The first hotel tower opened in 1977, which lead for the property to get awarded a four diamond rating from Mobil Travel Guide.

The hotel, with its erupting volcano and South Seas theme, ignited a $12 billion building boom on the Strip.

[4] Its construction is also considered noteworthy in that Wynn had set a new standard for Vegas resorts, and when it opened The Mirage was the first casino to use security cameras full-time on all table games.

Afterwards Wynn decided to invite Cirque to create Mystère for the soon-to-be-built Treasure Island resort next door.

When Poster and Breitling assumed control of the Golden Nugget, they began to upgrade the gambling operation, by installing new "cashless" slot machines and increasing the maximum bet at table games to $15,000.

In addition, the strategy of attracting higher level casino players created significant volatility in the first year of operations.

On May 31, 2005 the agreement for Barrick Gaming to acquire the Golden Nugget Laughlin expired without a final deal being reached.

As a result, Landry's acquired the property as part of its agreement to purchase the Golden Nugget Las Vegas.

[8] The same year, the company broke ground on a casino in Danville, Illinois in a partnership deal with Wilmot Gaming.

[9] The following year, Fertitta Entertainment agreed to buy the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Lake Tahoe, with plans to convert it to a Golden Nugget.