O’Sheas Casino Closes After 23 Years
Another iconic Las Vegas casino has shut down to make way for a fancy new resort. On April 30, 2012, O’Sheascasino closed its doors permanently. The casino was popular for its boisterous leprechaun who would beckon gamblers to visit and try their hand at Beer Pong.
The casino spent 23 years tempting visitors to gamble with its low table minimums while selling cheap beer and entertaining the masses in its own unique style. In the 1997 flick “National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation,” O’Sheas received a quick guest spot when Clark’s son, Rusty, wins a car from a slot machine placed in front of the casino.
The casino won a spot in the 2001 edition of the “Guinness Book of World Records” when it hosted 220 guests during the largest toast. Later, in 2006, Mötley Crüe’s lead singer, Vince Neil, opened a tattoo parlor inside the casino. The parlor featured a glass room in which sidewalk patrons could watch the process of tattooing.
Caesars Entertainment, the company that owns O’Sheas, will be bringing a new massive development to the Center Strip of Las Vegas called The Linq. The new project is expected to cost an estimated $550 million and will feature new bars, restaurants and entertainment.
The Linq’s locale will be across the street from Caesars Palace and between the Flamingo and the current O’Sheas structure. The Imperial Palace will also become a new development.
Caesars Entertainment is also building an enormous observation wheel on the site. The High Roller will be 550 feet tall and may remind visitors of the London Eye with its 28 cabins that can hold up to 40 guests each. The High Roller can entertain up to 2,240 passengers every hour with a full trip around the wheel lasting for 30 minutes. Guests will pay around $20 for the ride.
The new development will connect conveniently to several of the strips nearby casinos such as Harrah’s Vegas and the Flamingo. Plenty of info and good pics of the old O’Sheas on the the Harrahs blog.
The Las Vegas saying “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” should be changed to “out with the old and in with the new.”