Up until weeks before his death this month, 97-year-old Irving “Pete” Berger worked as a pit boss at 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 granddaughters.
“Up until just one month ago, you’d find Grandpa there; right in the middle of the action,” said Anamarie Ellis, 32, at Berger’s funeral service on Wednesday.
A Las Vegas throwback who worked at multiple casinos in the valley 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 dedicated lifelong New York Yankees fan, and a man who was enthralled with Las Vegas and its bright lights and never-dull 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, Berger’s daughter and son-in-law said.
Before that, he held various jobs — usually working as a pit boss — over the years at places like the Sahara, the Aladdin, the Bonanza, Circus Circus, Stardust and the Silver Slipper, along with other casinos in Las Vegas, 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 immediately,” Petricone said. “He was a gentleman to everyone — women, men, customers and all the employees. There was always a sense of professionalism and comfort when Pete was running the pit. He was always friendly, even when something went awry.”
Over the years, Petricone stayed 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 be talking with someone, but he would never miss a trick and he always knew exactly what was going on at each 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 of a man who honed his work ethic while 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 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 came across 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 get him on the phone,’” 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 fighting 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 was still doing that. He was a really special guy and I’m glad I got to know him. There’s nowhere else in the world I would have been but here today.”
Like a true Las Vegas casino worker from an era that has long passed, Berger would call $100 bills “c-notes” and loved to listen to Frank Sinatra.
During an interview in 2019, Berger said that continuing to work kept him alive. Many have remarked about 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 the casino life, Berger quickly returned to the workforce after landing a job at the Hard Rock.
‘Everybody knew everybody else at all the casinos’
Petricone said she remembers that Berger used to call her and other young casino workers “kid” and that he always looked out for them.
“It’s different now, but back then everybody knew everybody else at 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, ‘Hello, sweetheart,’ with a big smile, just like how he would greet me all those years ago. He was from a Las Vegas era 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 out of Las Vegas.
On the Ellis Island webpage, the business boasts that it has “old Vegas charm,” something that Berger brought to work every day. Family members say they will work to keep his legacy going.
“Even though nearly 98 years doesn’t seem like enough time, we’re all lucky to have the time that we did with him,” said Christina Ellis-Stalker, 34, Berger’s granddaughter and the mother of his only great-grandchild. “He was such a major part of our lives.”
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that those who wish to express sympathy make a donation to Nathan Adelson Hospice in Pete’s memory.
Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.
