Pioneer casino exec, dealers school owner Ayoub dies at 77

Monday, Aug. 27, 2001 | 9:56 a.m.

Bobby Ayoub learned the art of dealing cards at backwoods Ohio and Kentucky gambling houses, where as a young casino boss he had to keep one eye on the table action and another on the lookout for police and revenuers who would raid the joints.

So well did Ayoub learn his trade that he later went on to be a casino executive in Havana during its heyday and in Las Vegas during its period of greatest growth.

He also became one of the most renowned teachers of the games. Many of today's dealers and executives got their start at Bobby Ayoub's School of Dealing on Ogden Avenue.

Robert Edward Ayoub, the quintessential Las Vegas gamer who rubbed elbows with members of the Rat Pack and later traveled the world from Monte Carlo to Africa to train dealers and help open casinos, died Thursday at his sister's home in Las Vegas following a yearlong battle with cancer. He was 77.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 48 years will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at Guardian Angel Cathedral. Visitation will be 2-7 p.m. Tuesday at Palm Mortuary-Downtown, with a prayer service at 6 p.m. Interment will be at Palm Mortuary-Downtown.

"My father was just a Las Vegas guy -- you could find him at the lounge shows at 3 a.m. after his shift, on the golf course or playing at the craps table," said daughter Amy Ayoub, a political and nonprofit fund-raiser and a member of the Nevada Athletic Commission.

"He loved the tremendous growth of the gaming industry here and was so proud to be a part of it."

Born Feb. 5, 1924, in Steubenville, Ohio, Ayoub was the fourth of six children of clothing peddlers George Ayoub and the former Helen Joseph.

At age 15 Ayoub began his gaming career as a dealer at the Waterford Downs casino in Ohio. While he worked nights in the casino, he continued to go to school and graduated from Steubenville High.

After graduation Ayoub worked such establishments as the Merchants Casino in Newport, Ky., the Lookout House in Covington, Ky., and Fontaine's in Washington, D.C.

In 1951 he and his brother, Fred Ayoub went to Havana to work in the legal casinos. There, they ran into an old friend, Ed Levenson, who invited them to come to Las Vegas and work for him.

The Ayoubs moved to Las Vegas, where Bobby initially worked at the Sands hotel and was befriended by fellow Steubenville native Dean Martin and other Rat Pack members.

Levenson hired Bobby Ayoub in 1956 to be executive manager for his new Fremont hotel, where Ayoub later opened one of the town's first dealer schools.

One of Ayoub's jobs was to keep an eye on a Fremont performer who was too young to hang around the casino -- Wayne Newton.

In the 1960s Ayoub became part owner of the Carousel casino at First Street and Fremont and opened his freestanding dealer school.

In the 1970s and '80s, Ayoub was in demand worldwide to teach dealing and help open casinos. One of his clients was the famed casino at Monte Carlo. He also helped open casinos in Africa, Yugoslavia and the Netherlands before retiring in 1985.

In addition to his daughter and his brother, both of Las Vegas, Ayoub is survived by a son, Luke Ayoub, and another daughter, Ellen Ayoub, both of Las Vegas; three sisters, Marian VanBenthem and Doris Karres, both of Las Vegas, and Annie Devrnja of Steubenville; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a brother, Ebie Ayoub.

The family asks donations be made to the Triangle Club, 4600 N. Nellis Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89121.