The Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casino officially modified its name to drop its hotel chain moniker on Tues. after a licensing deal expired at the start of 2012.

Workers changed the hotel marquee to reflect the new name for the property east of the Las Vegas Strip : The Las vegas Hotel & Casino.

Its new motto : “Same Fame. New Name.”

It is the 2nd time Elvis Presley’s former haunt has modified its name. Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian opened the property in 1969 as the World Hotel, then sold it to the Hilton chain. It became the Vegas Hilton in 1971.

The hotel-casino attempted to end the contract last year as the property said with fiscal worries. It defaulted on a $252 million loan in 2010 and used operational costs to send payments during 3 months last year although it attempted to restructure debt.

Casino name changes are uncommon, though not unprecedented in Sin City, announced Michael Green, a Varsity of Southern Nevada history professor who makes a speciality of Sin City’s history.

“Generally, the icons of the past, the name isn’t modified it’s blown up,” Green said Tuesday. “Name changes like that aren’t too common, particularly because most hotel-casinos do develop some cachet with their customers.”

Other casinos that have changed their names include the Aladdin becoming Planet Hollywood, and the MGM Grand becoming Bally’s, Green expounded. It’s commoner for casinos to make small adjustments to their names rather than wholesale changes, he explained.

Green said the hotel-casino, as well as Presley performing more than 800 sold-out shows, was particular in Las vegas history for its location off the Strip, and a youth hotel that served as a precursor to other family-friendly resorts in the adult destination.

The change means the property won’t be connected with Hilton’s hotel faithfulness program, though hotel officers say it’ll keep its player rewards programme and comforts. It belongs to stockholders including Colony Capital LLC.