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.
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.