Michael Gaughan
From the Barbary Coast to South Point
Jackie Gaughan’s son built a casino business of his own, moving from the Barbary Coast and Coast Casinos to South Point.
A family with different territories
UNLV’s biography describes Jackie and Michael dividing their operating interests around Sahara Avenue: Jackie concentrated downtown while Michael developed properties farther south. The relationship connects two different customer markets. [1]
Coast and the Boyd transaction
Michael founded Coast Casinos with the Barbary Coast opening in 1979. Coast became part of Boyd Gaming in 2004; in 2006 he acquired South Coast from Boyd and renamed it South Point. Those transactions explain the continuity and change in ownership. [1]
A wider hospitality audience
The Sun’s 2011 reporting connects South Point with rodeo visitors. That business sits alongside the sportsbook and casino, showing how events and specialized facilities shape a resort’s clientele. [2]
Key dates
People in the same story
Jackie Gaughan
His father and an important downtown operator. [1]
Read the profileJimmy Vaccaro
Explore the bookmaker’s long association with Gaughan properties. UNLV Gaming Law Journal South Point
Read the profileIn the archive
41 entries about associated places, not necessarily this person in the saved collection.
An El Cortez robbery reaches court
The Sun reports a guilty plea in a conspiracy to rob the downtown El Cortez casino.
A suite deal: El Cortez redesign contest, on a budget
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Local design firm mobs up an El Cortez room
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El Cortez aims at younger downtown crowd with revamped suites
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The Interview: Alex Epstein, executive manager of downtown's El Cortez
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Las Vegas' El Cortez hotel-casino listed as national historic site
Indexed press reference · View the bibliography. The original report has not been independently read for this entry.
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Go deeper into the record.
Sources for this profile and starting points for further research. Access notes mark links we could not open directly during the October 3–4, 2026 checks. Historical accounts describe their own period; they do not necessarily describe current operations.
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It’s great for us, it’s great for them
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