_770.jpg "gambling legend Bill Bennett")
When experts in gambling remember Bill Bennett (full name William J. Bennett), they usually say that he "changed the face of gaming." After the death of Mr. Bennett, the owner of Sahara Casino in Las Vegas, these opinions are used in many publications devoted to his death.
This is not just empty words, because he was, in fact, a renowned innovator who initiated many fundamental changes in the organization of the casino. But let's not get ahead of our story; first, let's see how William Bennett started his career.
Biography of Bill Bennett
It is hard to imagine that Billy the Kid, born in 1859 to a farmer's family in New Mexico, would become the head of a gambling operation and one of the most influential people in Las Vegas. Bill had a normal lifestyle and served in the Navy during World War II. After returning home, William opened a chain of furniture stores in Phoenix. He sold them in 1962 for forty million.
Then he put his money in the financial corporation of his friend, a successful businessman. According to Bennett's memoirs, he could earn from everything, but they were not fortunate in this undertaking. It went bankrupt, and Bill became broke.
To start a new life, Bennett went to Nevada, where he first played in a casino. It happened thanks to the president of the corporation, Del Webb. The Company had the Sahara Tahoe casino, where Bennett started working as a receptionist and greeted guests.
He did not stay long in this position, and six months later, he was the night manager of the hotel. After a while, Bill was sent to manage The Mint, a hotel and casino in Las Vegas. The casino had suffered a million-dollar loss, but Bennett managed to turn it profitable the same year, and within a year, it became a highly successful establishment.
After these successes, the company offered Bill the opportunity to manage Sahara Tahoe as well, and Bennett became the CEO of two casinos located in different cities. As he recalled later, his salary remained the same.
In 1971, Bill Bennett resigned from the Del Webb Corporation and, along with Bill Pennington, founded a company that supplied electronic equipment for casinos.
_770.jpg "The popular Circus Circus Casino in Vegas")
Three years later, the partners purchased the Circus Circus hotel and casino in Las Vegas. They immediately decided that the casino would focus on the middle-class visitors and significantly raised managers' salaries. They also realized that most other casinos underestimate the role of slot machines and fail to organize the work of slot halls properly. At Circus Circus Casino, numerous slots were introduced, which increased the casino's revenue.
So, the business took off, and soon Bennett and his partner opened another casino with the same name in Reno. In the early nineties, luxurious Luxor and Excalibur opened their doors to customers. The construction costs of each of them were several hundred million dollars.
Later, Bennett had some problems with shareholders of their company, and he sold his stake in Circus Circus for $230 million and in 1995 purchased the Sahara casino for $193 million. A year later, he suffered a heart attack, but Bill did not give up his favorite thing and breathed new life into the Sahara Casino, significantly increasing it and expanding the range of services.
Death of Bill Bennett
But no one is eternal. In December 2002, William Bennett passed away at the age of seventy-eight, leaving his children and grandchildren a lasting legacy and a thriving business. At that time, Forbes estimated his fortune at six million dollars.
The Casino Hotel Sahara continues to operate, attracting numerous gamblers and tourists to Vegas.
