Las Vegas Club

Closed August 20, 2015

Las Vegas Club’s history crossed Fremont Street. Its early casino occupied 21–23 Fremont, on the south side between Main and First streets. The Museum of Gaming History’s ChipGuide associates the business with J. Kell Houssels and the earlier Smoke Shop around 1930, and reproduces an April 1931 city licensing entry for that address. The exact start of the Las Vegas Club name remains uncertain.

Start with its history

Editorial illustration of Las Vegas Club’s tower and baseball-themed Fremont Street frontage, based on a user-supplied historical postcard image.

The history of Las Vegas Club.

A brief history of Las Vegas Club

Las Vegas Club’s hotel and baseball-themed frontage in 2008, before the 2015 casino closure and later demolition.

The move across Fremont Street

In 1949, the club moved across Fremont into part of the Overland Hotel at 18 Fremont Street. This was a move by the casino, not the original opening of the older hotel. The Las Vegas Club later expanded around that north-side location, adding hotel accommodation and casino space.

A casino shaped like a ballpark

Under Jackie Gaughan and Mel Exber, the property developed an identity built around sport. By 1997, vice president Brady Exber described creating a sports environment through memorabilia rather than competing with the budgets of Strip resorts. The expansion that had opened the previous October resembled an old baseball park, with casino games on the field, painted spectators and a stadium-like concourse. Displays included a Jackie Robinson bat and Maury Wills’ spikes.

Sale, closure and redevelopment

Barrick Gaming took over Las Vegas Club in March 2004 as part of a four-casino purchase from Gaughan. The later years brought contraction. The hotel rooms had been shut for more than two years when the remaining casino closed just after midnight on August 20, 2015. Table games had already stopped; the final customers played slots and video poker.

Derek and Greg Stevens bought the property without acquiring the Las Vegas Club name. Some employees and machines moved to the Plaza. On June 27, 2017, a temporary bank of slots operated briefly to preserve gaming rights ahead of redevelopment. This limited event did not restore the old hotel and casino to normal operation.

Demolition removed the older buildings, including tower sections still being taken down in January 2018. The cleared block became part of Circa, whose casino opened in October 2020. Circa is the larger replacement development; Las Vegas Club’s earlier south-side premises belong to a different chapter of its geography. The map here marks an approximate point in the final Main Street building area, not the original 21–23 Fremont address.

Read the full history

Sources and context

Early address, licence and move to the Overland

Museum of Gaming History ChipGuide, Las Vegas Club entry, retrieved October 20,2026: Smoke Shop/Houssels,21–23 Fremont, transcription of April 7,1931 city minutes,1949 move to Overland. Exact opening-day header and simplified Became Circa label are not adopted.
The early club on the south side of Fremont

L. F. Manis Photograph Collection series inventory: Northern Club and Las Vegas Club on the south side of Fremont between Main and First, approximately 1931–1945. Collection access is not image publication permission.
The baseball-themed casino expansion

Tim Graham, June 10,1997: interview with vice president Brady Exber and athletes, previous-October expansion already open, ballpark design, memorabilia and Wall of Fame. Indexed article read; full page 403 not bypassed.
Barrick takes control in 2004

Contemporary March 25,2004 report of completed transfer of Plaza, Las Vegas Club, Western and Gold Spike from Gaughan; future redevelopment proposals are not treated as completed work.
The final normal casino night

J. D. Morris, August 20,2015,1:45 a.m.: on-site final-night report and operations interviews. Casino closed just after midnight; rooms closed more than two years earlier, name excluded from Stevens purchase and some staff/machines transferred to Plaza. Indexed report read; full page 402 not bypassed.
A brief 2017 licence-preservation opening

Richard N. Velotta, June 27,2017, on-site report of temporary Las Vegas Club slots and United Coin regulatory-compliance interview. This was a limited temporary operation, distinct from the normal 2015 casino closure; current legal rules are not asserted.
Demolition of the final site

Marissa Kynaston, on-site redevelopment report with January 18,2018 update, tower sections being removed. Brother name Eric typo not adopted; video not claimed as watched.
Circa opens on the redeveloped block

Operator’s December 28,2020 release retrospectively confirms casino/public attractions openedOctober 28; hotel phase followed. Circa is the new development, not a continuation under the Las Vegas Club name.
Dated former-building map geometry

OSM way 316174410 v 1, December 7,2014, with its then-current node versions reconstructed from node histories. Selected 36.17184,-115.14584 point inside polygon. Building was unnamed; address/photo association remains approximate. Current way represents Circa after redevelopment, not building continuity.

Accounts place the early Las Vegas Club name around 1929–1930. A 1931 licence is reproduced in a collector archive; the original city minutes have not been directly inspected here. No exact opening date is assigned.

The older hotels and the casino have different origins. Imported 1908 should not be read as a verified Las Vegas Club casino-opening date.

The map identifies an approximate point in the final site; a 2014 unnamed mapped building is associated with the club using address and photographic context, not treated as a cadastral survey.

A short licence-preservation slot session inJune 2017 followed the normalAugust 2015 closure. It is not a full hotel/casino reopening.

This site through time

Replaced by Circa Resort & Casino

2015 – 2020

Las Vegas Club’s final north-side Fremont Street site was cleared for the larger development that became Circa. The casino closed normally in August 2015; demolition continued into January 2018. Circa’s casino opened in October 2020. This is a replacement on a redeveloped block, not a rename or renovation of the old club. Las Vegas Club’s earlier south-side address was across Fremont Street.

Historical source — Marissa Kynaston, on-site Derek Stevens redevelopment interview and January 18,2018 tower-demolition update. Corroborated by Brock Radke’s January 10,2019 Circa unveiling report identifying the former Las Vegas Club site, and Circa’s December 28,2020 opening release.

The redeveloped block also included Mermaids and Glitter Gulch; the two properties do not have identical footprints.
The earlier 21–23 Fremont location is not the site mapped by this replacement relationship.
A brief licence-preservation slot session in June 2017 was distinct from normal operation.

Find the place.

Las Vegas Club

The map marks an approximate site. It does not identify an entrance or a walking route.

View the site on a map

Follow the evidence.

Sources, image credits and the limits of what we know.

Historical sources9 documents and records

Early address, licence and move to the Overland

Museum of Gaming History ChipGuide, Las Vegas Club entry, retrieved October 20,2026: Smoke Shop/Houssels,21–23 Fremont, transcription of April 7,1931 city minutes,1949 move to Overland. Exact opening-day header and simplified Became Circa label are not adopted.
The early club on the south side of Fremont

L. F. Manis Photograph Collection series inventory: Northern Club and Las Vegas Club on the south side of Fremont between Main and First, approximately 1931–1945. Collection access is not image publication permission.
The baseball-themed casino expansion

Tim Graham, June 10,1997: interview with vice president Brady Exber and athletes, previous-October expansion already open, ballpark design, memorabilia and Wall of Fame. Indexed article read; full page 403 not bypassed.
Barrick takes control in 2004

Contemporary March 25,2004 report of completed transfer of Plaza, Las Vegas Club, Western and Gold Spike from Gaughan; future redevelopment proposals are not treated as completed work.
The final normal casino night

J. D. Morris, August 20,2015,1:45 a.m.: on-site final-night report and operations interviews. Casino closed just after midnight; rooms closed more than two years earlier, name excluded from Stevens purchase and some staff/machines transferred to Plaza. Indexed report read; full page 402 not bypassed.
A brief 2017 licence-preservation opening

Richard N. Velotta, June 27,2017, on-site report of temporary Las Vegas Club slots and United Coin regulatory-compliance interview. This was a limited temporary operation, distinct from the normal 2015 casino closure; current legal rules are not asserted.
Demolition of the final site

Marissa Kynaston, on-site redevelopment report with January 18,2018 update, tower sections being removed. Brother name Eric typo not adopted; video not claimed as watched.
Circa opens on the redeveloped block

Operator’s December 28,2020 release retrospectively confirms casino/public attractions openedOctober 28; hotel phase followed. Circa is the new development, not a continuation under the Las Vegas Club name.
Dated former-building map geometry

OSM way 316174410 v 1, December 7,2014, with its then-current node versions reconstructed from node histories. Selected 36.17184,-115.14584 point inside polygon. Building was unnamed; address/photo association remains approximate. Current way represents Circa after redevelopment, not building continuity.

What remains uncertain4 notes on context and interpretation

Accounts place the early Las Vegas Club name around 1929–1930. A 1931 licence is reproduced in a collector archive; the original city minutes have not been directly inspected here. No exact opening date is assigned.
The older hotels and the casino have different origins. Imported 1908 should not be read as a verified Las Vegas Club casino-opening date.
The map identifies an approximate point in the final site; a 2014 unnamed mapped building is associated with the club using address and photographic context, not treated as a cadastral survey.
A short licence-preservation slot session inJune 2017 followed the normalAugust 2015 closure. It is not a full hotel/casino reopening.

Image credits2 images with source information

Editorial illustration of Las Vegas Club’s tower and baseball-themed Fremont Street frontage, based on a user-supplied historical postcard image.

AI-generated illustration for Vegas Retold, based on a user-supplied image; source creator unknown.

Source reference: User-supplied historical postcard image; exact reference retained as source.png in las-vegas-club-main-2026-10-20. Source URL is a USE LOCATOR for this Property page, not the unknown original source.

AI-generated illustration from a supplied historical image; postcard headline and scan damage removed, architecture and fine detail simplified.

Piers requested creation and publication. Original source creator, date and copyright status remain unknown; no public-domain or clearance claim. Illustration is not archival evidence.

Image source ↗

Las Vegas Club’s hotel and baseball-themed frontage in 2008, before the 2015 casino closure and later demolition.

Ken Lund / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Source reference: Ken Lund, Flickr 2640047784; Commons original-size 1600×1200 file uploaded November 28,2008 by Martin H. Flickr licence reviewed November 27 by J.smith. Summary/EXIF capture-day conflict retained as year 2008 only. Separate Mfield retouched version not selected.

Depicted date: 2008

License

Original-size photograph retained without editorial alteration. Responsive overview and index displays may crop the presentation.

CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic: retain creator, source, licence and change notice; adaptations use same or compatible licence. No endorsement implied.

Image source ↗

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