In the coming years, more were to follow. The Brighton (renamed The Sands from 1981), Harrah’s and Steve Wynn’s Golden Nugget opened in 1980. It was shortly followed by The Boardwalk Regency, (renamed Caesars in 1983) and Bally’s Park Place in 1979. On the 26th May 1978, in only the second state in the USA to allow legal casinos, Resorts Casino Hotel opened in Atlantic City. The unemployment rate did not fall below 6% until September 1987, well after the technical end of the recession. Over the next few years, the jobless rate slowly receded, falling to 8.3% by the end of 1983 and to 7.2% by the time of the 1984 “Morning in America” Presidential election. This tightening of monetary policy was compounded by the geo-political crisis caused by the Iranian Revolution and Iran-Iraq war, and subsequent reduction in oil supply, led to inflation peaking at 20.5% With inflation at 11.1% in 1980, The Federal Reserve raised interest rates to slow money supply, which in turn caused a rise in unemployment and the economy to slow. The short recession and recovery in January to June 1980, was followed by a sustained recession from July 1981 to November 1982.

The National Bureau for Economic Research cites the “double-dip” as the harshest of the late 20th Century.

This deck of cards came from the original Castaways.There were two recessions in the USA in the early 80s, colloquially known as “The Double Dip” Recession. However, it was not on the Las Vegas Strip and was short lived. The Castaways was located right about where the Mirage's volcano now sits.There was another hotel in Las Vegas that used the name the Castaways after the this original casino closed in 1987. The hotel/casino closed in July 1987 to make way for another tropical-themed venue - the Mirage. The letter on the ace of spades is 'U'.The Castaways Hotel Casino Las VegasCASINO - SHOWROOM - COCKTAIL LOUNGE - SWIMMING & GOLFThe Castaways opened in 1963 at 3320 Las Vegas Blvd. This deck has had nothing done to it after is was used on the tables.The box still has the original plastic wrap around the box except off the top where it was opened to be used. Once used they then cancel the cards by drilling a hole in the deck (punch), shaving an edge or painting a side. Casinos keep decks of cards locked up until they are used in a card game. This deck is very rare because it not only from a closed casino but it also has not been canceled or marked in anyway. Uncanceled vintage cards from the original Castaways Casino on the Las Vegas BlvdThese cards were used on the table for a few hours and then re-box (usually by a casino boss).

Castaways casino las vegas closed 1987