operation Jackie Gaughan's son Michael Gaughan ran the sports and race book in the current casino under the name South Point Race and Sports Book during the late 2000s, but the sports book is now run by Station Casinos. El Cortez has undergone several renovations, with the latest major remodeling completed in 2006. New carpet, marble flooring, gaming machines, refurbished guest rooms and an upgraded kitchen for the restaurant were added. Although only a block away from the Fremont Street Experience, the hotel is part of the newly-created Fremont East section of downtown. It has also created a main entrance off Las Vegas Boulevard (5th Street) by opening a block-long pedestrian walkway from the boulevard to the hotel's main entrance on 6th Street. El Cortez is also well known in the casino industry as the most prominent "break-in house" for new table-game dealers to get experience before moving onto bigger properties. The separate hotel in the back, the 100-room Ogden House, has been completely renovated into the 64-suite Cabana Suites. In 2008, Jackie Gaughan sold El Cortez and its properties to Kenny Epstein. Over the next decade, Epstein and his business partners put more than $50 million of renovations into the property. Gaughan continued to live at the casino and still played poker in the poker room until his death on March 12, 2014. As of 2013, it was the oldest continuously operating casino in Las Vegas. In March 2019, El Cortez was closed by police for several hours following a shooting. In 2018, renovation work took place on 73 rooms located on the first five floors of the hotel tower. Additional hotel remodeling was underway in 2019. El Cortez includes a restaurant, Siegel's 1941, which features memorabilia from Siegel. In 2021, as part of a $25M renovation project, the El Cortez opened up a high-limit room. Starting in April 2022, El Cortez is scheduled to become a 21-and-over property, prohibiting minors from all areas including the hotel and restaurants. The property's general manager said the change "comes after careful consideration and decades of trying to accommodate minors in a property that is focused primarily on gaming and popular casino bars". Photo gallery See also National Register of Historic Places listings in Clark County, Nevada References External links Casinos in the Las Vegas Valley Downtown Las Vegas Skyscraper hotels in Las Vegas Nevada State Register of Historic Places National Register