A friend hands dealer Cherly Diamond a tissue shortly after the craps table shut down Wednesday at the Stardust. Diamond worked at the resort for 24 years. The 48-year-old Strip resort will be imploded to make room for the $4 billion Echelon Place resort. Photos by Jeff Scheid. Showroom manager John Messara reminiscences about the Stardust Theater while showgirls pass by shortly before the Stardust closed Wednesday.

Doug Duane was dying to play one last hand.

As slot-repair manager Bob Zwierzycki stalked the Stardust's casino floor Wednesday shutting down gaming machines in the hotel's final hours, Duane had finally hit his stride.

"I just made a profit!" Duane shouted as Zwierzycki approached. "Can I go one more time?"

Zwierzycki assented, and Duane walked away from his hundred-play draw poker machine two minutes after its scheduled shutdown with an extra $10.90 on top of the $100 he gambled.

Duane was one of thousands of long-time Stardust patrons who flocked to the 48-year-old Strip resort before its closing Wednesday at noon. The middle-market property, the world's largest hotel when it opened in July 1958 with 1,032 rooms, will surrender in early 2007 to the high-end Echelon Place, a $4 billion resort that Stardust owner Boyd Gaming Corp. is scheduled to finish building in 2010.

A festive atmosphere in the Stardust's final 24 hours belied its fate.

The hotel's 1,500 rooms sold out on its final night Tuesday, a midweek day with a typical Stardust occupancy rate of about 75 percent. Hotel guests, locals and patrons of other Strip hotels mobbed the casino floor Tuesday and Wednesday, and lines snaked outside several restaurants. Kiosk operators did brisk business peddling mementoes ranging from playing cards to coffee-table books.

Crowds clustered around as Stardust regulars Lu Waugh-Smith of Denver made the final slot spin and James Kunihiro of Honolulu tossed the final craps throw at 9:30 Wednesday morning.

Kunihiro, a general contractor, made $1,600 on his last Stardust gamble.

He and his wife, Donna, were sorry to see the Stardust go, but they said they also understood the constant demand in Las Vegas for bigger, brighter resorts.

"I'm in construction, so I see the need for progress," James Kunihiro said. "But it saddens me. A lot of these people, we won't see again."

Other Stardust customers both waxed wistful and shared happy memories.

Retiree Beverly Savage, of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., attended the Stardust's debut in 1958.

Then a buyer for a Seattle department store, she and her co-workers were flying home from New York when they took a detour to Las Vegas. The Stardust opened while Savage and her cohorts were in town, and they stopped by to scope out the scene and do some gambling. "We had so much fun, we almost missed our plane," she said.

Savage was more maudlin as she played multidenominational slots Tuesday afternoon inside the Stardust's front entrance.

"I'm very sad. It's a nostalgic thing," said Savage, who stayed at the hotel Sunday through Wednesday. "It has a camaraderie. The people are friendly, and it's a warm place that makes you feel welcome."

Richard and Kathey McClary were on the prowl for Stardust and Rat Pack mementoes.

Both McClarys clutched promotional slot-machine signs as Richard McClary lamented the closing.

"It's a sad, sad day," he said. "It's the end of an era -- the end of the old Las Vegas as we know it."

As of mid-afternoon Tuesday, the McClarys had dropped $250 on memorabilia. The trinkets' destination: The couple's "Sinatra room" inside their home in Oklahoma City, where the new goods will join several thousand other Rat Pack-related collectibles.

The McClarys were staying at Treasure Island, their traditional haunt during the several trips a year they take to Las Vegas. But they said they've made a point of stopping by the Stardust on every visit. There, they've seen shows featuring Don Rickles, Wayne Newton and Ann-Margret.

"The new Las Vegas is great. That's why we keep coming," Kathey McClary said. "But there's something we like about the old Las Vegas. It's friendlier and more personable. There's more attention to the person than to numbers."

On their last Stardust hurrah, the McClarys, who run an appliance-repair business, planned to gamble about $1,000.

Bill Cotnam, a retiree from San Luis Obispo, Calif., wasn't at the Stardust to gamble.

Cotnam said he was there to see the cigarette girls and bartenders who have served him during the 40 or so visits he's paid to the Stardust since he started coming to Las Vegas in 1992. Sitting at the Baccarat Bar on Tuesday afternoon, he reeled off Stardust employees' names and displayed a packet of group photos featuring his favorite service staff.

"I kept coming back (to the Stardust) because I've got friends to talk to, just like at home," said Cotnam, who stayed at the hotel Monday through Wednesday. "I feel so sorry for the employees here. It's emotional for them. They're like a family, and a lot of them will never see each other again."

But Boyd has made a concerted effort to keep customers and employees connected.

The company in January launched what Boyd President Keith Smith called a "migration" plan that would transfer Stardust employees and customers to the company's 10 other Las Vegas-area properties.

Of the roughly 1,800 employees who worked at the Stardust, nearly 1,600 were still working there Wednesday, Smith estimated.

Boyd spokesman Rob Stillwell said about 900 of the hotel's employees were union workers whose new jobs are being negotiated independently of Boyd's relocation efforts. Of the other 900 staffers, 500 asked for transfers to other Boyd casinos. The remainder have either retired, left the industry or taken jobs with different gaming companies. Stillwell said Boyd has accommodated 80 percent of the workers who requested company transfers.

William Boyd, founder of Boyd Gaming Corp., said his employees did the Stardust proud in its last hours.

"The emotion our employees have shown is gratifying," said Boyd, who bought the Stardust in 1985 and was on hand for its closing. "They're leaving as if they're losing their closest friends. That's why we had such a great place: The employees were loyal and made our customers feel at home. The way Boyd Gaming operates, it's much more of a family atmosphere than many other places."

Stardust casino host Linda Colvin hovered over client Waugh-Smith to the hotel's end, watching Waugh-Smith's concluding slot pull. Afterward, both talked about how they'll meet up at The Orleans, where Colvin has worked since June and where Waugh-Smith, who remodeled her bathroom and made investments with $80,000 she won at the Stardust, will now stay when she's in town.

Zwierzycki, the slot-repair manager, will relocate to Boyd's three downtown properties.

Anecdotal evidence shows the Stardust's customers will follow the hotel's employees to their new posts.

Virtually all the visitors interviewed at the Stardust said they would be back to Las Vegas despite the shuttering of one of their favorite hotels. They also mostly agreed the closure of the Stardust and the dwindling supply of affordable resorts on the Strip wouldn't take a significant toll on tourism in Las Vegas.

Savage said she will stay at The Orleans, a Boyd resort on West Tropicana Avenue, or Boyd's Main Street Station downtown.

"As long as there are properties that cater to the 'average Joe,' I think you'll do fine," Savage said. "I don't think Las Vegas will ever be hurting for (visitors)."

Elizabeth Alvear, a Summerlin resident and an office manager at St. Louis Medical Center on St. Louis Avenue, said she'll follow her Stardust casino host, Mitzi Glass, to Sam's Town, a Boyd casino on Boulder Highway where Glass now works.

Mickey Jones, a drummer and actor from Los Angeles who stayed at the Stardust with his parents during its opening weekend, said he'll continue coming to Las Vegas about 10 times a year. He plans to stay at The Orleans, a Boyd resort on West Tropicana Avenue.

The Stardust's last patrons also said the Boyd reputation for folksy customer service would draw them to Echelon Place.

Alvear was standing in front of William B's, a restaurant named for William Boyd, when asked Wednesday why she would go see Echelon Place. She pointed at the name above the eatery and grew misty-eyed.

"I believe in (Boyd's) owners. They share with everybody, and that's a good philosophy to have," Alvear said. "They entertain their gamblers and support their employees."

The McClarys said they'll stop by Echelon Place out of curiosity.

"If someone spends ($4 billion) to build a casino, you've gotta see it," Richard McClary said.

The Kunihiros, who for now will make their new home away from home at The Orleans, plan to stay at Echelon Place once it opens.

Said James Kunihiro: "I've probably donated an entire floor."