The Tropicana was sold to Ramada Inns Inc. in late '79 after Nevada gaming regulators concluded that organized crime had infiltrated the casino's operations. Although the Kansas City mob had profited from illegally skimming cash from the casino, it did not legally own the property. The sale proceeds therefore went to the casino's legitimate owners and investors. The principal recipients were Mitzi Stauffer Briggs, who owned roughly 80% of the operating company, along with Edward and Fred Doumani, who held a major interest in the real estate, and investor Deil Gustafson.
Briggs later maintained that she suffered a substantial financial loss on her investment, while the Doumani interests and Gustafson became embroiled in litigation with Ramada over the purchase agreement. Although the sale ended the Tropicana's era of mob influence, it primarily represented a transfer of ownership from licensed private investors to a publicly traded hospitality company.
Postcards 1-2 circa summer 1980
Postcard circa Fall 1980. "Ramada" on the sign. TV's "Las Vegas Gambit" filming at the hotel.
“I owned Aztar stock in the 90s, the parent company of the Tropicana at that time, a spin off of Ramada motor hotels. Reading the annual report was amusing, the deals and sub-deals on everything. One thing I remember distinctly is the part where all the furniture belonged to and was leased from a Kansas City company. I was always reputed that this hotel was controlled by the Kansas city outfit. No smoking gun just a notation in a financial disclosure.” - Gus Archer to Vintage Las Vegas, 2024.
