Las Vegas Entrepreneur Bob Stupak Dies at 67

Bob Stupak, a man who literally helped shape the Las Vegas skyline, died today after a long battle with leukemia. He was 67.

The Las Vegas gaming entrepreneur was most well known for his ambitious project — the 1,149-foot-tall Stratosphere Tower — that looms over the Las Vegas Strip. But he was quite the fixture on the poker scene as well, appearing on the popular Game Show Network show High Stakes Poker and participating in countless World Poker Tour events at Bellagio over the past decade.

He has one World Series of Poker bracelet, for a deuce to seven lowball event in 1989.

But Stupak was much more than a poker player or an entrepreneur. He was an eccentric character who was one of the more colorful characters in one of the gaudiest cities in the world.

Born in Pittsburgh, he moved to Las Vegas and opened up a restaurant and museum in the area before really striking it rich with Vegas World, a casino on Las Vegas Blvd. that remained open from 1979 to 1995. It was eventually shut down to make room for the Stratosphere.

“Bob was an impresario, a ringmaster in the mold of the promoters who made Las Vegas the great town that it is,” said Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman. “His ingenuity got him into trouble sometimes, but that happens to folks who try to grab the brass ring.”

There will not be a funeral, as per Stupak’s request. His family asked that in lieu of flowers, contributions be sent to the Stupak Community Center in his memory:

The Stupak Trust
300 South Fourth St., Suite 701
Las Vegas, NV 89101

For more on Stupak’s life, read the Las Vegas Review Journal’s obituary.

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