When listing the top movers and shakers in the history of Las Vegas gaming, Steve Wynn, Kirk Kerkorian, and Howard Hughes inevitably garner a mention. But such a list is incomplete without Bill Bennett - the Forgotten Man. While Wynn and other resort operators catered to high-rollers, Bennett focused on middle-class Americans to fill his hotel rooms and play his slot machines. He transformed Circus Circus from a struggling curiosity into the Strip's most successful resort. Forgotten Man, told through in-depth interviews ...
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When listing the top movers and shakers in the history of Las Vegas gaming, Steve Wynn, Kirk Kerkorian, and Howard Hughes inevitably garner a mention. But such a list is incomplete without Bill Bennett - the Forgotten Man. While Wynn and other resort operators catered to high-rollers, Bennett focused on middle-class Americans to fill his hotel rooms and play his slot machines. He transformed Circus Circus from a struggling curiosity into the Strip's most successful resort. Forgotten Man, told through in-depth interviews with family members, friends, employees, and others who knew Bennett, tells the story of a man who as much as anyone built modern Las Vegas. Bennett shared the lead with Steve Wynn in reinventing the Strip during the early '90s. Bennett and his dream team of 'Young Turk' executives built the iconic Excalibur and Luxor resorts, which stand out to this day on the Las Vegas skyline. The financier Michael Milken praises Bennett as 'the Sam Walton of Las Vegas.' But historians would be wise to focus on the empire that Bennett created, which started with one failing property on the edge of bankruptcy and grew into more than half a dozen thriving hotel-casinos that have now been absorbed into the giant MGM Resorts.
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