In this interview, Unger reflects upon his long and successful career in hotel management in Las Vegas and also in Arizona and Pennsylvania. He shares stories as a local celebrity, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s when he worked at Caesars Palace, as well as the big projects he oversaw, including organizing the first big fight nights, World Series of Tavern Poker and Grand Prix race. He talks about working with Morris Shenker, Moe Dalitz, Cliff Perlman and Billy Weinberger, and the role of the Jewish community in the city, and specifically in the gaming industry. Unger also discusses his non-gaming industry ventures which have included a satellite communications business and a bagel business.
Mike Unger was born in Queens, New York in 1947, and spent most of his childhood in Long Island, growing up in a predominantly Jewish and Italian community. As a young adult, Unger was already working hard, running one of his family?s restaurant after school. When he was in high school, his family moved to Los Angeles to accommodate his father?s health needs, and eventually end up in Las Vegas by 1967. Over the next two decades, Unger would work at nine properties in the city. Unger is one of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas? first hotel management graduates, and started his career with Summa Corporation in its management training program at the Frontier Hotel and Casino. After a brief stint at the Airport Marina Hotel in Los Angeles in 1972, Unger returned to Las Vegas, serving in management capacities at the Aladdin Hotel and Casino, Summa Corporation headquarters and Landmark Hotel and Casino. In 1978, he joined Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino management team, and was integral in creating the city?s first large boxing events, the World Series of Tavern Pool, and the Grand Prix race. Unger also ran properties for the White Mountain Apache and Colorado River Indian Tribes in Arizona, as well as the Showboat Hotel and Casino. In this interview, Unger reflects upon his long and successful career in hotel management in Las Vegas and also in Arizona and Pennsylvania. He shares stories as a local celebrity, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s when he worked at Caesars Palace, as well as the big projects he oversaw, including organizing the first big fight nights, World Series of Tavern Poker and Grand Prix race. He talks about working with Morris Shenker, Moe Dalitz, Cliff Perlman and Billy Weinberger, and the role of the Jewish community in the city, and specifically in the gaming industry. Unger also discusses his non-gaming industry ventures which have included a satellite communications business and a bagel business.
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José Luis Gutiérrez is a self-made entrepreneur and icon in Las Vegas, Nevada, who immigrated at a young age from his hometown in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. José’s childhood memories are filled with nostalgic and loving stories from being raised by his grandmother to working at his uncle’s mechanic shop from a young age. José remembers his childhood as a tough one since he had to start working early in life and did not get to finish high school even, but he relates how his mother always motivated him to do big things in life.
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The Goldfield Consolidated Mines Company Records (1904-1930) consist of correspondence, invoices, receipts with voucher checks, mining leases, insurance policies, payroll accounts, published notices and articles. Also included is a monthly Goldfield Consolidated Mines reports ledger from February 1914 to October 1916 for mines located in the south central Nevada area. The collection primarily dates from 1904, before the consolidation when the boom in Goldfield was beginning in earnest, until 1919, when the company ceased its operations in Goldfield, although there are a few records post-1919 as the company continued to exist after the mines and mill closed down.
Archival Collection
The UNLV Libraries Collection of GTECH Corporation Press Materials and Financial Reports includes annual reports, financial reports, equity research reports, prospectus, press kits, press releases, promotional materials, international lottery advertisements, and lottery industry publications produced by GTECH Corporation located in West Greenwich, Rhode Island, dating from 1987 to 2002.
Archival Collection