Pioneer casino executive, civic leader Garbian dies

Friday, Feb. 23, 2001 | 11:03 a.m.

Al Garbian devoted his life to promoting and improving the business of gaming and to making Las Vegas a better place to live with his contributions to civic activities such as public television, the YMCA and the UNLV Foundation.

"Al was generous and genuine -- what you saw was what you got," longtime friend Alan Mann, senior vice president at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in Henderson, said. "He was honest to a fault, and while he was so civic minded, he was a private man who never sought praise for his generosity."

William Boyd, chairman of Boyd Gaming and a longtime friend and business associate, said Garbian was a pioneer in gaming dating back to the 1930s when he ran Southern California bingo rooms with Boyd's late father, Sam Boyd.

"Al was a great promoter of gaming who always came up with ideas to draw people into the place," Boyd said Thursday. "He had a sixth sense for the business and was very street smart."

Albert Garbian, who was executive in the early days of the Sahara, Fremont, Aladdin, Hacienda and California hotels, as well as other casinos that no longer exist, died Wednesday of cancer at his Las Vegas home. He was 88.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 54 years will be 3 p.m. Sunday at Palm Mortuary-Downtown. Burial will be in Palm Memorial Park.

In his time, Garbian was one of the top casino bosses on the Strip. He hobnobbed with celebrities including Elvis Presley, Victor Borge and Ed Sullivan, but never lost touch with the common man, friends say.

"Al was raised in the business like my dad and understood what customers wanted," Boyd said. "He came up with ideas like car giveaways and $1,000 drawings that worked real well."

But a lot of what Garbian saw in the days when the mob ran many of the casinos was something he did not share even with his closest friends.

"Al always said he could write a best-selling book about the things he knew about Las Vegas, but he vowed he would take those memories to his grave, and he did," Mann said.

Garbian was born Nov. 6, 1912, in New York City and was raised in Southern California, where he graduated from Santa Monica Junior College. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II and settled in Las Vegas in 1947.

Garbian helped Milton Prell turn his Club Bingo on the Strip into the Sahara and later worked for Prell when he opened the original Aladdin. He attended the marriage of Elvis and Priscilla Presley at the Aladdin in the late 1960s.

Garbian ran the Las Vegas Club's bingo room for two years in the early 1950s, opened the Lucky Strike downtown in 1954 and owned the Carousel in the early 1970s.

He also was a partner in the Mint hotel-casino, which today is part of the Horseshoe, and was a stockholder in the Boyd Group, which owns Sam's Town, the Stardust, the Fremont, Main Street Station and the California. Garbian retired from gaming in the late 1980s.

As a civic leader, Garbian helped start KLVX Channel 10 (PBS) and the local YMCA, earning its Man of the Year honors in 1989 following 30 years as a board member.

Garbian served on the advisory board of the University of Nevada Medical School and received a commendation from the City of Hope for assistance in furthering medical care and research.

Garbian said his four years as president of the Las Vegas Armenian-American Cultural Society was one of his greatest sources of pride. He helped provide the funding to build the club's cultural center and officiated numerous Armenian-American events and ceremonies over the years.

Garbian was a driving force behind the inception of the UNLV Foundation, of which he was a member. He also was a charter member of the Las Vegas Country Club and Las Vegas Press Club, a member of Optimist International and a life member of Kessab Educational Association of Los Angeles.

Garbian is survived by his wife, Jean Garbian.

The family says donations can be made in Garbian's memory to Nathan Adelson Hospice.