Las Vegas History Series – Holiday International Casino

The addresses of 200 N Main Street and 300 N Main Street have occupied a few casinos over the past 40 years. It is one of the areas of Downtown Las Vegas that has a lot of history to it. What started this location’s casino history was the Holiday International Casino back in 1978 when it opened to the general public. It would be the first of three resorts at that location that is part of Fremont Street.  We were unable to find out what occupied the land before Holiday International.

The hotel for the Holiday International was under the umbrella of Holiday Inn Franchise hotels.  It was operated by Major Riddle. His involvement in Las Vegas casino history included being the co-owner in the Dunes and buying the Thunderbird and renaming it to the Silverbird. Known for being bad at poker, Major Riddle’s involvement with the Holiday International would not be able to prevent its evident downfall. In September of 1980, the casino went into bankruptcy and closed. The hotel for Holiday International ended up remaining open to 1984. What closed down the entire resort would end up being a strike by workers.

Back in the days of the Holiday International, you could get a buffet lunch for $1.65 and dinner was $2.65. Those who visited the Holiday International know that it was famous for its beers that cost only five cents. The colors for the exterior of the building were orange, white and pink.

Focusing on the chip history of the Holiday International, the casino had both chips with and without coin inlays. The mold for the chips was Diecar. The chips that were not inlays have a gold hot stamp style to them. The manufacturer for the Holiday International chips was Bud Jones.

For a special beginning to the New Year, the $1 and $5 coin inlay chips are 60 percent off if you use the promo code INTERNATIONAL at checkout. Those two chips are below and you can click the picture to buy them.  You can also use this link and the discount will automatically apply at checkout if you add these items to your cart.

https://spinettisgaming.com/discount/INTERNATIONAL

Once in a Lifetime New Year’s Sale: 60 Percent Off Holiday International 300 Chip Set

A special for our readers, we are offering a 60 percent off discount if anyone purchases our 300 chip set of Holiday International chips that are coin inlay. The set includes 150 $1 chips, 100 $5 chips and 50 $25 chips. Again, enter the code INTERNATIONAL at checkout to get 60 percent off this set that is originally $799.95. The price after the discount is $319.98 before shipping. Offer ends January 12th at midnight Pacific time. Click the picture below to purchase.

After the Holiday International came two other resorts. The Park Hotel and Casino opened in 1987. One of the property’s heads was Katsuki Manabe who was a Japanese investor. Less is known about The Park Hotel and Casino which closed in 1990.  Finally, Main Street Station Hotel was formed by Bob Snow and then the property was later acquired by Boyd Gaming in 1993.  Today, it is called Main Street Station Hotel and Casino and Brewery. The train station themed hotel has 400 rooms. None of this would have been possible without the Holiday International which was the first of three properties to occupy the land on North Main Street. Though there were changes to the casino floors of the different resorts, the structure remained throughout.

For all of our chip collectors, the 18th edition of The Chip Rack is now available.  This year’s book is well over 400 pages and has descriptions for over 36,000 chips. There have been 600 new chip records added since the last edition in 2016. You can purchase this year’s book by clicking the picture below:

Happy New Year! To next week from Spinettis Gaming Supplies here in Las Vegas.

Casino chipsGambling memorabiliaLas vegas history

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