Question of the Day - 31 October 2024

The conventional wisdom is that though Elvis Presley performed regularly in Las Vegas, especially during the late 1960s and early 1970s, he wasn't known to be a big gambler. While Elvis spent considerable time in Las Vegas for his legendary performances at the International (later the Las Vegas Hilton, now Westgate), he didn't have a reputation for being involved in gambling activities.

And from what we can infer from our research, that wisdom isn't too far off the mark. 

Elvis was more focused on his career, performing up to two shows a night during his residency in Las Vegas, which left him with limited time or energy for casino games. According to various accounts from people close to him, he was more likely to relax by spending time with his entourage (the "Memphis Mafia"), renting out movie theaters, checking out other performers, like Tom Jones, Johnny Ray, Liberace, and the Four Aces, and enjoying late-night activities, like karate sessions, rather than hitting the casino floor. Also, later in his life, he was strung out, which left him in no shape to hit the casino. 

In fact, Elvis' involvement in gambling was almost entirely indirect, related as you write in the question to his manager "Colonel" Tom Parker's serious gambling problem. That's a QoD for another day, but Elvis became convinced that Parker was using him to pay off his gambling debts to the Las Vegas Hilton; that, among the myriad other underhanded financial machinations of Parker, in cahoots with Elvis' own father Vernon, helped to poison the ill-fated singer's relationship with both men.

We thought we once saw a photo of Elvis sitting at a slot machine, but couldn't find it anywhere. We came up with lots of Elvis impersonators at the slots and a number of different Elvis-themed slots, but even among the dozens of photos having to do with Elvis in Vegas on VintageLasVegas.com, nary a one. Perhaps in his early days performing in Vegas in the mid-1950s, he might've pulled a handle or two (though there's no evidence of it), but by the time of his long sold-out run at the Hilton, he would've been mobbed had he tried to do anything in a casino, other than hustle through surrounded by security and bodyguards on his way to and from showrooms.