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This view north of the fireworks over the Las Vegas Strip just after midnight was taken from the Tropicana.

Onex Corp. finally has its casino.

After more than a year of failed attempts to get into the gambling business in far-flung locales such as British Columbia and Illinois, the Toronto-based buyout firm founded by Gerry Schwartz has succeeded in taking over one of the most storied properties in the most storied gambling city of all: the Tropicana in Las Vegas.

For less than $200-million (U.S.), Onex's main buyout fund managed to cobble together a stake in the casino's debt that will make it the largest shareholder when a restructured Tropicana emerges from bankruptcy protection.

Along with the iconic hotel, which played a part in the James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever and Elvis Presley's movie Viva Las Vegas , Onex will gain control of a large parcel of land in one of the hottest spots in the city.

"The hotel and casino is one of the oldest and best known in the United States, situated on one of the busiest pedestrian intersections in the world," Onex managing director Seth Mersky said Wednesday.

The move is risky, coming at a time when Las Vegas is suffering from overbuilding and the declining fortunes of the U.S. economy. Room rates have plunged, the house's take from gambling has withered, and, as a result, many hotels are in rough shape.

Passenger traffic into the city's airport is down 14 per cent in the first three months of the year, yet builders are still planning to put up as many as 15,000 new hotel rooms by next year.

Mr. Schwartz believes that in the long term, gambling is a growth industry and that investing in Las Vegas is a long-term value because the city has historically weathered downturns better than many have expected.

But, as Mr. Mersky said, the Tropicana is an old building, with some parts of it dating from the 1950s and the most recent major addition taking place in the late 1980s. That makes it ancient by the standards of Vegas, where famous edifices are regularly dynamited to make room for ever-more-fabulous mega-resorts.

That's been the fate of many of the Tropicana's contemporaries, such as the Stardust and the Hacienda.

That means that Onex and its partners will likely have to sink money into the 1,850-room property, which has become a destination for low rollers looking for cheap accommodations.

Onex has a Las Vegas veteran on its side. The investment firm partnered with casino industry veteran Alex Yemenidjian more than a year to hunt for gambling properties. He will run the Tropicana.

Onex hasn't just focused on Las Vegas. The firm made a bid for Canadian operator Gateway Casinos Income Fund, but lost out to a rival willing to pay more.

The buyout firm also tried to get a licence to build a $435-million gambling emporium in the suburban Chicago town of Rosemont. However, the Illinois Gaming Board chose another location and builder in part because Rosemont had a long-time association with organized crime.

While the company finally notched a win with the Tropicana, recent months haven't been as kind to Onex's other holdings.

The firm lost control of one of its own companies, U.S.-based Cosmetic Essence Inc. The failure of that deal is a black eye for the buyout firm, which invested $115-million of its own and partners' cash in the venture. Makeup manufacturer Cosmetic Essence, which Onex bought in 2004, was in trouble after customers cut back and Onex couldn't save its stake in the company. It was handed over to banks that were owed money, Mr. Mersky said.

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