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CASINO CHIP AND TOKEN NEWS | Summer 2005 65

by Allan Anderson

This year the Riviera Hotel andCasino celebrates it’s 50th anniver-sary. The Riviera opened on April20th, 1955 and was built at a cost of$8,500,000 by the TaylorConstruction Company. The hotel had9 floors, 350 rooms and suites on 25landscaped acres. The Chairman ofthe Board was M. M. Mason and thePresident was David Gensburg. Theopening day act was Liberace withGeorge Liberace and his Orchestrafeaturing Joy Roberts, Sally Blythe,Mark Alden, Buck Young, DickieLerner, Emmaline Henry and theRiviera Girls.

Following is a timeline of theRiviera from opening day to 2005.

April 20, 1955Riviera opens. Liberace is the

opening act. Joan Crawford is host-ess. The Treniers open the lounge.

May 1, 1955Riviera’s first acting assigned,

hosting a live telecast of Liberacedirectly on stage on the ColgateComedy Hour TV show.

May 12-16, 1955Helldorado parade - Riviera won

the Grand Sweepstakes award withher entry “Red Shoes”. The base ofthe float was designed like the sole ofa shoe and perched high onthe top was SharonChristian, queen of theballet.

September 28, 1955Gus Greenbaum, Willie

Alderman, Dave Berman, SidWyman, Elias Atoll and JoeRosenbergand previous investors ofthe Flamingo, along with two uniden-tified men, were granted a lease onthe Riviera.

1956Orson Welles makes his stage

appearance at the Riviera.

May 16, 1958Riviera gave Liberace special

birthday present, a new red MercedesBenz.

August 4, 1958Riviera had one of the busiest

nights since she opened when hun-dreds upon hundreds of anxious

fans tried to get in to see RedSkelton, both for the first andsecond shows. Many stood and

waited, even after the show hadstarted, hoping the

Maitre d’ would findsome availablespace. Countlesshad to be turnedaway.

66 CASINO CHIP AND TOKEN NEWS | Summer 2005

December 2, 1958Riviera big-wig, Gus Greenbaum,

and his wife were killed in theirhome in Arizona.

December 5, 1958,All gaming at the Riviera was

closed from 9:00am to 6:00pm assimultaneous serviceswere held in Vegasand in Phoenix forMr. & Mrs.Greenbaum.

1960Riviera changed the Clover

Room’s name to the VersaillesTheatre, showcasing the AndrewSisters; Louis Armstrong; TonyBennett; George Bums; Red Buttons;Sid Caesar; Cathcart Orchestra; CarolCharming; Cyd Charisse; VieDamone; Dennis Day; Destry RidesAgain starring Gene Barry/MoniqueVan Vooren/Warde Donovan;Dorothy Dorben Dancers; JackElliott; Totie Fields; Eddie Fisher;Joel Grey; Buddy Hackett; JohnnieHaymer; Sammy Lewis Presents In

An Intimate Revue starring PatriceMunsel; Sammy Lewis Presents TedLewis/Sophie Tucker/Paul White/Elroy Peace/Ted Shapiro/LeeBerger/June Taylor Dancers/RaySinatra Orchestra; Dean Martin; TonyMartin; Mills Brothers; Jaye P.Morgan; Patti Page; Paul Reed;Rowan & Martin; Riviera Dancers &Models; Connie Russell; SarahVaughan; Earl Wild; and World ofSuzie Wong.

August 1961Kaye Stevens recorded her album

Ruckus at the Riviera, now a cultclassic.

November 25, 1963The Riviera, as well as other

resorts in Vegas dimmed their lightsand stopped all gambling from7:00am to 12:00am to honor thefuneral of John F. Kennedy.

May of 1967Ann-Margret and Roger Smith mar-ried at the resort. Hotel PR DirectorTony Zoppi and Hotel Manager Dick

Chappell served as witnesses for theceremonybefore District Judge JohnMowbray. Margret had just signed acontract to headline at the resort for$40,000 a week.

1967The Riviera added a 200-room

wing, an elevator penthouse, a 9,000-square-foot lobby, and 10,000 squarefeet of office and meeting space.

October, 1968Completion of the 220 room south

wing, it now held 770 rooms, suitesand convention facilities. The $5 mil-lion addition soared 12 stories intothe horizon. Offices representing fourmajor airlines occupiedthe ground level ofthe new building aswell as the shopsand theMontmartre con-vention center. Theproperty was flankedby walls of glass, accented by tastefullandscaping. Its massive stoneentrance is manned bya staff of doormen garbed in uniformspatterned after those worn by theFrench Foreign Legion. DickChappell was the Manager with assis-tants Pat Egan, Bill Barry and EimoEllsworth.

1969Bob Hope joined headliner Totie

Fields on New Year’s Eve and sur-prised audiences with a 15 minute adlib performance.

1969Dean Martin became a 10 owner

with approximately 8,000 shares andDino’s Den was named after him.

1969Riviera showcased Dean Martin

Presents Englebert Humperdinckmarking Humperdinck’s debut in LasVegas.

Las Vegas’ first high rise, 1955


September 20, 1970Riviera hosted the Friars’ Club

550 a plate roast of comedian JoeE. Lewis, bringing together some ofthe greatest stars in show business fora total of 1,300 honoring him. Thehost was Dean Martin, the co-hostwas Frank Sinatra but he failed toappear, and the emcee was GeorgeJessel. Those appearing at this roastwere Marty Allen, Jack Benny,George Burns, Vikki Carr, JimmyDurante, Buddy Hackett,Jack E. Leonard, Tony Martin,“Swifty” Morgan (Damon Runyon’sfamous Lemon Drop Kid), JanMurray, Harry Richman, Toots Shor,Phil Silvers, Ed Sullivan, LouisArmstrong, Pearl Baily, TellySavalas, and John Conte. Other atten-dees included Nevada Governor PaulLaxalt, Sands Hotel’s Jack Entratter,Nate Jacobson, and Caesars/CircusCircus creator, Jay Sarno. The guestlist amounted to 1,000 people. SUNcolumnist Ralph Pearl suggested thetribute and Zoppi helped organize theevent.

1970During a strike occurring at vari-

ous resorts. Bob Hope was in the

audience at the Roger Miller & JackE. Leonard shows at the Riviera.During one of these shows Hopehopped on stage and joined the head-liner. He stated “I am available asbellhop, cocktail waiter, short orderchef or casino dealer. In my taxbracket, I’ll do anything to make anextra buck.”

1972Four championship tennis courts

were added near the pool. They werethe site of the Dewar’s Celebrity-ProTennis Tournament, which drew topprofessional athletes from around theworld.

February/March 1973Meshulam Riklis, the majority

stockholder of American InternationalTravel Services of Boston (AITS)bought the Riviera for $56 million.

June 15-17, 1973Riviera hosted the Celeb

Invitational Tennis Tournament withGary Crosby, Edgar Bergen, JohnnyCarson, Paul Anka, and Dinah Shore.

1975Riviera added its 17-story Monte

Carlo tower at a cost of $20 million.It consisted of 300 rooms, 60 suites,and an elaborate penthouse, givingthe resort a total of 1,000 guestrooms.

1977The Riviera’s San Remo tower

added 200 rooms to the south side ofthe resort, as well as the elegantRistorante Italiano, a 100-seat gour-met Italian restaurant.

1981Paul Anka made his Riviera debut.

During one of Paul Anka’s perform-ances, more than a

dozen ringsidersclimbed onstagefor the finale.Anka decided to

create animpromptu chorus

line with the zealous fans.

1983Meshulam Riklis made the Forbes

400 with his 60 of Rapid AmericanCorporation worth $133 million.Riklis was an exchange student(Turkey, through Israel), who becamea securities analyst. He took overBob Hope and Jack E. Leonard

Liberace cutting the ribbon, 1955


undervalued companies to financeothers; “calls leverage the effectivenon-use of cash.”

June 21, 1985Riviera took at bold step toward

providing a new type of showroomentertainment, unveiling “Splash”,starring Frank Gorshin in theVersailles Theater, an all-new produc-tion so unique that itcaptivated audi-ences and gar-nered anunprecedentednumber ofawards for bestproduction show inLas Vegas. The “aquacade of musicand dance” took place in and arounda 20,000-gallon aquarium while fea-turing numerous performers and spe-ciality acts.

September 18, 1985Riviera introduced Norbert

Aleman’s “An Evening at La Cage,”in the Mardi Gras Showroom, aParisian-style revue of femaleimpersonator’s and cabaretdancers. The star of theshow was a 20-year-oldFrank Marino.

May 4, 1986The Riviera intro-

duced the comedyClub that opened asAn Evening At TheImprov.

September 21, 1987The Riviera set a

precedent on theLas Vegas Stripwhen the CrayGirls - Fantasie deParis opened on thisnight.

1988The Riviera added the 24-story

Monaco Tower costing $28 millionand nearly doubling the resorts size to2,100 rooms.

1990The Riviera expanded its casino to

70,000 square feet for a total of near-ly 125,000 square feet out to the side-walk, making it one of the largestcasinos in the world offeringreel slots and video games, tablegames, poker, keno, bingo, and acomplete race and sports book.

1990Frank Sinatra performed twice at

the resort in 1990, including NewYear’s Eve when he played to morethan 2,000 people in the SuperstarTheatre. Room 2902 of thehotel’s Monte Carlo Tower wasredesigned to Sinatra’s specificationsso he could enjoy his stay.

June 17, 1995Jeff Kutash’s Splash II opened at

the resort including WallyEastwood, and The Dragon

Masters. This version ofSplash cost $5 million ($1million in showroom renova-tions alone). This particular

version offered raincoats to peo-

Dean Martin, 1970

Frank Sinatra, 1991

ple in certain select seats. A totallynew production, for which the show-room had been revamped to look andfeel like an actual submarine (muchof it actually salvaged from scuttledsubs at a shipyard), there were just afew reminders of the original Splash,such as a huge water tank on stagewhich held 20,000 gallons of water.

1995Riviera celebrated the 10th

anniversary of An Evening At LaCage.

1996Crazy Girls came under fire by

city officials for their slightly risquebillboards. The case was tried in themedia and ended on a note of “CrazyGirls beat City Hall.” But in case theButts case was a lost cause, then PlanB included the famous life-castbronze statue in front of the resort.

June 1996It was formally announced that the

Riviera was listed on the AmericanStock Exchange (RIV). Net incomewas increased by 30, to $2.47 million.Earnings per share improved from 40to 49 cents compared to the first threemonths of 1995.


1997Portions of the movies Austin

Powers: International Man ofMystery, Sexual Roulette, Girls’Night Out, and Vegas Vacation werefilmed at the resort. The Riviera thenstarred as the Tangiers Hotel in themovie Casino.

May 10, 1997Riviera revealed the largest lifecast

bronze statue in the world of CrazyGirls to celebrate the 10thAnniversary of the show. The sculp-ture is six feet high, 11 feet long, andweighs 1,540 pounds. This sculpturewas created by Michael Conine.

December, 1997Nickel Town opens.

Liberace and Elvis Presley, 1956

1998Portions of the movie Fear and

Loathing in Las Vegas were filmed atthe Riviera.

1998Crazy Girls bronze statue won the

best for public art and the best photoopportunity in the RJ Best and WorstContest.

1998The Riviera had guest shot on the

Chicago Hope TV show. On hand forfilming was Mark Harmon, AdamArkin, Rocky Carroll, and HectorAlizondo.

May 15 1998Frank Sinatra died. Riviera was the

site of Sinatra’s last permanentengagement in Vegas. The resortdecided to honor the Chairman of theBoard. The Riviera dedicated the suiteSinatra used when he performed atthe resort. The dedication of the suiteincluded an engraved plaque on thedoor and a 16x20 inch framedphotograph of Sinatra inside the two-bedroom penthouse. It is Room 2902in the Monte Carlo Tower.

1998Riviera was the first Strip resort to

have a fast-food restaurant on itspremises with the opening of BurgerKing.

1999Riviera presented a rare opportuni-

ty to win special hand-painted $10tokens created and issued by OsbomCoinage, minted exclusively for theresort at their Millennium Countdownmachines. These machines were locat-ed adjacent to the Splash Showroom.Every time a person won a payout of60 coins or higher with maximumcoins played, they got to choose oneof the four specially designed collec-tor’s items. “No Nevada casino hasever issued a hand-painted token. Thisseries is truly unique and once theyLouis Armstrong and Marlene Dietrich

are all gone, that’s it. They are onlyavailable at the Riviera’sMillennium Countdown machines.” -Art Olita, Osbom Coinage coinexpert

November 1999Producer/director and former child

star Peter Billingsley (The ChristmasStory) brought his “The X Show” tothe Riviera. The X Show was prima-rily a “man’s point of view” programgiving people a chance to sound offabout anything.

1999Riviera completed their

“Skyboxes”. The boxes are 12 roomslocated above the Royale Pavilion.


Billiard Congress of America$5 Year: 2005 Mintage: 600

Association of Professional Piercers$5 Year: 2005 Mintage: 750

Valley National Eight Ball$5 Year: 2005 Mintage: 750

Toy Train Operating Society$5 Year: August 2005 Mintage: 1,750

Toy Train Operating Society$5 Year: August 2005 Mintage: 1,750

American Poolplayer Asociation NTC$5 Year: August 2005 Mintage: 850

National Dart Association$5 Year: 2005 Mintage: 500

Riviera Fabulous at 50$100 Year: 2005 Mintage: 500

Riviera Celebrates Its 50th$5 Year: 2005 Mintage: 750

Riviera Full Speed head at 50$5 Year: 2005 Mintage: 500

American Poolplayer Asociation NSC$5 Year: 2005 Mintage: 500

Christmas$5 Year: 2004 Mintage: 600

Single Action Shooting Society$5 Year: 2004 Mintage: 500

Halloween$5 Year: 2004 Mintage: 500

Exotic Hypnoticsl$5 Year: 2004 Mintage: 500

American Poolplayer Asociation NTC$5 Year: 2004 Mintage: 850

Medalist Dart$5 Year: 2004 Mintage: 500

12th Annual CC&GTCC Convention$5 Year: 2004 Mintage: 1,000


Valley National Eight Ball Association$5 Year: 2004 Mintage: 750

Billiard Congress of America$5 Year: 2004 Mintage: 600

American Poolplayers Association NSC$5 Year: 2004 Mintage: 500

A Goomba’s Guide to Love$5 Year: 2004 Mintage: 1,000

Leap Year 2004$5 Year: 2004 Mintage: 500

Wedding 2004$5 Year: 2004 Mintage: 750

Frantic Santa Christmas 2003$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 500

Single Action Shooting Society$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 500

Thanksgiving 2003$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 500

Frank Marino$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 500

Halloween 2003$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 500

The Fight is on for 2004$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 500

Where Vegas Meets the Rockies$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 500

American Poolplayer Association NTC$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 750

Medalist Dart$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 600


A Goomba’s Guide to Life$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 1,000

National Dart Association Team Dart$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 350



Easter 2003$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 750

Valley International Foosball Association$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 350

St. Patrick’s Day 2003$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 500

Divorce 2003$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 1,000

World Archery Festival and Vegas Shoot$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 750

Wedding 2003$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 1,000




American Poolplayers Association NTC$5 Year: 2002 Mintage: 500

Once a Collector/Always a Collector$25 Year: 2002 Mintage: 100

Once a Collector/Always a Collector$5 Year: 2002 Mintage: 500

10th Annual CC&GTCC Convention$5 Year: 2002 Mintage: 1,000

Medalist Dart$5 Year: 2002 Mintage: 1,300

Valley National Eight Ball Association$5 Year: 2002 Mintage: 1,000

Billiards Congress of America$25 Year: 2002 Mintage: 100





Divorce 2002$5 Year: 2002 Mintage: 1,000

Valley International Foosball Association$5 Year: 2002 Mintage: 500

Christopher Titus$5 Year: 2002 Mintage: 500

World Archery Festival and Vegas Shoot$5 Year: 2002 Mintage: 1,000

Wedding 2002$5 Year: 2002 Mintage: 1,000

New Year’s 2001 - 2002$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 500

Frankie Valli$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 700

The Colors of Christmas$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 700

Rodeo Days Cow Chip$25 Year: 2001 Mintage: 120

Rodeo Days Cow Chip$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 800

Rodeo Days Cow Chip$1 Year: 2001 Mintage: 1,200

Blood, Sweat & Tears$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 700

Tony Orlando$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 873

American Poolplayers Association NTC$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 600

4th of July 2001$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 800




Billiards Congress of America$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 1,025

Run for the Roses$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 800


Village People$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 777

Riviera’s 46th Anniversary$100 Year: 2001 Mintage: 46

Riviera’s 46th Anniversary$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 746

April Fool’s$2.50 Year: 2001 Mintage: 929

St. Patrick’s Day 2001$25 Year: 2001 Mintage: 117

St. Patrick’s Day 2001$5 Year: 2001 Mintage:777

Race Weekend 2001$25 Year: 2001 Mintage: 140

Race Weekend 2001$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 800

Super Party Weekend$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 600

Chinese New Year 2001$25 Year: 2001 Mintage: 78

Chinese New Year 2001$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 789

Mary Wilson$5 Year: 2001 Mintage: 500




Tex-Mas Dance$5 Year: 2000 Mintage: 600

Nevada Day 2000 1 of 5$5 Year: 2000 Mintage: 500





North American Open Darts Tournament$5 Year: 2000 Mintage: 750


Bingo Fever$5 Year: 2000 Mintage: 720

American Poolplayers Association$5 Year: 2000 Mintage: 750

4th of July 2000$5 Year: 2000 Mintage: 704



April Fool’s 2000$5 Year: 2000 Mintage: 779

Bobby Vinton$5 Year: 2000 Mintage: 500

Valentine’s Day 2000$5 Year: 2000 Mintage: 500

Chinese New Year, Year of the Dragon$5 Year: 2000 Mintage: 789

Playoffs 2000 1 of 4$5 Year: 2000 Mintage: 500





Frankie Avalon$25 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

The Tokens$10 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

The Shangri-Las$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000


New Year’s 1999 - 2000$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 4,500

Spirit of the Season$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 500

National Finals Rodeo 41st Anniversary$25 Year: 1999 Mintage: 200

National Finals Rodeo 41st Anniversary$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

Thanksgiving 1999$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 500

Millenium Series, 2000$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

Millenium Series, 1990’s$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000






Splash$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 5,000

La Cage$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 5,000

The Comedy Club$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 5,000

Nikki Tyler$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,500*

Heather Hunter$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,500*

Jenna Jameson$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,500*

Crazy Girls$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 5,000


Football Kickoff$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

Jimmie “JJ” Walker$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

Jackie Martling$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

10th Annual North American Open Dart$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

Rich Little$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

DL Hughley$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

4th of July 1999$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

Bobby Vee$5 Year: 199 Mintage: 1,000

Beach Bash Blackjack$25 Year: 1999 Mintage: 5,000

Tommy Davidson$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

* Pulled from the casino cage. Approximately 200 in circulation * Pulled from the casino cage. Approximately 200 in circulation * Pulled from the casino cage. Approximately 200 in circulation


Run for the Roses$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

David Brenner$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

Bobby Vinton$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

St. Patricks Day 1999$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

Riviera Racing Team$5 Year: 2003 Mintage: 1,000

Louie Anderson$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 1,000

Game of the Century 1 of 4$5 Year: 1999 Mintage: 500





National Finals Rodeo 40th Anniversary$5 Year: 1998 Mintage: 1,000

Samples of Hologram Tokens

From the Zodiac series

The Oscars Christmas

Samples of Silver Strkes


These boxes are available for specialconcerts and various otherconvention bookings. The boxescome with a private bartender,servers, and network feeds on twotelevisions. Ranging from 600 squarefeet to 1,024 square feet, skyboxescan be combined to accommodatelarger gatherings. These Skyboxeshave been rented for seminars, salesmeeting and birthday parties.

January 28, 2000A Las Vegas magazine announced

the results of a poll of tourists forthe Best Showgirls in

Las Vegas andCrazy Girls won.Crazy Girls waspresented with a

Tourist Top ChoiceWinner Certificate,

edging out Bally’s Jubilee, andStardust’s Enter the Night.

February 4, 2000Riviera Black Hawk opens in

Colorado to bustling business.

March 2000Portions of the Movie 3000 Miles

to Graceland werefilmed at theRiviera. Thismovie starredKevin Costner,Kurt Russell,Christian Slater,David Arquette and hiswife Courtney Cox Arquette. Whenword got out who was at the resortfans waited hours for the arrivals ofthe stars. For those that stayed up at 3and 6:00am, they could have playedblack jack with Kevin Costner orroulette with David Arquette betweentakes, both in their Elvis attire. In aclosing ceremony on the final morn-ing, Lichtenstein presented a “purpleheart” engraved with “for beyond thecall of duty, from 3MFG” to DavidArquette, and three crew members forhaving sustained shrapnel wounds

during a scene filmed two nightsprior. The company has now movedto Vancouver to complete the picture.

April 11, 2000Prince Albert and his entourage

went to the Riviera to see CrazyGirls. Prince Albert was so taken withthem he treated them to a night ofdancing on the town where the girlsenjoyed an evening of riding in a lim-ousine and champagne into the weehours.

May of 2000Frank Marino, star of La Cage

signed a 10 year, $10 million contractto continue his run in La Cage, whichwill allow him to keep his title as“Queen of Las Vegas” for at leastanother decade. Marino claims evenas a small child growing up in NewYork, he had always known he’dbecome a star. What he didn’t realizeis he’d have to be dressed up ascomedienne Joan Rivers, draped inBob Mackie gowns to do so.

June 17, 2000Lon Bronson All-Star R&B Rock

& Soul Revue celebrated its 10thAnniversary at the Riviera with a spe-cial party beginning at midnight inthe resorts Le Bistro Lounge. The cel-ebration included free T-shirts foreveryone in the audience, and abirthday cake.

Week of June 12, 2000Riviera announced that the Bela

Tabak’s Riders of the Thunderdomewould attempt the incredible fivemotorcycles racing at 40-plus miles-per-hour within a 14’13” diametercage of metal mesh during the 7:3Opm performance of Splash. It wasaccomplished on July 2,2000, beforea packed house.

November 9, 2001The first fully interactive multi-

kiosk workgroup on the Strip wasunveiled at the Riviera Convention

Center. TouchNSurf, had been select-ed as the provider for this 5 kioskworkgroup termed “Internet Comer &More”, which provided the hardwareand their propriety software whichconsisted of a user-friendly interfaceenabling users to check/receive webbased or pop email, surf the web,send video email, print web and emailcontent to laser printers, and manyother accessible features.

January 2002The Riviera opened its new com-

puter center containing 12 stations,located in the rear Grande Ballroomlobby where, for a fee, people can gettheir e-mail, access their sites, etc. .

February 9, 2002Actor Joe Pesci stopped by the

resort to celebrate his 59th birthdayand visited Crazy Girls for the third

Jack Benny and George Burns, 1967

Barbara Streisand, 1963


time. Pesci had a full-blown birthdaycelebration with Crazy Girl HeidiDeering whose birthday was the samedate.

July 1, 2002Donald Trump purchased a 9.8

percent stake in the Riviera’s parentcompany in a deal he says was solelydone for “investment purposes” andhe purchased the stocks with personal

resources. The NewYork-New Jersey

real estate devel-oper and casinoboss bought

350,000 shares ofRiviera Holdings

stock $6.50 per share, or$2.275 million, according to theSecurities and Exchange Commission.

October 15, 2002The latest incarnation of Splash

was unveiled including all-new, highenergy dance numbers - a series ofscenes from Kander and Ebb’sCabaret, and a sexy salsa dance rou-tine to the theme of Dirty Dancing.Lead male singer Smokey, Jr., “SinceI’ve had the time of my life withChad Davis and Laura Rodriguez set-ting the stage with an adagio of themore serene moments of the 1987film. As a Latin beat kicks in, thestage comes alive with spirited, sultry

dance bringing the Swayze/Greymoves to life.”

2003In memory of comedy legend Bob

Hope, Riviera was the first resort onthe Strip to change their reader boardto say: BOB HOPE; THANKS FORTHE MEMORIES; 1903-2003WE’LL MISS YOU!

January, 2005Nickel Town becomes Penny Town

February, 2005Walk of Stars ceremonies honoring

Liberace and Frank Marino.

April 20,2005Riviera celebrates its 50th

Anniversary.

The Hotel/Casino offers more than100,000 square feet of casino space,with players enjoying a wide varietyof gaming. Included are all forms ofreel slots and video games, tablegames, a VIP slot area, keno and a

complete sports book. Forrecreation there is a 5-lapswimming pool with pool

deck lounge and courtyard,

Common Back

two lighted tennis courts, men’s andWomen’s health spas and exerciserooms. A video Arcade, featuringhigh-tech video games, pinballmachines, skee ball, an electronicshooting gallery, a 3-D hologramgame and much, much more.

Restaurants include RistoranteItaliano, Kristofer’s Steakhouse,Kady’s Coffee Shop, JAX - Frenchcuisine, World’s Fare Buffet, MardiGras Food Court and Hound Doggies.

I would like to thank the followingpeople for making this article possi-ble. John Neeland, Publicity Manager,Barbra Wolf, Director of CasinoMarketing and Pamela Perkins of theRiviera Hotel & Casino. AndyHughes, Gary Acquistapace, DonLueders, Mike Pasternack for helpwith chips and tokens.

50th Anniversary Tokens

Hand Painted Tokens

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