Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Jerry Fink: Hams broker success at Vegas nightclub

By day, Richard and Carla Ham run a financial and banking company that is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

By night, they run a nightclub.

Richard Ham would prefer not to name the publicly traded company, but his bar is Zingers, a locals' hangout that features a diverse class of customers and entertainment three nights a week.

The club is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"When we went into this nightclub we wanted a very high standard -- for entertainment, for the facility; everything had to be at a certain standard," the 52-year-old businessman said.

Which is why guests (Ham doesn't call them customers) won't find the usual beer posters and neon signs decorating the walls of the establishment, which is nestled in the center of a row of businesses at 1000 E. Sahara Ave., a shadowy part of town a few blocks east of the Strip.

There is a fine wine list, good liquor -- and beer, of course.

Guests range from conservative businesspeople to entertainers to cross-dressers.

This is neutral territory, where fans come by on Thursday nights for karaoke and on Fridays and Saturdays to hear Lou Martinez and Karin Denise sing.

Ham, who grew up in a small Nebraska town with a population of 73, recalled four truck drivers who came in one afternoon, large men in white T-shirts and jeans.

They were thirsty for a cold beer.

The bartender suggested they try a nice house chardonnay.

The beefy truckers laughed and poked each other, but one was brave enough to try the wine. The others followed suit.

"A week later they came back dressed in black slacks and nice shirts," Ham said. "Now they come in twice a week -- and they drink our chardonnay."

Ham says the story personifies what Zingers is all about.

"We're not trying to be stuck up," he said. "We're just trying to be different."

The club has been around in various forms for 20 years or more. For several years it was Keys, a club that catered to a gay clientele, and then it was the Dakota, which catered to straights.

It's located across the street from Commercial Center, a 40-year-old strip mall that has fallen on hard times and these days is known mostly for its gay bars and swingers' clubs.

Ham isn't so much concerned about the outside of the club as the inside.

"Our theory was to go back to the old Las Vegas, the really nice clubs that people can relax in a clean and comfortable environment," he said.

Ham and his group of investors bought the club last summer. When it started going in a different direction than he wanted, he stepped in and took over management.

"It was becoming more like a neighborhood tavern," he said.

Ham and his wife spend three or four hours a night at the club after spending 12 to 15 hours a day running their financial company.

"We have fun with the club," Ham said. "I'm not saying what we do outside of this isn't fun, but that is our work, that is what we have to do."

Even though running the club is hard work, he describes it as a daily mini-vacation.

"I don't get to smile much at the other job," Ham said. "There are lots of smiles here -- we see people laughing and having a good time all the time ... it's a great stress reliever when I come down here."

Ham hired Martinez to be in charge of the entertainment.

"I can't say enough about Lou Martinez," Ham said. "He's a great manager, a hard worker.

"I specialize in organizational behavior and culture. When I got with Lou he wanted to build a behavior and culture here that doesn't exist anywhere in Las Vegas today."

They formed a natural team and have been working closely ever since.

It has been evolving into an entertainment center, with good music and dancing.

"You never know what's going to happen here," Ham said. "One night one of our singers was dancing on a table."

Ham had never owned a nightclub before reading a "For Sale" ad in the classifieds about what became Zingers.

"I've always enjoyed the clubs, the way they used to be, like at the old Caesars, the old Desert Inn, the Dunes and all of that," he said.

Ham said that, aside from work, he and his wife don't have a lot of other interests -- they don't gamble, and they may go to a show once a month.

Their main source of recreation was dining out, until their company invested in Zingers and then the couple took over management.

He took over the club rather than hire a manager.

"I never like to do things halfway," Ham said. "I have to be actively involved. It's just natural for me to be involved in operations -- it's what I do for a living."

His goal is to have entertainment seven nights a week and to expand.

"We would like to do a couple of things," Ham said. "If we can get the place next to us we can knock the wall out and move the stage back and remodel the place to make it even nicer.

"If we can't get that, then in a year and a half we will look for a bigger location."

He still dreams of bringing back old Las Vegas.

"I'd like to have a two-story building with some balcony seating, a stage with footlights, nice entertainment -- have a place where guests come to relax."

Lounging around

It has been hard to find a table at Steven David's the past couple of weekends.

Between birthday parties, special guest performances and David's own late shows, the club at 545 E. Sahara Ave., has been drawing huge crowds.

The legendary Mary Kaye (of Mary Kaye Trio fame) was there one day last week until the wee hours of the morning, finally submitting to requests for her to sing at about 2 a.m.

Even though she has been in ill health and is confined to a wheel chair, the inimitable vocalist and guitarist thrilled the fans with her performance.

Jazz artists Raj Rathor on guitar and vocalist Diane Smith are at Tipps, 5740 W. Spring Mountain Road, 7 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. Mondays.

Pianist Bruce Zarka is at the Bellagio's Baccarat Bar from 4:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays.

Keyboardist Dennis Mellen is back at Capozzoli's Sunday evenings.

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