ANDY MARTELLO NEWS RELEASE
After eight years of research, interviews, collecting and fundraising, The King of Casinos: Willie Martello and the El Rey Club is now available for book lovers and Las Vegas history buffs alike.
“It was a long road, but the dream has been realized and Willie Martello will finally get his day in the sun,” says Andy Martello, author and Las Vegas entertainer
Officially released on Amazon.com and CreateSpace.com on Jan. 4 (one day after the 46th anniversary of the death of legendary casino owner Martello), The King of Casinos unearths the unreal but true story of Searchlight, Nevada’s entertaining and notorious El Rey Club.
Were it not for Andy Martello’s chance discovery of a single photo in a Las Vegas museum, the El Rey Club would be known only as the seedy brothel where Senator Harry Reid learned to swim. After a horrific blaze destroyed Willie Martello’s El Rey Club in 1962, nearly 50 years would pass before anyone knew of how that casino and one-time brothel provided a template for present-day gambling resorts, upset the Las Vegas mob and inadvertently launched the career of Francis Ford Coppola.
Fans of the popular History Channel program American Restoration may remember seeing Andy Martello restoring a roadside billboard from the El Rey Club in April 2012. However, until the release of this book most only knew of the checkered past of this tiny, yet very influential casino and resort.
The author is a comedian and announcer for The Price is Right LIVE at Bally’s and touring nationally.
“It’s just incredible how it has all come together. This was supposed to be a hobby to learn about a casino & brothel owner who shared the same, uncommon last name as myself. It simply wouldn’t stay a hobby. Everything happened as if Willie Martello planned it himself,” Martello said.
The King of Casinos: Willie Martello and the El Rey Club is available at Amazon.com, CreateSpace.com and Martello’s official website. If you would like more information, please contact Andy Martello, Just A Martello Books, at 702-465-5604 or email at [email protected].
