Pioneer Laughlin casino owner Lopp dies at 90

Friday, Aug. 13, 2004 | 9:22 a.m.

Odell "Odie" Lopp ranched in Texas, sold aircraft tires in California and pioneered a successful casino in Laughlin without ever learning to read or write.

Lopp died at his son's North Las Vegas home on Wednesday. He was 90.

Services have been set for 1 p.m. on Sunday at Palm Mortuary, 7400 W. Cheyenne Ave. Burial will be in Carlsbad, Calif.

Born Feb. 2, 1914, in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., Lopp left home at the age of 14 on a motorcycle and came to Las Vegas.

Sixty years later Lopp and Del Newman, an assistant to Don Laughlin, who renamed the Colorado River resort town, visited a Lawrenceburg drugstore that had an old-fashion soda counter, drugs on glass shelves behind the counter and a statue of Daniel Boone.

"I asked some old timers if they remembered Odie," Newman said. "One of them said, 'He was the one with that (expletive) old motorcycle.' So I said, 'Here he is, 60 years later.' "

After a stint in the Navy during World War II, Lopp moved to Carlsbad and sold aircraft tires.

When Lopp arrived in Laughlin, then known as South Point, three casinos existed: the Riverside, the Monte Carlo and the Bobcat.

Lopp bought the Bobcat in 1968 and opened it as Odie Lopp's Nevada Club in August 1970.

"He was the first to build hotel rooms in Laughlin," Newman said. "There were 32 rooms."

After three more ownership changes, Lopp's former Nevada Club is now the Golden Nugget Laughlin, owned by MGM Mirage.

Meanwhile, Lopp moved near Tyler, Texas, in 1975 and operated a ranch.

Lopp shuttled between Las Vegas and Tyler until 1 1/2 years ago, when he moved in with his son, Bill Lopp of North Las Vegas.

Lopp was a reclusive man who shunned the spotlight, Newman said.

"He was a man who stood alone, made a decision and he stuck to it," Newman said. "He used to say, 'Don't worry about the mule, just load the wagon.' "

Lopp reminded Newman of a "banty rooster" standing about 5-foot-7 and staying slender all of his life.

In addition to ranching and owning casinos, Lopp also flew a Duke twin-engine airplane that he piloted himself until he became too old to hold a license.

Lopp was unable to avoid the spotlight in 1990, when convicted swindler Clark Bingham cheated the casino operator out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by forging Lopp's signature on four income tax refund checks.

Bingham was sentenced in April 1991 to 3 1/2 years in federal prison on forgery and tax evasion charges.

Lopp is survived by his sons, Bill Lopp of North Las Vegas and Bob Lopp of Carlsbad, Calif.