Best of Old Vegas: Mob Hangouts

by Bodog Casino | Oct 23 2009

You don't realize it until you get there, but Vegas was and still is gangster.

The whole city probably wouldn't exist without the mob, and today their way of life has influenced the way things works in Sin City.

If you've been to Vegas you know it's still a hustle. You need to know to pay that waitress just right to keep her coming back with drinks; how to know how to get free limo service; and how to milk that bouncer just right so he won't raid you wallet just so you can enter a night club.

So which casino spots did the influential mob hang their hat? We give you the 411 so you can go on a Vegas mob tour of your own.

Flamingo Las Vegas

After all his gangsterisms, all Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel wanted to do was go legit. So he used his mob ties and tons of cash to build a casino in the middle of the desert, The Flamingo. Today it has Donnie and Marie on its windows, but back in the day it was the spot that hosted original gangsters like Meyer Lansky and Moe Sedway.

Binion's Hotel and Gambling Hall

When you think of gangsters you don't usually think of Texans. But Benny "Cowboy" Binion was one of the most ruthless in Sin City. He had the FBI watching his ass since 1924, and when he finally owned a casino, Binion's Casino Hall, his gangsterisms didn't slow down.

Binion and a henchman reportedly stalked Ben Frieden, and emptied their .45s into the unarmed man. Binion then shot himself in the shoulder, and turned himself into the 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.

That's gangster. That's the legacy Binion leaves behind in his casino.

Sands Hotel

Doc Stacher, a New York mobster, owned this spot. But that's not what made it gangster. It's gangster because the Rat Pack, specifically Frank Sinatra, performed there on the regular. And anyone who knows about "Old Blue Eyes" knows that he was as gangster as any New York mobster back in those days.

Dunes Casino

Opening in 1955, Dunes was owned for many years by Major Riddle, an associate of the Chicago Outfit and mob attorney Morris Shenker. Shenker represented mobsters in St. Louis and Kansas City. Ray Patriarca of the New England mafia was also a part owner.

But don't think some of the top performers of their time weren't willing to show up. Liberace, George Burns, Pat Cooper, Judy Garland, and Phyllis Diller all performed there.