Until weeks before his death earlier this month, 97-year-old Irving “Pete” Berger worked as a pit boss at the Ellis Island Casino on Koval Lane, just east of the Strip.
It wasn’t because Berger had to work, but because casinos are where the excitement happens, so that’s where he wanted to be, according to one of his three grandchildren.
“Up until just a month ago, you would find Grandpa right there, in the middle of it all,” Anamarie Ellis, 32, said at Berger’s funeral service Wednesday.
A Las Vegas throwback who worked at several Valley casinos for nearly 70 years, Berger died at his home on May 11 and was laid to rest at Palm Eastern Mortuary & Cemetery after the service.
His family and friends described him as a loving family man, a devoted lifelong New York Yankees fan and a man who had been enthralled by Las Vegas and its bright lights and never-boring gaming industry since his first visit with his wife in 1955.
From Strip to family business
Almost 30 years ago, Berger started working as a pit boss at Ellis Island, the casino run by Cindy and Gary Ellis, said Berger’s daughter and son-in-law.
Before that, he held various jobs — usually working as a pit boss — over the years at places like Sahara, Aladdin, Bonanza, Circus Circus, Stardust and Silver Slipper, along with other Las Vegas casinos, about a dozen in all, according to his family.
In the late 1970s, Mary Petricone, 69, moved to Las Vegas from New York City. She worked as a cocktail waitress at the Silver Slipper for a time, where Berger was a pit boss, and remembers him fondly.
“I met Pete on my first day and I liked him right away,” Petricone said. “He was a gentleman to everyone – women, men, customers and all employees. There was always a sense of professionalism and comfort when Pete drove the pit. He was always friendly, even when something went wrong.”
Over the years, Petricone kept in touch with Berger and his family. She flew in from Florida for his 95th birthday party, which took place at the Mob Museum.
“He could talk to anybody, but he would never miss a trick and he always knew exactly what was going on at every table,” Petricone said. “Pete was Atticus Finch from ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ but with a sense of humor. He always loved what he did and he was always kind.”
At Berger’s service at Temple Beth Sholom Las Vegas in Summerlin, Cindy Ellis said she was blessed to have Berger as her father. Her mother, Berger’s wife, Dolly, died in 2009. The couple were married for 59 years.
She talked about a man who honed his work ethic growing up in New York City. In his youth, Berger wanted to join a basketball team at a Catholic school, but he was afraid he wouldn’t fit in because of his “very Jewish-sounding name,” Cindy Ellis said.
“When the coach asked for his name, he blurted out ‘Peter Roosevelt,'” she said. The moniker “Pete” stuck with Berger for the rest of his life.
“People always told me he was a legend in the casino business and I believed it,” Cindy Ellis said. “He was a kid at heart.”
In 1983, Cindy was working at the Desert Inn when she ran into Yankees great Joe DiMaggio. Knowing how Berger had idolized the baseball Hall of Famer, his daughter told DiMaggio as much.
“After talking about dad for a few minutes, he said, ‘Why don’t you call him,'” she said. “Meeting Joe DiMaggio was one of my dad’s childhood dreams and that phone call was a dream come true.”
Respected around town
Berger seemed to have a way with people, and those who met him remembered him.
Near the back at Wednesday’s service at the temple was UFC CEO Dana White. After the service, White said he first met Berger in the late 1990s and that the Ellis family has long supported him during his rise in the business world as an ultimate fight mogul.
“He was such a good man,” White said. “It wasn’t that long ago that this guy was still running 10 miles and doing these long walks. He was in his late 80s and into his 90s and still doing it. He was a really special guy and I’m glad I got to know him. There’s nowhere else in the world I’d be here today.”
A true Las Vegas casino worker from an era long gone, Berger would call $100 bills “c-notes” and loved listening to Frank Sinatra.
During an interview in 2019, Berger said that continued work kept him alive. Many have remarked on his sharp mind and youthful energy, even in his later years.
In that 2019 interview, he talked about his short-lived retirement in 1991. Missing the action of casino life, Berger quickly returned to the workforce after landing a job at the Hard Rock.
“Everyone knew everyone else in all the casinos”
Petricone said she remembers Berger calling her and other young casino workers “kids” and always looking out for them.
“It’s different now, but back then everybody knew everybody else in all the casinos,” Petricone said. “You never heard anyone say a bad word about Pete back then. The last time I came to Las Vegas in 2023, I went up to see him and he said, ‘Hi, honey,’ with a big smile, just like how he would greet me all those years ago. He came from an era of Las Vegas that we won’t see again.”
Over the years, the Ellis family has grown and expanded Ellis Island. They also own a number of Village Pub locations around the Valley, among other business interests in and outside of Las Vegas.
On Ellis Island’s website, the company boasts that it has “old Vegas charm,” something Berger brought to work every day. Family members say they will work to preserve his legacy.
“Although almost 98 years doesn’t seem like enough time, we’re all lucky to have the time we did with him,” said Christina Ellis-Stalker, 34, Berger’s granddaughter and the mother of his only great-grandchild. “He was such a big part of our lives.”
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that those wishing to express their sympathy make a donation to Nathan Adelson Hospice in Pete’s memory.
Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@ theplayerlounge.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.
