RELATED LINKS:

• Our partner site WILDABOUTAZCATS.com shows YouTube video of Marnell lighting the nation’s tallest Christmas tree and displays top salaries of former UA athletes
• The M Resort targets a young audience with its catchy Web site
• The Las Vegas Sun ran a detailed Q & A with Marnell last February before he opened the M Resort
• Marnell saves money by being involved with most of the operations at the M Resort

Former UA baseball player Anthony Marnell and his wife Lyndy celebrate last year's grand opening of his casino, the M Resort. Some of his former Wildcat teammates were on hand, including Rich Tomey, son of ex-UA football coach Dick Tomey

LAS VEGAS — Anthony Marnell III does not come across as a bigwig, but he is as successful as it gets in this city of high rollers. Marnell, the son of Las Vegas developer Anthony Marnell II (who opened the Rio Casino and Hotel in 1986), is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of the M Resort Spa and Casino, a $1 billion gaming property on the outskirts of the city.

When Marnell, only 36, lit the tallest Christmas tree in the country at the M Resort two months ago, he announced the event wearing blue jeans. He did not sound like a showman. He instead spoke with an even tone.

Marnell could have used hyperbole before lighting the tree, saying something like, “And let this extremely tall tree be an example of how grand the M Resort will be in Las Vegas.” Instead, Marnell dedicated the tree to the children in the Las Vegas area whose families could not afford a tree for their home.

“They can come here whenever they want,” he said.

It’s appropriate that one of Marnell’s good friends from his baseball-playing days at Arizona from 1993-1995 is Rich Tomey, son of a humble man — former UA football coach Dick Tomey. Rich Tomey and a handful of Marnell’s former Wildcat teammates took part in the M Resort’s grand opening festivities last March.

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