She sailed 1954–2004 and came down in 2006. This is her memorial — nothing here is for sale.

Something for everyone!

Casino & Bingo

Craps, “21”, roulette, or the many liberal slots — and “the biggest and best paying BINGO in America,” played around the clock. That’s the boat’s own 1954 brochure talking, and the pictures back it up.

A 1950s color view of the Showboat casino floor: two craps tables and blackjack tables on red carpet, gas-lamp style chandeliers, scalloped balcony trim, slot machines along the right wall, and the curved bar in the distance — The floor in the 1950s: craps at the rail, blackjack under the chandeliers, and the curved bar with the bandstand behind it. Photo: Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas · Displayed at the site owner's direction, credited to the holding museum; removal on request

On the floor since ’54

The hold, as it was.

A 1990s postcard panel of the Showboat bingo parlor: rows of players at long lit tables with green and yellow bingo cards, overhead flashboards glowing — The bingo parlor, 1990s postcard panel — flashboards overhead, daubers down. Photo: Showboat postcard, via UNLV Special Collections (Dennis McBride Photograph Collection) · In copyright (postcard publisher unidentified) — displayed at the site owner's direction while UNLV permission is requested; removal on request

A restored 1954 brochure photograph of the Showboat bingo hall filled with players, the lit flashboard on the far wall — “From 1,500 to 2,500 persons play BINGO at the Showboat daily” — the hall, from the 1954 brochure. Photo: Showboat brochure, 1954–55, via Vintage Las Vegas · AI-upscaled, 2026 · Presumed public domain (US promotional material published 1954–55, no renewal found) — displayed with credit; removal on request

A restored 1954 brochure photograph of the Showboat casino floor with craps and blackjack tables, roulette, slot machines, and a gilded balcony rail — “Craps, ‘21’, roulette, or from the many liberal slots” — the floor as the brochure sold it, gilded balcony and all. Photo: Showboat brochure, 1954–55, via Vintage Las Vegas · AI-upscaled, 2026 · Presumed public domain (US promotional material published 1954–55, no renewal found) — displayed with credit; removal on request

A restored 1954 brochure photograph of the Showboat's red Mardi Gras bar room with a long bar and upholstered stools — The Mardi Gras room — “one of SHOWBOAT'S four bars.” Photo: Showboat brochure, 1954–55, via Vintage Las Vegas · AI-upscaled, 2026 · Presumed public domain (US promotional material published 1954–55, no renewal found) — displayed with credit; removal on request

A printed Showboat bingo seat reservation card reading This Seat Is Reserved For The Next Bingo Session, with session times from 11 a.m. to 11:15 p.m. — THIS SEAT IS RESERVED — a bingo seat card from the Hotel, Casino & Lanes; sessions from 11 a.m. to 11:15 p.m. Photo: Showboat-published ephemera, via an eBay seller's photograph · Displayed at the site owner's direction; removal on request

Crowded bingo and casino-floor activity inside the Showboat in June 1955, photographed by Loomis Dean — June 1955: the bingo floor at full attention, photographed for LIFE by Loomis Dean. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE, June 1955 — via Vintage Las Vegas · LIFE archive photograph — displayed at the site owner's direction with attribution; removal on request

A crowd at the Showboat's gaming tables in June 1955 — The gaming floor in June 1955, by the same LIFE camera. Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE, June 1955 — via Vintage Las Vegas · LIFE archive photograph — displayed at the site owner's direction with attribution; removal on request

The Showboat's curved bar packed shoulder to shoulder on opening day in September 1954, white-shirted bartenders working under lamp chandeliers — Opening day at the bar, September 1954 — standing room only from the first pour. Photo: Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas · Displayed at the site owner's direction, credited to the holding museum; removal on request

Bingo

“From 1,500 to 2,500 persons play BINGO at the Showboat daily,” bragged the 1954 brochure — and in her later years the boat kept one of the biggest bingo halls in the country: 1,300 seats. Sessions from five in the morning, a fresh one every two hours — and the Playroom minds the little ones while you play the one o’clock.

Slots

By 1984 the count stood at 1,054 machines — and we put it in our own promotional picture just to prove it. The big dollar tokens leave a little black on your hands; regulars call that luck rubbing off.

Tables, keno & four bars

Dealers who know your name by the second visit, keno running a new game every few minutes around the clock — kindest on your birthday, they say — and the Mardi Gras room pouring at one of the boat’s four bars.

Live on the showdeck

The band plays nightly.

Nobody checks whether you can dance.

A band performing on a stage inside the Showboat in 1968, lit in warm orange stage light — The band on stage, 1968 — the music never stopped on the boat. Photo: Butch, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0