Demolition of Riviera Las Vegas Begins

By Scott Roeben at Vital Vegas


Demolition of the Riviera Begins

DonDiego had plenty of fine times there.

He played his first "major" blackjack there, didn't place in the prize money, but made quite a bit at the table. And right after the first round, with $1200 in winnings in his pocket, he was propositioned by a hooker driving by out front in a pink cadillac; he declined her offer.

He placed lots of sports bets at the cozy little book they had over the years.

And, at another blackjack tournament he had the guy at second base die of a heart attack in the second round of the tournament; it slowed things down a bit until the medics arrived.

Anyway, . . . so long, Riviera ! ! !

I loved going to the Riv, along with a lot of the other oldies, back when the strip was THE STRIP. But, I think I may have begun the demolition just a little over a year ago, when I took an ashtray from beside one of the slot machines, and a small stone from the entry walk near the parking lot. Was just trying to keep the inevitable moving along, you know.

I'll miss the Riviera too. I stayed there at least 6 times, have some fond memories of the place. Nick, the bartender at the Splashbar, always remembered me, and he treated me right! Hopping around between there, Silver City, the Westward Ho and the Stardust was fun!

My first trip to the Riv was around 1985. There was a different setup where there was valet parking from the strip. Out front was a red Ferrari, just like the one in Magnum PI. Inside, there was a blackjack table that was cordoned off with a security guard telling people to move on. Finally this guy and his girl friend (or maybe his wife) show up with a cart of three whole trays of purple chips. He was betting all seven positions and I believe he was betting $50,000 per bet or $35,000 per hand. He was actually winning. We didn't hang out to the end.

Later in the early 90's I went there with someone who was entered in a Blackjack Tournament. I got up to my room and there was a thing on my television that said something like "Pardon the inconvenience, but we are filming a movie after midnight starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone, etc. Of course the movie was "Casino". I watched them starting to set up at 11:30 pm. There was a huge crowd. The first scene shot after 4 am. Most of the crowd had gone to bed. I'm in the movie way back in the casino when they pan the camera and end up on the poker table. Everybody in the movie was there that night except Sharon Stone. I got up around 9am and they were filming a scene with a table booth set up. Sharon Stone may have been there at that time.

I've eaten at many of the restaurants at the Riv. I will miss her, but she was getting old.

My first trip to Vegas was 1995, I stood up in my buddies wedding and stayed at the Riv.No big moments for me except that I found a $100 chip on my last night there.Always hate to see the old casino's go away,but it was time to go.

If you cannot win in the casino,take some furniture.

I still have some some ashtrays from a LOT of places that I gambled in.The GN,Harrah's in Reno, The Nugget in Carson City and others.Harrah's had the most shitty ashtrays.

"Hey,can I have a souvenir ashtray? I'll get a clean one for you" said the nice slot change lady.
Lately,the ashtrays do not have the casino logos on them and I don't weigh down my carry-on anymore.
Change is on-going on the strip and downtown,as usual.
I won't see any of those until September/October,2016.
See ya there! Probably downtown,where the lights are just as bright.

Somewhere in his "stack of stuff' poor old DonDiego has a bunch of ashtrays from Las Vegas and Reno, p'rbly mostly 30-or-more years ago, . . . when they still had logos and were, hence, worth stealing. He'll hafta get into that stack someday.

And he has plenty of "free mugs" too. He uses his "collection" of Riviera coffee mugs every morning. His hoard of Sands mugs is hidden somewhere 'round the house; they're in pristine condition - pr'bly worth a lot 'cause folks had to stand in line for half-an-hour sometimes to get 'em.

Is "driving by in a pink cadillac" more of DonDiego's urban jargon?

My second trip to Vegas was in 1985, and we stayed at the Riv. Wow, that's a long time ago.