From all corners of the valley, it's easy to spot the 1,149-foot Stratosphere Tower, the tallest building west of the Mississippi River.

The owner of the tower and the 2,444-room hotel attached to it isn't a household name, even to most local residents. American Casino & Entertainment Properties just doesn't roll off the tongue like MGM Mirage, Harrah's or Station Casinos.

It's even less likely that you'd find many similarities between ACE's showcase property and its three sister properties in Southern Nevada - Arizona Charlie's Decatur, Arizona Charlie's Boulder and the Aquarius in Laughlin.

Yet corporate leaders and gaming industry observers say the company is on a roll doing what the company's chairman has excelled at for years and exploiting strengths that have moved ACE up in the niche markets in which it plays.

"We're aggressive competitors," said ACE chief executive Richard Brown, who oversees the four Nevada properties as well as the New Jersey casino holdings of his boss, financier Carl Icahn.

Icahn has made a career of acquiring distressed companies, tinkering with them and imposing his management style, and turning them into money-makers that either operate as profit centers or are sold off at a gain.

A former owner of TWA, Icahn has found value in a variety of industries, from pharmaceuticals to electronics. The acquisition of the Stratosphere and the Arizona Charlies properties were textbook Icahn moves, purchasing them out of bankruptcy.

At the time, Icahn was interested in packaging flights on his airline with hotel stays through an Internet travel company he owned, but he soon discovered that the gaming industry held great potential for his style of operation.

Brown joined the company in 2000 and his knowledge of the industry helped Icahn form a team focused on offering customer value.

"We run very, very lean as a company," Brown said. "Carl has been great in allowing us autonomy in making decisions. It enables us to execute rapidly. There's not a lot of red tape in this company.

"Carl is a very busy guy, but when we need his input, he's always there for us," Brown said.

The value proposition the ACE properties offer is the cornerstone of the company's business success.

Brown said that doesn't mean what the properties offer are the cheapest “ it means they want to offer more bang for the buck by directing employees to deliver beyond expectations. In casino games, for example, the properties offer single-deck blackjack and single-zero roulette, both of which give an edge to players. The ACE casinos also offer 10-times-odds on craps and consistently rank high among properties with the best slot-machine paybacks.

He said management regularly surveys its employees to get ideas on how they can best serve guests. The company also closely monitors programs initiated by competitors in a bid to stay a step ahead of them.

"We're very cognizant of the competition and what their programs are," Brown said. "A lot of our time is spent figuring out what we're going to do to differentiate ourselves from our core set and drive more business to the properties."

While many companies are focused on amenities like food and beverage and entertainment to drive market share, Brown said ACE places its emphasis on the gaming product. Industry watchers have taken notice.

"They have a very solid gambling loss leader and that's the sort of thing that customers look for," said Anthony Curtis, president of lasvegasadvisor.com, an online consumer site that monitors Las Vegas attractions for bargains.

Curtis said he was so impressed with the company's loyalty program “ known as the A.C.E. Rewards Club “ that he listed it among the city's top 10 bargains in a recent posting.

"They give a lot back right off the bat," Curtis said of the program. "When you earn 100 points, which you can do in about 10 minutes playing quarters, you can get a souvenir T-shirt. People love to get shirts with the casino's name on it.

"If you play a little longer, you can get free dinners, show tickets and cash," Curtis said. "It's a very easy, quick way to get dinner and a show for a moderate amount of play."

Curtis said enticing gamblers has been critical to the company because the properties are located in locations that have had stigmas attached to them “ the Stratosphere, for example, is in the old "Naked City" neighborhood.

"That's one of the reasons why you consistently get a good deal there," Curtis said. "I'm a fan of this group because they offer some of the best bargains for visitors."

But developing an appealing product isn't as easy as it sounds, especially for ACE, which competes in three distinct niches. The Arizona Charlies properties are in the locals market, the Stratosphere competes with Strip players and Aquarius is the new kid on the block in the Laughlin market.

Arizona Charlie's Decatur, which opened in 1988, has a distinct personality in its general manager, former Las Vegas Mayor Ron Lurie, who still chats with customers who refer to him as "the mayor" on the casino floor.

The state Gaming Control Board said the Decatur property has a total of 1,400 slot machines as of Dec. 31. A 500-seat bingo parlor has a loyal following. The Decatur property and Arizona Charlie's Boulder offer bingo around the clock.

Brown said the Decatur property is getting a boost with the opening of an Outback Steakhouse, a strategic move he feels will boost the profile of the casino by introducing its gaming bargains to the popular chain's customers.

The Boulder property, which first opened in May 2000, has the Boulder Strip's only 24-hour bingo and a total of 1,100 slot machines. The property, managed by Mark Majetich, has an attached recreational vehicle park, a popular amenity among the Boulder Strip competitors.

ACE's flagship property is the Stratosphere, which opened in April 1996. Built by Bob Stupak, a sometime poker player and political candidate and full-time promoter of his casino known as Vegas World, the tower was a dream few expected would ever be built.

Stupak, who once hope to have a mechanical ape climbing the tower as part of its theme, dreamed of parking several thrill rides atop the attraction. He got the High Roller, a roller coaster, and the Big Shot, a ride that boosts thrill-seekers up the top spire of the tower, completed when the property opened.

But it wasn't long before the property, challenged by its massive debt load and high interest payments, fell into bankruptcy.

Since ACE took over, millions of dollars in improvements were added. Two more thrill rides, the X Scream and Insanity, were opened, the High Roller was removed and the revolving restaurant and observation deck continue to draw visitors seeking a spectacular view of the valley.

The company refurbished the property's food and entertainment offerings, added and spruced up rooms and made the Stratosphere the attraction Stupak felt it could be. Today, the property's showrooms play host to "Viva Las Vegas," an afternoon show, "American Superstars," a tribute show featuring impersonators for Elvis Presley, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson and Christina Aguilera, and a "Bite," a topless production with vampire characters.

Brown said the casino has livened up with a makeover of its Center Bar that brings in live entertainment for special occasions. The Gaming Control Board says the casino has 1,400 slot machines, 51 table games and eight poker tables.

The next project on the Stratosphere agenda will be the opening of Polly Esther's, a night spot billed as four nightclubs in one. Four separate rooms within the club will spotlight music and images from the 1970s, '80s, '90s and 2000s.

The '70s room, for example, has a mockup of the Partridge family's bus and portraits and posters featuring Reggie Jackson, Jimmy Carter, Telly Savalas, Woody Allen, Gerald Ford and the film "Jaws." DJs will play '70s music. Other decades in the 23,000-square-foot area will be represented by rooms called "Culture Club" for the '80s and "Nerveana" for the '90s.

The latest acquisition for ACE was the Flamingo Laughlin, which has been renamed the Aquarius. With the acquisition, ACE vaulted itself into a new niche with the largest property on the Colorado River and a place where high-rollers in Laughlin go.

Since acquiring the 17-year-old property in May, ACE has spent $30 million to upgrade the property and is planning to put another $10 million into it in the next few months. Much of the casino upgrade involved replacing 1,000 of the property's 1,240 slot machines with state-of-the-art games.

The property also has new carpet, new wall coverings, new light fixtures and a remodeled entry.

"It was a little rough when we first opened because people had to enter the property through some side doors," Brown said. "But as soon as people found out we had 1,000 new slots, they found their way in."

With 12,000 people traversing Laughlin's riverwalk each day, ACE decided to improve that frontage with an outdoor lounge area, an outdoor entertainment venue and a comfortable firepit area. The property also is boosting its entertainment offerings and has signed ZZ Top to play during the Laughlin River Run, a major tourist draw.

Now that the Aquarius is on its feet, Brown said the next goal is to cross-promote the properties.

"One of the key initiatives for us in 2007 will be leveraging the Laughlin property and doing cross-property marketing between the Las Vegas properties and the Laughlin property," Brown said. "We think there's some real opportunity there."

Brown also said the company is constantly looking for opportunities and will count on Carl Icahn's turnaround acumen to lead the way.

"I think the Stratosphere is a great property and the guy who's driving the train is a very tough, intelligent guy," said Dave Ehlers, a longtime gaming analyst with Las Vegas Investment Advisors.

"I wouldn't be a bit surprised if his people will squeeze more and more cash flow out of the properties he has," he said. "He's a guy who's always thinking."

Ehlers has long been a fan of the Stratosphere, often taking hard-hat tours of the tower as it was being built. He thinks the north end of the Strip has huge potential with Boyd Gaming's plans to develop Echelon Place and the recent sale of the Sahara to a young entrepreneur.

"There's been a lot of effort to redevelop the area surrounding the Strip and Sahara (Avenue) and redeveloping all those homes around the Stratosphere," Ehlers said. "The big open lot on the southwest corner of the Strip and Sahara has always been the subject of speculation and that's right down the block from them.

"As good as things have been, it's possible that the best days are still ahead for the Stratosphere and Mr. Icahn."