Central City's Century Casino boasts a colorful history

Ask Century Casino & Hotel general manager Mickey Rosenbaum for a tour of his block-long and block-wide Central City casino, and you’ll get a proud papa showing off his baby.

“We bought the Golden Rose and Tollgate Casino next to that, and gutted both of them,” Rosenbaum said about his company Century Casinos Inc. that has gaming operations in Cripple Creek (Womacks Casino & Hotel), South Africa, Canada, Poland and on cruise ships. “This place has an interesting history with ghosts and a few murders.”

The 26-room hotel includes four beautifully appointed suites with fine furnishings, sitting rooms, pillowtop beds, Jacuzzi tubs and flat-screen TVs.

Our tour takes us through Penny Plaza (“I can have a sign made for you,” Rosenbaum tells me), the poker room with six tables and the Mid City Grill (famous for its $5.99 8-ounce prime rib special, he says).

“We have the niche of being the most friendly and most attentive in terms of guest service,” Rosenbaum said. “The Century is comparable to the Cheers bar.”

I couldn’t resist asking this passionate GM to compare Central City to Black Hawk, the much bigger next-door neighbor. “Central City is more historic, with a more fun and intimate gaming experience than Black Hawk,” he said. “There’s more of a sense of community here.”

Tumbling down. The walls at Fitzgeralds Casino 
in Black Hawk came tumbling down during reconstruction last year. “The back side fell down during construction,” said Fitzgeralds vice president of marketing Kelly Ireland. “The (public utilities) contractor must have dug in the wrong spot.”

The casino is a construction combination of four buildings that have duplicated their historic 1860s Black Hawk facades. Because it was originally four different structures, the casino has the appearance of marching up the hill as each building’s elevation gains height.

During the reconstruction phase, the back walls of the crumbling Masonic building fell off, Ireland said. The Rohling Inn – which once housed an apartment for Elizabeth McCourt “Baby Doe” Tabor, who eventually married Horace Tabor, 25 years her senior – is an example of early Colorado architecture.

Social scener. Robert Abeyta, director of marketing for the Riviera Casino in Black Hawk, is quick to proudly point out he was the first in Colorado to create a Facebook page and Twitter account for his casino.

“We have 18 fans, but it’s a start,” he said when I visited him earlier this summer (as of Sept. 21, the Riviera in Black Hawk was up to 117 fans). “Social networking is huge. The key to that is keeping up to date.”

Abeyta uses the casino’s Facebook page to announce jackpot winners, daily promotions and names of upcoming local entertainers on Fridays and Saturdays. “We might have a promotion that says to print this page and bring it in for a free buffet,” he said.

The bricks and mortar side of the casino recently opened a new host office on the parking garage side of the casino floor.

~ Penny Parker is a columnist for The Denver Post. She’s always on the prowl for tidbits and tips from Colorado’s gaming communities. Call her at 303-619-5209 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.