Part V: Regional & Cultural · Casino Slang & Historical Terms

7.8 Corporate Gaming Era

Historical — Industry Period

The Corporate Gaming Era refers to the period beginning in the late 1960s and accelerating in the 1970s-1980s when publicly traded corporations replaced organized crime figures as the dominant owners and operators of casino properties in Las Vegas and other regulated jurisdictions. Key developments included Howard Hughes’s purchase of multiple Las Vegas casinos (1967-1968), the creation of the Nevada Gaming Commission with rigorous licensing requirements, the passage of the RICO Act (1970), Hilton’s acquisition of the Flamingo (1970), and the rise of corporate operators including MGM Grand, Caesars World, and Steve Wynn’s Mirage Resorts. The corporate gaming era brought professional management, transparent accounting, and institutional investment to the industry.

In practice

The transition from mob to corporate ownership was not instantaneous — the process took more than two decades and required significant regulatory innovation and federal law enforcement involvement. The Kefauver Committee hearings (1950-1951) first exposed mob influence, while the FBI’s “Operation Strawman” (1979-1985) prosecuted remaining mob-connected casino figures.

One entry from the Casino Industry Glossary — 1,157 terms written for surveillance, compliance and operations professionals rather than for players. Definitions describe industry usage; where a term carries a regulatory meaning, verify against the instrument that governs your jurisdiction.