Jay Sarno (July 2, 1922 – July 21, 1984) was an American business entrepreneur who owned several high-profile hotels. He was the founder of both the Caesars Palace hotel and the Circus Circus, and many credit him with being the father of today's more family-oriented Las Vegas. Ironically, although Sarno seemed to believe that Las Vegas could survive with fewer gamblers and more families visiting, he was himself a gambler. His former wife, Joyce Sarno Keys, once declared that, during one day of gambling, Sarno won 100,000 dollars, only to leave the same night with a debt of exactly that same amount.