his bets seem to have been placed more for publicity than financial gain. He wagered $1 million on Super Bowl XXIII, played no-limit poker for $500,000 against the ORAC computer on a popular television program, and frequently appeared at the World Series of Poker. The publicity Vegas World and its owner acquired eclipsed the reality that he won most of his wages.
At its height, Bob Stupak’s Vegas World brought in over $100 million a year through gaming. Always a gambler, Stupak started thinking about ways to leave a more significant impression in Las Vegas in the late 1980s.
At Binion’s Horseshoe, Stupak won the $5,000 buy-in no-limit deuce-to-seven World Series of Poker tournament in 1989, taking home the $139,500 first prize. In the same competition in 1984, he finished third, and at the 1991 and 1993 World Series of Poker, he finished fourth.
Rebuilding Vegas World
This purchase was a terrific bargain if you were smart enough to walk away when you were ahead. However, many players cannot recognize when to stop, so you can bet that Stupak and Vegas World still made a profit.
The marketing didn’t end there, either. Vegas World offers a charter membership in the construction of the Stratosphere. This meant that when you checked into the hotel, you would receive a pass allowing you to skip the line.
Additionally, you could sign up friends for similar packages, and if they agreed to it in writing, you could play their content for them.
A wise gambler might register for several vacation packages at once and sign numerous notes permitting him to play the boxes of his buddies. The shrewd gambler may even cash out his gifts via a sophisticated con in which different types of stationery were used to write the notes, and multiple identities were constructed. Another option is to use a credit card that offers significant discounts on your other Vegas purchases, then utilize the savings to make a major purchase. It is simple to understand how you might ensure winnings using these casino action chips.
Conclusion
The beauty and lively pace offered by the Vegas world in the 70s and 80s made many gamblers contemplate that they had been around this time. Now this place is nothing but monotonous and corporate-owned.