About Ralph Delligatti

Ralph Delligatti left Los Angeles, California in 1958 for a three-day weekend in Las Vegas. The first casino he walked into was The El Rancho. As he was just entering the casino he ran into two beautiful French showgirls. Not quite 21 years old, he fell in love with them, and the allure and excitement of Las Vegas…and never left.

After their work visas expired the girls returned to France, and Ralph was stuck in Vegas without a job and flat broke. He got a job as a shill and break-in dealer for minimum wage of $1.00 an hour (Yes, that’s one dollar per hour). After working for a year and a half he was given a position at The Sahara.

That’s where Ralph met Elvis Presley. He worked at The Sahara for five years when the owner of the Sahara sold out and built the original Aladdin. Ralph went with him as the Dice Pit Manager.  Elvis and Colonel Parker followed along. While working at The Aladdin for five years Ralph met and befriended many celebrities including Chuck Norris (before his movie career) who became his Karate instructor, Redd Foxx (before Sanford and Son), and many others.

The next 10­­ years Ralph worked at The Dunes Hotel as a pit supervisor in The Dice Pit, Blackjack Pit and Baccarat Pit. In 1979 he was asked to be a part of the original management team to open Caesars Palace (Boardwalk Regency) in Atlantic City.  Ralph made the move to Atlantic City with Caesars Palace as a Casino Shift Manager, Baccarat Manager, Senior Credit Executive and Compliance Officer.

He later left Caesars Palace to open The Playboy Hotel and Casino as Vice President of Casino Marketing. Later, Ralph then went to Resorts International as a Senior Executive Host and Senior Credit Executive. After one year the owner of Resorts International asked Ralph to take over the casino marketing job for Paradise Island Casino in the Bahamas. Offices were based in North Miami and so he spent 5 years with them.

Going out on his own, Ralph opened his own casino consulting and marketing firm for 16 of the top casinos around the world. About 12 years after opening his firm, he was asked to come back to Vegas to help open Mandalay Bay as Senior Executive Host and Senior Credit Executive. Ralph had made full circle coming back to where it all started.

In 2003 Ralph retired and decided to self-publish his book, “The Last Casino”, which he wrote in 1998.

Ralph now lives in Henderson, Nevada with his beautiful wife Paula. He has five sons, one daughter, and 8 grandchildren and one great grandson due any minute.