VIDEO: 'Lasso' trick topples casino tower after Las Vegas implosion

LAS VEGAS (AP) — In the end, demolition workers used an Old West method to finish an incomplete casino implosion in Las Vegas.

Clarion hotel-casino site owner Lorenzo Doumani said Tuesday that workers lassoed a balky elevator shaft with stout cables, brought in a heavy crane and pulled down the eight-story tower.

So ended the 13-hour saga of the 13th hotel implosion in Las Vegas since 1993.

A 2-ton explosive punch about 3 a.m. didn't quite topple the elevator shaft when the rest of the Las Vegas casino-hotel came down around it.

The shaft dropped about four stories and stayed upright.

The 200-room building opened in 1970 as the Royal Inn and was once called the Debbie Reynolds for its one-time owner.

It was also the Greek Isles and the Paddle Wheel.