The Legacy of Sam Boyd: How One Vision Created the 9th Island We Call Home

Every great story has a beginning, and the story of the 9th Island begins with one man who dared to make Hawaii feel at home in the desert.

In 1975, legendary casino executive Sam Boyd opened the California Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas. But this wasn’t just another property. Boyd, who had lived and worked in the islands, understood the spirit of aloha. He marketed directly to Hawaiian travelers with affordable packages, island favorites like saimin and oxtail soup, and staff trained in genuine island hospitality.

His famous words still echo today: “I’d rather have one busload of Hawaiians than ten busloads of anybody else.”

That single decision sparked a movement. Families began relocating for hospitality jobs, flights from Honolulu increased, and Las Vegas earned its enduring nickname: the 9th Island.

From the 1980s when Hawaiian families settled and Boyd Gaming expanded, through the 1990s and 2000s when plate lunch cafés, hula studios, and festivals sprang up across the valley, to today’s thriving community of over 100,000 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders the legacy is alive.

And now, in 2025, that legacy has a new chapter: the 9th Island Chamber of Commerce & Foundation.

We are building on Sam Boyd’s vision by creating the first chamber in Nevada dedicated to empowering NHPI communities, small businesses, and youth. Through our Gateway to Hawaii Initiative, we’re not just remembering the past we’re connecting Hawaiʻi to the mainland for business, culture, and opportunity.

Mahalo to the Boyd family and Boyd Gaming for the foundation they laid. Today, we carry the torch forward together, as one ʻohana.