We sure do.
Thanks to your question, we sent out a private poll and came up with what you'll read below.
Also, this question inspired us to commemorate the Stardust in the days leading up to the implosion of its remaining tower with a series on the star-crossed casino's history, entertainment, and sign; look for it next week.
And we'd love to hear what all of you out there in QoDland might remember or have to say about the Stardust; as always, we'll compile the responses and post them on the day the joint goes from the Stardust to just dust.
Anthony Curtis It was more than 20 years ago and I was pounding the pavement, making the rounds of the casinos, trying to arrange for exclusive coupons for subscribers to the LVA -- of whom there were a couple hundred at the time. No one knew me or the Advisor and the subscriber numbers were anything but impressive. Well, Kathy Espin was the PR director at the Stardust at the time. She took the meeting with me, listened carefully, then gave me my first coupon … Closing that first deal was huge for my incentive to continue pursuing coupons. And by the way, years later, Huntington Press published Kathy Espin's Las Vegas guidebook, Kidding Around Las Vegas.
Then, in 1991, I got a call from Jim Seagrave, the Stardust's director of marketing. Jim liked the newsletter and thought that we had a good group of casino customers, so he offered free rooms to all LVA members. The Stardust gave LVA members a free room in November, December, or January for 15 years; they only stopped last year, when they closed the place on Nov. 1. LVA members who got the free rooms are sorry that the Stardust closed, and so am I.
Jean Scott The Stardust has a lot of firsts for Brad and me.
It was the first slot club we ever joined, while staying there for the first time, on Jan. 12, 1990.
I hit my first royal at the Stardust, on Dec. 14, 1992. I still remember the machine I was playing, where I was sitting, and the thrill of those five beautiful cards all lined up on the screen. Not to mention the thrill of winning a hand-paid jackpot. By this time we'd completed our transition from blackjack to video poker and the Stardust had become one of our core casinos, which it remained for years.
And during one of our frequent stays at the Stardust, in January 1995, our first TV gig was filmed. Brad and I had a "48 Hours" crew in tow while we did our frugal thing. But since all the Vegas casinos were mad at "48 Hours" for doing a negative story on Vegas a couple years before, all the shooting had to be done undercover. Cloak and dagger at the Stardust! And our first big (and still the biggest) drawing win came during that shoot, when my name was pulled out of the Stardust drum for a shiny new Mercury Mystique, seen coast to coast on television when the show aired.
Fezzik In many ways, the Stardust sports book led the overall sports book move in Las Vegas from catering to gamblers to becoming simply entertainment directors. If you were a total sucker laying 6 on Michigan State in the NCAA tourney, you could still bet big. Good luck getting any size wager approved, however, if you wanted a ticket with George Mason +6.
The 'Dust went from a top book to a shell of its former self in its last years when its limits dropped dramatically. Many felt the Dust "jumped the shark" when a well-publicized shooting occurred in the Book itself.
But my fondest memories involve The Stardust Invitational sports betting competitions. In 2006 I went 1-5-1 in the quarterfinals, advancing against my opponents who were 1-6. I was lambasted by a few for my lousy record, but then I rolled a 7-0 in the semifinals. This shows the variance associated with sports betting -- in layman's terms, how you can be an idiot one week and a genius the next.
Deke Castleman The first time I went to Las Vegas was in 1979. I walked the Strip and quickly realized that funbooks were the way to go. The Stardust's had a coupon for a free roll of nickels, of which I availed myself. The lady at the booth was as nice as could be; Lawd, she was luvvy-duvvy. The next day, I went back and tried to redeem another $2 coupon. The second time, the lady was less than friendly, telling me to read the fine print on the coupon, then pointing me toward the door.
That was my first real Las Vegas-casino experience, so I always remembered the Stardust.
The name caught my eye in the mid-1980s, in a story in one of the San Francisco papers, indicating that when the Boyd group bought the joint, it was the end of the mob era in Las Vegas. When I returned in 1987 to write the Las Vegas chapter of my first Nevada guidebook, I was pretty curious about the Stardust, though of course I couldn’t tell anything about the mob just by walking through it.
I could tell that William B’s was one of the finest steakhouses in town and I spent some time drooling over the menu; I certainly couldn’t afford to eat there at the time. I ate at the buffet instead; that was my first Las Vegas buffet experience. I wasn’t too impressed with the food, but I was amazed at how much there was and how cheap it was.
Lido de Paris was the first Las Vegas stage show I ever saw. And one of the courtyard pools was the first pool I ever crashed in Las Vegas.
Bethany Coffey My first "real" job was working for the Stardust while I went to college at UNLV. I was hired in 1987 as an "administrative assistant" (read: flunky) for the advertising department and quickly zoomed up the corporate ladder to become their publicist (read: flunky with a title). While working for the Stardust I met my husband of 17 years who ran the poker room there, so I have almost two decades of history with the property to choose from for favorite stories.
Shortly after I was hired, the Stardust began a major renovation to be unveiled in 1988 for the 30 year anniversary of the property. During the course of the renovation, nests of rats were displaced; the rodents moved into the casino and showroom. I had to write dozens of letters and include future-visit comps to all the customers who had the misfortune of having rodents run across their feet while trying to enjoy the old Lido de Paris.
The press event for the unveiling included old Sam Boyd, who by this time was well-on in his years. My boss thought it would be great to have a photo-op in front of the property with old Sam in flanked by showgirls. Well, he couldn't keep his hands off the girls and we barely got the picture taken before they were ready to storm off. We received national publicity for the event, though, and after two weeks of 16 hour days, it felt like something special no matter how dorky it was.
Also part of the "new" Stardust was the installation of one of Las Vegas' first reader boards (electronic signs). I was the only employee trained to program the sign and was frequently found in the base of the sign (one of those gi-normous pedestals that held the whole thing up) trying to re-boot the computer that ran it during the hot summer months. In a suit. And hose. And heels. Good times.
Then my then-general manager, Joe Viscuglia (Joe V to those who knew him), called me to his office to let me know that we'd received several fines from the county, because the sign was flashing too fast, according to code, and I'd have to meet with the commissioner to have the code changed. What did I know about meeting with a politician to have a law changed? I was 19 years old and scared out of my mind, but I managed to convince the commissioner that the laws had been written many years prior to the current technology and that the Stardust would be happy to assist in helping the local government understand the new technology. Bullet dodged. Job saved. But I still ended up in the base of that damn sign every time the temps surpassed 95 degrees.
Fun parts of working at the Stardust included being the media liaison for film crews that included the makers of Midnight Run (who actually ended up being responsible for my position at Huntington Press, in a weird convoluted way) and the television show "Crime Story."
Not-so-fun parts included escorting German film crews through our Gambling Museum (a bunch of antique slot machines in a poorly lit corner of the casino) and having to fit cocktail waitresses for special uniforms for a football promotion in my office the year the NFL went on strike and blew the whole promotion. Anyone who ever visited the Stardust will remember that they had a rather senior cocktail staff, so trying to get them to try on short shorts and tight shirts was quite an undertaking.
I always loved my affiliation with the Stardust and have kept in touch with the people I got to know there. My former husband ran the Stardust poker room for 17 years and I looked for every excuse possible to visit the property and see my old buddies. I've recently driven down the Strip and witnessed the skeleton of the Stardust. It hit me right in the gut.
Eccentric, maybe not-so-fresh, old school for sure, there will never again be a property like the Stardust. Rest in peace, old friend. An enormous part of my life will implode with you.
