The 4 Biggest Badass Mafia Players in Las Vegas History
Introduction: The Biggest Mafia Players in Las Vegas History
Do you know the mafia players that stood behind Las Vegas? Let’s face it, the gambling industry isn’t known for many positive aspects. In fact, we could say that it’s better associated with crime, drugs, fraud, and anything else that can be on the wrong side of the law. Gambling has never completely cleaned itself of the image that came about thanks to its mafia origins. Since the first US casino opened, mafia players have been standing in the shadows, pulling the strings to ensure that the business was able to operate outside the law, while at the same time, gathering political and financial power in the process.
Over the years, various kingpins and mafia players have risen up through the mafia ranks to become both leaders of their respective gangs, as well as household names. Today, we’re going to have a closer look at some of them, how they rose, and the fates that befell them.
Mafia Players in Las Vegas: Meyer Lansky
Lansky was born in Poland and ended up moving to New York’s East Side in 1911. He was a wizard at mathematics and was known as the “Mob Accountant.” When he was a young man, he came into contact with another soon-to-be-famous gangster, Bugsy Siegel. The two of them had been involved in a gunfight with the police. Lansky was able to persuade Seigel to drop his gun and escape from the pursuing cops in the backstreets. From that point on, the two became firm friends and were known as the “Bugs and Meyer Gang.”
It was around this time that Lansky started acting as the money man for the mob’s finances. In fact, so skillful was he in keeping tabs on all the income streams, that he single-handedly oversaw a huge increase in their profits. Not only that, but he was able to negotiate with the tax authorities to secure better deals on their tax obligations. America’s terrible idea of banning all alcohol finally came to an end in 1933. At the same time, all the underground drinking clubs were ripe for change. Now that people could openly drink, Lansky took over many establishments and turned them into casinos.
An International Crook
Soon he was operating in Cuba, New Orleans, Florida, the Bahamas, and London. With all these casinos and jackpot games in his pocket, it was no surprise that many people saw the Italian Mafia standing behind his business dealings. Meyer Lansky was to die of cancer in 1983. As one of the biggest mafia players, he is the owner of a number of casinos worldwide, but also estates, properties, and many other non-gambling-related businesses. He left a claimed net worth of around $300 million. If you want the same net worth, then try your hand with King Billy Casino. They have generous welcome bonuses and huge jackpots.
The Biggest Mafia Players: Benjamin”Bugsy” Siegel
Siegel was born into an Austro-Hungarian Jewish family who had emigrated to the US in 1903. His childhood was spent hustling on the busy streets of Brooklyn, always looking for quick cash. He quickly made a name for himself as a hot-headed violent adolescent who had a wild way of making business. In fact, the nickname “Bugsy” comes from people saying that he was as crazy as a “bedbug.”
The Unstoppable Team
Once Seigel was able to team up with Lanskey, then the pair, a kind of brains and brawn couple started on their road to fame and fortune. In order to smooth the road ahead, they set up a notorious group of contract killers who the newspapers called “Murder Inc.” This gang of mafia players was absolutely ruthless and paved the way for many business triumphs for the pair. It’s generally agreed that Murder Inc was responsible for well over 1,000 murders. Most of those on the wrong side of the barrel of a gun were enemies of Siegel’s.
In 1937, in an effort to get away from the heat being generated thanks to all the killings, Seigel decided to up sticks and he moved across the country to the sunshine state. Here he chilled with all his celebrity friends and other mafia players. But, the lifestyle of vacuous parties and get-togethers quickly became boring for the mafia man. So, in typical fashion, he started to set up a chain of brothels, and off-shore casinos. He also bought the Flamingo Hotel and Casino to generate some much-needed cash flow from jackpot poker and slots. What’s clear to be seen, is that without Lanskey at his side, Seigel was a rubbish businessman.
In a very short time, he built up huge debts. And though he was a big player in the Mafia, there were other mafia players who had tried to get him to pay his debts over and over, only to be rebuffed with a cocky show of force. So it came to nobody’s surprise that on June 20th, 1947, he was gunned down. Not surprisingly, the killer was never found.
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Mafia Players in Las Vegas: Tony “The Hat” Cornero
Between the 1920s and the 1950s, Tony Cornero was seen as the bone-fide Godfather of Las Vegas. Throughout his career, though he might have mixed with the mob and mafia players thanks to their influence over the city, he was never regarded as a mafia man and never had any affiliation towards the mob. In fact, he was one of seven people to receive one of the very first gambling licenses ever given out in Las Vegas. His first venture was The Meadows Casino and Hotel, which he opened in 1931, but it burnt to the ground during the Great Depression.
The Offshore Gambling Loophole
Not to be downtrodden, he did return to Vegas a short time later and started to pursue various casino-related ventures. He spent a great deal of time and energy studying and making himself an expert in State gambling laws. It wasn’t long before he discovered a loophole that allowed him to set up legitimate casinos. He had taken a good look at the legalities of offshore gambling. So, he purchased a couple of cruise ships for $600,000. He fitted them out as floating casinos. These ships could carry up to 300 staff and over 2,000 gamblers.
Gambling On Ships
In order to remain legal, they were docked 3 miles off the coast of Southern California. Being parked offshore meant that for years, Corneo never had to think about any sort of gambling laws and regulations. It was one of his great jackpot winning strategies. But it all came to an end in 1946. The US Coast Guard claimed that the ships had inadvertently floated a couple of meters into international waters. This gave them the authority to raid the ships and have the casinos shut down. Unfortunately, though the ships were doing great business, it still wasn’t enough to have cleared all of Cornero’s debts from the original starting cost.
Not to be sunk the way of his ships, Cornero returned to Las Vegas and immediately started to work on a new casino project, The Star Hotel. Unfortunately, this business was nothing but a huge money pit. Cornero struggled with the gradual mounting debts which included $800,000 from the mafia. In 1955, whilst playing craps, Cornero fell to the floor dead. He’d been swigging from a bottle all evening and many supposed that its contents had been poisoned. The autopsy, along with the coroner’s reports, stated that the cause of death was a heart attack. No one believed it.
The Biggest Mafia Players: Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal
During the 1970s, of all the mafia players, one person stood out in Las Vegas, as the main mover and shaker. Frank Rosenthal was later to be made even more famous thanks to Martin Scorsese’s movie, “Casino”, in which Robert De Niro plays the famed gambler and casino executive. Not only had Lefty been a high-flying exec at some of the most prestigious casinos in the city, but one of the reasons he was in those positions in the first place, was so that he could keep a close eye on the mafia’s investments. Back in those days, organised crime ran everything in Sin City.
In spite of having multiple criminal records, he still managed to run some of the biggest casinos in Vegas, and even more surprisingly, he ran them without casino licenses. In 1971 he was in charge of The Stardust (opened originally by Cornero), The Marina, The Freemont, and The Hacienda. He was also secretly running the first sportsbook in Las Vegas. This was situated in the Stardust casino itself.
A Casino Pioneer In Las Vegas
Lefty did a lot of pioneering work throughout the Vegas casino industry. For example, he bought female blackjack dealers into The Stardust Casino and instantly doubled their take. As a whole, he was at the forefront of many of the reforms that make Vegas what it is and was instrumental in creating some of the best casinos in Vegas today. Unfortunately, not all mafia players were happy with him. In 1982, a bomb that was planted under his car exploded, though he was miraculously unharmed. Realising that maybe his time in the city was done, he relocated to Laguna Niguel in California. Unfortunately, due to his extensive criminal record, he couldn’t obtain a casino license.
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After years of living a quiet life, he died of a heart attack in 2008 at the age of 79. But the legacy he created still lives on today in film, pop culture, and the history of Sin City.
Conclusion: The Biggest Mafia Players in Las Vegas History
Since its inception, the city of Las Vegas has had a reputation for fronting mafia money. A reputation that was garnered thanks to a number of larger-than-life characters, and mafia players who oversaw the expansion of the city thanks to their investments in the casino industry. Whether you’re enjoying a famous Las Vegas buffet or looking for the best casinos to win the jackpot, take a good look around. Though today’s Las Vegas is a totally different beast from the city of yesteryear, you can’t help but feel that the mafia still maintains a hidden hold over Sin City.
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