Living a Dream in Las Vegas

When Calumet City native John Kelly was voted "Most Likely To Succeed" by his classmates in the 1980 graduation class of South Holland's Thornwood High School, it wasn't so much a question of if he would make good on the prediction but when and where.

Personable, energetic, and talented, he acquired a passion for the sport of thoroughbred horse racing while working as an Andy Frain usher at Arlington Park during summer vacations from high school, but little did he or anyone else realize at the time that he would one day put that passion to work.

After earning his B.A. degree from Northwestern University in 1985, he put a modern-day twist on Horace Greeley's advice to "Go West, young man, and grow up with the country" by heading for California and eventually to Las Vegas where today he's living a dream working as race results entrepreneur, horse racing correspondent, and radio talk show host.

Have you ever fantasized about living year-round in Las Vegas and having gaming and sports betting available "twenty-four seven" instead of just the three or four days you spend there on vacation? John Kelly is living that fantasy, but he's doing so knowing full well that you can't let the city get the best of you.

"When you live and work in Las Vegas, you must learn to take advantage of what the town has to offer rather than have it take advantage of you," Kelly said. "I know what measures the casinos take to maintain the pace required of 24-hour a day gambling. You just learn to block out the constant noise of the slot machines, and even though you see the gaming tables, you learn how to ignore them.

"When I arrived in Las Vegas in 1989, it was the start of a resurgence in the popularity of gambling, which triggered a tremendous growth spurt. Las Vegas has been an absolute 'boom town' in the nine years I've been here, and as far as I'm concerned it's the perfect city to live in. Every time I'm away from it, even for two or three days, I can hardly wait to get back."

Kelly's professional introduction to communications came during his college days when he worked for the telephone race and sporting events results provider Phone Programs.

"A lot of the guys I worked with at Phone Programs went on to become successes in their own right," Kelly noted. "The list includes Chris Boden, who is sports director for WBBM Newsradio 78, Eric Clemons, who is with Fox TV, and Chris Madsen, the play-by-play voice of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks hockey team. Also, Les Grobstein, David Scheuster, and Fred Heubner, all of whom have made their marks in radio."

Kelly owns and operates The Racing Hotline (702-594-RACE) and The MegaSports Hotline (702-225-2525) out of Las Vegas. He also hosts "Track Talk," a radio program dedicated to thoroughbred racing which airs every Wednesday through Sunday from 7:30 - 8:00 a.m. on KLAV in Las Vegas. He is also a contributor to The Horseplayer Magazine and is the Las Vegas correspondent for the Daily Racing Form.

"I enjoy hosting handicapping seminars in and around Las Vegas," Kelly said. "I'm in the fourth year of my affiliation with the Stardust Hotel & Casino's annual invitational handicapping tournament, which has proven to be very popular. Every fall it's carried by a 50,000-watt radio station and broadcast to 13 states."