Las Vegas Sins and Scams – Appendix to Book 1 - Good Guys, Scammers, and Scams (Up to 1999) Paul W. Winquist Published by Paul W. Winquist at Smashwords pwinquist.com Distributed Through Smashwords(tm) http:///www.smashwords.com [email protected] US Phone 503-278-7316 9600 SW 74the Ave, Tigard OR 97223 ISBN eBooks Version 1.2 Introduction Compiled to go with the Las Vegas Sins and Scams books this is a non-copyrighted free e-book These characters were an inspiration for my writing. The black type is mostly from Wikipedia. The green type is myself, including the comments in the headings. Many corrections were made to the grammar, and it still remains gross. Fremont Street 1952 Wikipedia Table of Contents Introduction Benny Binion - Cowboy, Gangster, Ca$ino Owner Jack Binion - - Ca$ino Operator Ted Binion - - Ca$ino Operator Herbert Blitzstein - Gangster Joseph Aiuppa - Gangster Anthony Spilotro - Gangster Sam DeStefano - - Chicago Mobster and sociopathic killer Lefty Rosenthal - Casino Operator and Mobster Moe Dalitz - Ca$ino Operator Meyer Lansky - Casino Operator / Gangster Frank Sinatra - Singer Sam Giancana - Sicilian-American Mobster Tony Accardo - Boss of the Chicago Outfit Jimmy Fratianno - Gangster Sheldon Adelson - CasinosMagnate Bob Stupak - Casino Owner and Gambler Bob Cohen - A Nice Guy Oscar Goodman - Lawyer and Mayor of Las Vegas Doug Da Silva - Super Real Estate Manipulator Ed Torres - Casino Owner Jackie Gaughan - Casino Owner Ann Myers - Slumlord Hotel/Ca$ino Owner Fulgencio BATISTA - Former Dictator of Cuba Havana Conference Ernest Hemingway - Writer (A Good Guy) Fidel Castro - Communist Revolutionary and Former Dictator of Cuba Che Guevara - Marxist Revolutionary Michael Milken - Junkbond Scammer Day traders Direct access trading - - Flash Trading Racket (crime), Racketeering Jake Bernstein - Bullshit Artist Dot-Com Company - - Acquisitions United States v. Thomas Hank Greenspun – Media Supporter of Gambling in Nevada George Soros -- Number One Greedy Money Trader Carlos Slim - World’s Most Greedy Price Gouger Bill Gates - Software Monopolist - Price Gouger Paul Allen - A good Guy Steve Jobs - i Con-Man Warren Buffett Oral Roberts - Faith Healer = Religion Scammer Tammy Faye (Bakker) Messner - Religion Scammer Jerry Falwell - Religion Scammer Pat Robertson - Religion Scammer and Right Wing Screwball Crystal Cathedral - Robert H. Schuller – Religon Scammer Charles Manson - Screwball Jimmy Swaggart - Religion Scammer Bernard (Bernie) Madoff - Biggest Scammer Ever Catholic Church - Biggest Scam on the Face of the Earth The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - Religion/Scammer/Huge Company Dick Cheney - Politician and Warmonger Adolf Hitler - Super Psychopathic Killer Heinrich Himmler - Super Psychopathic Killer Ed Gein - Psychopath and Body Snatcher Peter Woodcock - Serial Killer and Child Rapist Steve Wright - Serial Killer Vincent Johnson - The Brooklyn Strangler Aileen Wuornos - Man Killer Timothy Krajcir - Serial Killer Peter Kürten - The Vampire of Düsseldorf Guillotines Luis Garavito - The World's Worst Serial Killer Gerald and Charlene Gallego - Kept Sex Slaves, Then Killed Them Gary Ridgway - Green River Killer - Murdered At Least 71 Women - Necrophile Ted Bundy - Sadistic Sociopath, Necrophile, Rapist, Kidnapper, and Serial Killer Electric Chair Walmart - Sam Walton - Super Greedy Businessman Pol Pot - The Khmer Rouge Regime - The Killing Fields Manuel Noriega - Panamanian Politician and Drug Trafficker Pablo Escobar - Big Time Gangbanger Medellin Cartel - Drug Movers - Gangbangers Cali Cartel - Drug Movers and Gangbangers MDMA "Ecstasy" ("E", "X", or "M") - A GOOD Drug Cocaine - A Drug Marijuana - Cannabis (Herb) Heroin - A Narcotic Drug Harm Caused by Drugs Frank Lloyd Wright - An Inspiration For My Books Mark Twain aka Samuel Langhorne Clemens – an Inspiration for My Books Joseph Stalin - Ruler of USSR - Mass Killer Dr. Albert Einstein – Physicist – An Inspiration for My Books Benny Binion - Cowboy, Gangster, Ca$ino Owner Benny Binion at the 1979 World Series of Poker Wikipedia Lester Ben "Benny" Binion (November 20, 1904 - - December 25, 1989) was a well-known American casino owner, mobster, poker enthusiast, and convicted felon. Binion was born and raised in Grayson County, Texas, north of Dallas. His parents initially kept him out of school due to precarious health. His father, a horse trader, let him accompany him on trips. While the outdoor life restored his health, Benny Binion never had any formal education. Binion's FBI file reveals a criminal history dating back to 1924, listing offenses such as theft, carrying concealed weapons, and two murder convictions. Binion moved to El Paso when he was 17; there, he began moonshining, for which he was twice convicted. In 1928, in fear of legal consequences, he gave up moonshining and opened a number of operations. While he was in El Paso, he also learned to gamble, a favorite pastime of the traders waiting on the campgrounds. In 1931, Binion was convicted of murdering an African American rum-runner, Frank Bolding, "cowboy style." This was the origin of Binion's "Cowboy" nickname. Binion received a two-year suspended sentence. Binion would later kill Ben Frieden, a numbers operator in competition with Binion. By 1936, Binion had gained control of gambling operations in Dallas, with protection from a powerful local politician. On September 12, 1936, Binion and a henchman reportedly stalked Frieden and emptied their .45’s into the unarmed man. Binion then shot himself in the shoulder and turned himself in to police, claiming that Frieden had shot him first. Binion was indicted, but the indictments were later dismissed on the grounds that Binion had acted in self-defense. In 1938, Binion and his henchmen allegedly killed Sam Murray, another of his competitors in the gambling rackets. Binion was never indicted for this murder, and charges were dropped against his henchmen. By the early 1940s, Binion had become the reigning mob boss of Dallas. He then sought to take over the gambling rackets in Fort Worth. The local mob boss of that city, Lewis Tindell, was murdered shortly afterwards. The Chicago Outfit made a successful move into Dallas after World War II. Binion lost his fix with the local government after the 1946 elections, and fled to Las Vegas. While in Dallas, Binion had begun a long-running feud with Herb Noble, a small-time gambler in Dallas, which continued after Binion moved to Las Vegas. Binion demanded that Noble increase his payoff to Binion from 25 to 40 percent, which Noble refused to do. Binion posted a reward on Noble's scalp that eventually reached $25,000 and control of a Dallas crap game. Many tried to kill Noble, but he escaped or survived numerous attempts on his life, although sometimes with gunshot wounds. Eventually Noble's wife was killed in a car bombing intended for him. In retaliation, Noble planned to fly his private plane to Las Vegas to bomb Binion's house, but was restrained by local law enforcement before he could execute his plan. Eventually, a car bomber succeeded in assassinating Noble. Because of the nationwide publicity over the Binion/Noble feud, Binion was unpopular with national Mafia bosses, who felt that he was drawing unwanted attention to their operations in Las Vegas and Dallas. After one of Binion's bodyguards committed a murder in the men's room of Binion's Westerner Club in Las Vegas, the mobsters helped the federal government put Binion away. Binion lost his gambling license in 1951, and was sentenced to a five-year term in 1953 at Leavenworth federal penitentiary for tax evasion. In Las Vegas, Binion became a partner of the Las Vegas Club casino, but left after a year because of disagreements about limits on bets. In 1951, Benny purchased the building which had previously housed the Las Vegas Club, and opened it as the Westerner Gambling House and Saloon. In 1951, he purchased the Eldorado Club and the Apache Hotel, opening them as Binion's Horseshoe Casino, which immediately became popular because of the high limits on bets. He initially set a craps table limit of $500, ten times higher than the limit at his competitors of the time. Because of the competition, Binion sometimes received death threats, although eventually casinos raised their limits to keep up with him. Additionally, the Horseshoe would honor a bet of any size as long as it was the first one made. Binion was in the vanguard of Las Vegas casino innovation, being the first in the downtown Glitter Gulch to replace sawdust-covered floors with carpeting, dispatch limousines to transport customers to and from the casino, and offer free drinks to players. Although comps were normal for high rollers, Binion opened the door for all players. He also shied away from the gaudy performing acts typical of other Las Vegas casinos. Binion, in a Nevada oral history said he followed a simple philosophy when serving his customers: "Good food, good whiskey, good gamble.” He was more generous to gamblers than any other casino owner in Las Vegas was. Although the Horseshoe was privately owned, it was reportedly the most profitable casino in town. One of the tourist attractions in Binion's was a large horseshoe with $1 million in $10,000 bills, embedded in plastic. Binion was forced to sell his share of the casino to pay approximately $5 million in legal costs, resulting from his trial and conviction. His family regained controlling interest in the Horseshoe in 1957, but did not regain full control until 1964. Benny was never allowed to hold a gambling license afterwards, although he remained on the payroll as a consultant. Binion styled himself a cowboy throughout his life. He almost never wore a necktie, and used gold coins for his cowboy shirts. Despite being technically barred from owning guns, he carried at least one pistol all his life, and kept a sawed-off shotgun close by. His office was a booth in the downstairs restaurant, and he knew most of his customers by name.