Forgotten Man: How Circus Circus's Bill Bennett Brought Middle America to Las Vegas

by Jack Sheehan

When listing the top movers and shakersin the history of Las Vegas gaming,Steve Wynn, Kirk Kerkorian, and HowardHughes inevitably garner a mention.But such a list is incomplete without BillBennett - the Forgotten Man.While Wynn and other resort operatorscatered to high-rollers, Bennett focusedon middle-class Americans to fillhis hotel rooms and play his slot machines.He transformed Circus Circus from astruggling curiosity into the Strip's mostsuccessful resort.Forgotten Man, told through in-depthinterviews with family members, friends,employees, and others who knew Bennett,tells the story of a man who as much asanyone built modern Las Vegas.Bennett shared the lead with SteveWynn in reinventing the Strip during theearly '90s. Bennett and his dream team of"Young Turk" executives built the iconicExcalibur and Luxor resorts, which standout to this day on the Las Vegas skyline.The financier Michael Milken praises Bennettas "the Sam Walton of Las Vegas."But historians would be wise to focuson the empire that Bennett created, whichstarted with one failing property on theedge of bankruptcy and grew into morethan half a dozen thriving hotel-casinosthat have now been absorbed into thegiant MGM Resorts.

228 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2010

Reviews

[Speck Rejk]

I skim over the fam stuff which is very helpfully segmented with headings and splits on every page making it easy readjng - all books should do this! And all the bizness stuff is very entertaining

[Don · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fairly glowing portrait with a great deal of oral history--probably not that well-balanced. Bennett was a smart and driven man who figured out the casino business better than his competitors. He does deserve a lot of the credit for building modern Las Vegas, but he was lucky he didn't lose it all in his later days.

[Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in the history of Las Vegas and how it transitioned from the Mob to Corporate America, this is for you. Bill Bennett was responsible for building many of the landmark resorts on the Strip and this tells the background story of how he (along with Steve Wynn) built the modern day strip.

[RiskingTime · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a Las Vegas history fan, you will enjoy this book. If you are not into Las Vegas history or the history of casino gambling, you should probably avoid this book.