Never has a gambling hall been more inaccurately named than Mr. Sy’s Casino of Fun. Fun was certainly not part of the experience at this seedy slot joint, operational in a strip mall across from the Stardust from 1962 to 1980.
Mr. Sy’s Casino of Fun was located in the Fashion Square Shopping Center, now known as the Las Vegas Plaza Shopping Center, across from the Stardust at 3061 S. Las Vegas Blvd. What visitors did find at Mr. Sy’s were numerous down-on-their-luck seniors losing their Social Security checks a nickel at a time, all within a never-clearing cloud of their own Marlboro smoke.
Behind Mr. Sy’s Casino of Fun was Seymore Husney, a Brooklyn-born businessman. Husney funded the casino by inventing a coin display case for slot machines, which gained popularity in the ’60s. His lack of scruples extended to employing shills who played his slots with house money and who were instructed to scream exuberantly whenever they won. Husney also distributed piles of “super funbooks” at tourist locations along the Strip, targeting the vulnerable with coupons for free meals, cocktails, and rolls of nickels.
Husney knew that people, particularly those who were poor, alcoholic, or gambling-addicted, would come for the steak or the $2 in nickels and stay until they were broke again.
Cleveland native Drew Carey, before becoming a comedian, spent four years struggling in Las Vegas, working as a bank teller and at a Denny’s on the Strip. At one point, Carey lived in a weekly motel room on Fremont Street, with blood stains on the walls and hookers coming and going next door. “But I never got desperate enough to go to Mr. Sy’s,” he told longtime Las Vegas entertainment reporter Mike Weatherford for his 2001 book, “Cult Vegas.”
In 1979, America learned that Mr. Sy’s definition of fun included sex with minors. On June 14 of that year, Seymore Husney’s arrest and indictment for sexually molesting a 14-year-old girl two years earlier made national news. Husney pleaded guilty, accepting a sentence of five years to life. A year later, Husney’s attorney, Devoe Heaton, successfully argued that his client hadn’t understood the terms of the plea bargain. Husney’s sentence was reduced to probation and time served. Las Vegas residents were enraged by the decision, which was covered by all the local news channels.
“I couldn’t begin to tell you how sorry I am,” Husney told KVBC-TV/Las Vegas after being freed. “I’ll be sorry for the rest of my life. I’m ashamed of my last name, I’m ashamed of my first name.”
Indeed, those names disappeared off the face of the planet. There are no Google or newspaper archive hits for Seymore (or “Seymour,” as it was often misspelled) Husney after he closed Mr. Sy’s in disgrace in 1980. Except one. Findagrave.com lists him as having died on June 10, 2004, at age 75. He’s buried in Culver City, California.
The former Mr. Sy’s storefront went through several transformations, becoming Big Red’s Casino (1981-82), Peppermill Casino (1982-89), Dan’s Royal Flush (1991-96), CBS Sports World Casino (1997-98), and then just Sports World (1998-2002) when the TV network threatened action. For the past few years, it has been a Kimchi Korean BBQ.
