The first Las Vegas prototype resort, it was a combination of a luxury hotel, name entertainment and gambling. The success of the casino triggered a small building boom in the late 1940s.In 1946, Bugsy Siegel opened Flamingo Resort. The El Rancho Vegas, the first casino on the Strip, opened on April 3, 1941. Today more than 43 percent of the state’s general fund is fed by gambling tax revenue and more than 34 percent of the state's general fund is pumped into public education (Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, 2010).

The legalized gambling legislation was designed to raise needed taxes for public schools. Gambling was forbidden in 1910 by law, but illegal-but-accepted gambling flourished until 1931 when the Nevada Legislature approved a legalized gambling bill.

Nevada was the first state to legalize casino-style gambling. It includes a multitude of themes, including tropical waterfall, Egyptian pyramid, French cafes and Eiffel Tower, and music and circus, in addition to the modern hotels, casinos, restaurants and residential high-rises. The Strip originally refers only to the stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard that is roughly between Sahara Avenue and Russell Road, but this term often includes various casinos, resorts and properties which are one mile or more away from Las Vegas Boulevard.ĭespite its location outside the city limits, the Strip’s cityscape has formed the city’s identity and made it one of the most popular destinations for tourists.

It is adjacent to but outside the Las Vegas city limits (Sahara Avenue). The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately 4.2 mile stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada.

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