Daughter of First Emperor of Vegas Carries Family Legacy to WSOP
Table Of Contents
After four days of poker, the $1,000 Ladies Championship will crown a winner today after a frenetic Day 3 at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas reduced the field to just seven finalists.
Always an event guaranteed to deliver compelling storylines (see PokerNews reporter Gabby Barredo who captured a hand where a player pushed all-in with her husband’s ashes yesterday), the WSOP’s flagship female event has drawn 1,368 entrants this year with Japanese star Shiina Okamoto in pole position to win back to back titles and maintain her stranglehold on the event.
But also adding to the richness of the field this year was a touch of true Vegas royalty in the shape of September Sarno, the daughter of the man dubbed the ‘First Emperor of Vegas’.
Vegas Royalty & the Birth of Caesars Empire
You may have heard of Jay Sarno; you may not have. But if you’ve ever been to Paradise, Las Vegas, you’ve seen and felt the legacy of a man whose vision raised the glass monoliths that now line the world-famous boulevard where the Horseshoe and Paris stands.
When Jay Sarno opened Caesars Palace on August 5, 1966, it changed the Las Vegas landscape forever. The opening ceremony cost $1 million (around $9.6 million in 2025) and featured two tons of filet mignon, 300 pounds of Maryland crabmeat, and 50,000 glasses of champagne.
“It’s very exciting that my dad was a pioneer here in Vegas. He was considered the founder of the first theme resort,” Sarno says. “Everything was basic before he started, and after him, all the hotels had themes. Steve Wynn was kind of like a protégé. When my dad opened Caesars in 1966, there wasn’t another big opening until the Mirage 20 years later.”
“When he first came, he saw nothing but mediocrity. He came here to build a better resort.”
Sarno, who finished 110th to earn $2,182 in her second cash of the summer, added, “It was very exciting, very fun, but like most success stories, there was a fly in the ointment.”
“Our father was a problem gambler and pretty much gambled his fortune away.” Jay Sarno sold Caesars Palace just three years after its lavish opening ceremony in 1969.
Sent to boarding school at 17, September Sarno later left Las Vegas for Los Angeles, enrolling at the University of Southern California before building a highly successful career as a wealth manager.
“I wanted to know everything there was about money, and I built my own empire,” she says. “That was the upside to watching what happened to my father.”
Still, Sarno is reflective about his struggles. “If he were never a gambler, he wouldn’t have come to Vegas to build a better class of casino. When he first came, he saw nothing but mediocrity. He came here to build a better resort.”
Playing the Ladies Championship
Sarno is glowing as she talks about the fun she’s having in this year’s Ladies Championship.
“It’s very fun. The women are fiercely competitive, and I’m playing with a lot of champions, people who have won bracelets,” she tells PokerNews.
“I’m having lots of fun telling jokes at the table because I do a little stand-up comedy as a retirement hobby.”
Despite her family links, Sarno wouldn’t pick up the game of poker until much later in life, saying, “I wasn’t attracted to poker until much later on. A few years ago, a boyfriend taught it to me, and I played a little online, and now I play a weekly home game with some poker sharks, and they got me good enough to play in these tournaments and cash.”
And as for the idea of winning a gold WSOP bracelet? “I mean, when I heard there was jewellery involved, I said sign me up,” she says, laughing.
Eliot Thomas is a Content Executive at PokerNews, specializing in casino and poker coverage. He has reported from major events including the European Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker.
FAQ
Are WPT Global deposit or withdrawal fees?
Are there deposit or withdrawal fees? No, WPT Global does not charge fees for depositing or withdrawing.
What is the best WPT Global bonus code?
What is the best World Poker Tour bonus code? Use the WPT Global bonus code WPT777 when registering to get a 100% deposit bonus up to $1200 plus a $100 No Deposit poker bonus.
How do you become a WPT player?
How do you become a WPT player? Players can qualify for the WPT at the local casino where the event is held. In addition, online poker operators including partypoker offer satellites to many WPT events. Players can also qualify for free via the Club WPT app and will be able to qualify in the future at WPT Global.
What is the WPT bonus code?
What is the WPT bonus code? The WPT bonus code is WPT777. Use this code at WPTglobal.com to get up to $1200 poker bonus. This code has been approved by WPT Global and gives new users the maximum new user offer.
Can you play for real money on WPT Global?
Can you play for real money on WPT Global? At WPT Global, we bring our wealth of experience running the best poker games in the world to online poker, offering the opportunity to take on the challenge of real money poker games on safe, secure tables designed for all players from beginner to expert.
Download & Play WPT Global Application In Shortly
This site only collects related articles. Viewing the original, please copy and open the following link:Daughter of First Emperor of Vegas Carries Family Legacy to WSOP