by Dave Williams
- Showboat Casino Las Vegas Bowling Alley
- Showboat Atlantic City Bowling Alley
- Bowling Alley Near Me
- Bowling Alley Cost
- Lucky Strike Bowling
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For anyone that is over the age of 40, the name Showboat conjures up the game of bowling, where thousands of Californian’s enjoyed their sweeper bowling event, from leagues that promoted a weekend in Las Vegas following a season of bowling enjoyment in their hometown.
The Showboat was also one of the most famous stops on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour, where many pro’s gave up the fight and decided to retire in the city known for high temperatures, low living expenses, and a fascination with bowlers.
As Bob Johnson (former editor of the California Bowling News, and now Senior Editor of Bowlers Journal International) looked back upon the Showboat in a recent article entitled “Ghosts of the Showboat” (Bowlers Journal International, December 2018), I could not help but reminisce about the years of enjoyment that I had working in bowling’s 21st century capital.
With the exception of Sam’s Town, all of the bowling centers that were in existence when I lived in Las Vegas are gone. One of the first to go was New College Park Bowl, where I worked for a year as a Manager Trainee, and later for a brief stint as Manager while AMF shuffled around management candidates before finally deciding upon Mike Monyak.
Mike was a part of AMF’s management development program and working at AMF Bowlero Lanes in Tacoma, Washington, when he got the call regarding a position in Las Vegas. His positive attitude and devotion to the game have rewarded him nicely, as he is now the manager of the 64 lane South Point Bowling Center on South Las Vegas Boulevard.
Other bowling centers that have closed since my departure from Las Vegas include Arizona Charlie’s (nee Charleston Heights Bowl), West Hill Lanes, the El Rancho Bowling Lanes, and even the Nellis 300 Lanes at Nellis Air Force Base.
Charleston Heights Bowl was a special place for “retired” professional bowlers. On my only day off from duties at New College Park Bowl, I participated in the Las Vegas All Stars League at Charleston Heights. It was like bowling in a PBA regional event with all of the ex-professionals that participated.
In my only full season in Las Vegas, I was fortunate to average 222 in the Las Vegas All Stars, and a blistering 226 at New College Park, the highest individual average recorded in the Southern Nevada Men’s Bowling Association for the 1978-79 season.
While 226 doesn’t seem like that unusual of an average today, in 1978 it was quite the exception. I have often said that I was a professional league bowler, because I just couldn’t handle the grueling 42 or 56 game qualifying schedules of the PBA on a weekly basis; but for a three game weekly stint, I was able to set association average records in almost every location that AMF positioned me for sales and marketing duties.
As I searched the internet for articles on the former bowling centers that have closed since my departure from Las Vegas, I could not help but notice that there are two primary owners of most bowling center properties in Las Vegas today – Station Casinos and Boyd Gaming.
It would appear that these two companies have capitalized on the attraction that bowling has for gamblers… something that Showboat founder Joe Kelley recognized when bowling was setting installation records across the country after the successful introduction of automated bowling machines in the late 1950’s.
The two aforementioned companies have made Las Vegas the bowling capital of the world in 2019. Among the approximate 700 bowling lanes in Las Vegas today, Station Casinos accounts for 282 lanes, and Boyd Gaming for 242 of the bowling drives.
Surprisingly, Station Casinos is the owner of the former Showboat property. According to an article that appeared in the Las Vegas Review-Journal (March 24, 2000), Harrahs Entertainment purchased Showboat Incorporated in 1998, and sold the Las Vegas property to VSS Enterprises in 2000.
Harrahs refused to sell the Showboat name, not wanting the VSS property to be confused with the Showboat Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, or their own Harrahs Las Vegas on the Strip that resembled a showboat. As a result, VSS Enterprises renamed the Las Vegas Showboat, christening it the Castaways.
Photo provided by Frenchy Letourneau of International Bowling Media.
Another Las Vegas Review-Journal article (June 27, 2003) goes on to report that VSS could never make a go of the operation, and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2003. That’s when Station Casinos stepped in and purchased the Castaways. Their primary interest was in the grandfathered gambling license, after determining that there were structural concerns with the building. Demolition of the facility began in July of 2005.
Could Bob Johnson’s “Ghosts of the Showboat” article prove to be clairvoyant, and the property come back to life as one of Station Casinos mega-bowling operations? For local residents, who truly loved this location away from the Strip and downtown Vegas, the idea is thought provoking and brings back fond memories of the original owners of the Showboat that brought so many innovative ideas to casino operations… including bowling!
The show is over for the Showboat Casino Hotel.
The Mardi Gras-themed casino shut down Sunday after 27 years on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. It was one of three casinos closing within the next two weeks as Atlantic City deals with the impact of increasing competition from casinos in neighboring states. Revel will begin a two-day closing Monday, and Trump Plaza is closing Sept. 16.
One of the final songs piped in over the Showboat's loudspeakers: Queen's 'Another One Bites The Dust.'
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'We're all feeling a little betrayed,' Showboat cook Curtis Wade said. 'We're all walking around in a fog today. We worked really hard to try to keep it operating, and we're still profitable. We still don't understand why we were the one targeted to close, and nobody has given us an answer on that. There are too many jobs being pushed out of Atlantic City due to corporate greed.'
Wade will be among the thousands of workers showing up at the Atlantic City Convention Center on Wednesday for a mass unemployment filing.
The Showboat's owner, Caesars Entertainment, closed the still-profitable casino to reduce the number of casinos in Atlantic City, which has been struggling with plunging revenue and increased competition in the saturated northeastern U.S. casino market.
The Showboat stopped admitting new customers at 3 p.m. Sunday. At 4 p.m., security guards emerged to tape to the glass doors paper signs that read, 'Closed.'
Showboat Casino Las Vegas Bowling Alley
Inside the casino, recordings urged customers to patronize Caesars Entertainment's three remaining casinos in Atlantic City: Caesars, Harrah's and Bally's.
Showboat Atlantic City Bowling Alley
Caesars Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman wrote in a letter to employees that the Showboat has been in business in Atlantic City for 27 years and Caesars was proud to operate it for 16 years.
'I want to thank the Showboat Atlantic City team for their dedication, professionalism, and commitment to our guests -- both throughout the years and especially over the past several weeks,' he wrote.
Bowling Alley Near Me
Ruth Ann Joyce, who worked at Showboat as a bartender since the day it opened on March 30, 1987, was bitter on its last day.
'For 36 years (Atlantic City's casinos) were the cash cow,' she said. 'Now you're just going to kick us to the curb?'
Bowling Alley Cost
She urged potential buyers to take a chance on the Showboat -- as long as Caesars doesn't put the same kind of deed restriction prohibiting a new owner from running it as a casino as it has with two recent sales of former casino properties.
Outside the Showboat, a security guard who had been preventing would-be customers from entering was greeted by a longtime customer who came to say goodbye and ask how the guard was doing.
Lucky Strike Bowling
'I got a job at ShopRite,' the guard replied.
More than 470 of the Showboat's 2,000-plus workers are transferring to other casinos the company owns in New Jersey or in other states.
The Showboat was designed as a New Orleans-style riverboat casino with a Mardi Gras theme. It even had a bowling alley for folks who needed a break from the slot machines and table games.
Kurt Williams, of Seaville, was a young boy when his family took him to the Showboat soon after it opened.
'There was a fun vibe to the Showboat, especially for a wide-eyed young kid like me at the time, and it was the only resort in town that had a bowling alley,' he said. 'It's really a shame all these resorts are going belly up, and I feel awful for the surrounding communities and the families it will affect.'
Elizabeth Scarnati, of Cortland Manor, New York, is still excited about a $12,000 jackpot she won last year playing slots at the Showboat.
'I always loved this little casino, especially those suites in the Bourbon Tower,' she said. 'I was lucky enough to stay in the one on the top floor, oceanfront, with the wraparound balcony. I will miss the Mardi Gras casino a lot.'
Atlantic City began the year with 12 casinos, but before summer is over it will be down to eight. Nearly 8,000 casino workers will have lost their jobs.