WHEN THE MOB RAN VEGAS  - UPDATED!

Stories of Money, Mayhem and Murder

 

Foreword    ix
WELCOME TO Fabulous LAS VEGAS    xi
That Damn Kefauver Committee    1
Bugsy Siegel’s Flamingo    11
The Havana Mafia Conference: The Vote to Kill Bugsy    29
Fat Irish Green    45
Help! We Just Lost the Thunderbird    51
Two Dumb Tonys    63
A Check Signed by 3 Las Vegas Legends    71
Uncle Morrie and Aunt Audrey’s Las Vegas Vacation    81
The Story of Mr. Lucky, Tony Cornero    87
History and Mystery of the Moulin Rouge    103
The Glitz, Glitter, and Glamour of the Vegas Showgirls    115
Frank Costello Builds the Tropicana    119
Does the Riviera Still Kill Its Executives?    133
Frank Sinatra’s Cal Neva Lodge    147
Teamsters Palace Las Vegas    159
Fight Night at the Sands    167
How to Cheat a Friar    173
Howard Hughes Buys Nevada    191
The Great Stardust Skim    199
The Silver Slipper’s  Slipper    211
Lefty and the Ant    215
Coffee Shop Stories: Rat Pack and the Sands    225
References and Further Reading    239
Acknowledgments    243
Index    247
About the Author    255

MORE WHEN THE MOB RAN VEGAS

Showgirl Stories, High-Stakes Poker, Sin City, Sinatra, and Suitcases Full of Money

​

Contents
What Happened in Vegas Lives On    1
WELCOME TO Fabulous LAS VEGAS    3
It’s Amazing What You Can Do with a Jar of Glitter    9
What to Do with The Missus?    15
The Brothers Marx and Sisters Gabor    25
The Opening Act That Didn’t    33
Sequins of Events    37
The Pool Boy and the Baroness Vera Krupp    41
The Dark Side of the Dark Side of Early Vegas    51
Let’s Catch the Dinner Show at the Stardust     57
Rhinestones, Feathers, and Rubber Tits    71
The Battle of the Hotel Giants: The Landmark vs. the International    81
Elvis, the Colonel, and the Heartbreak Hotel Opening    87
BONUS SECTION The Biggest Poker Game Never Played    111
Field of Dreams    177
A Brothel by Any Other Name    183
The Real Showgirl Story of the Movie Casino    209
Vegas with Your, uh, Niece    213
The High-Rolling Brothers Chagra    219
Big Julie: The Junket King with a Heart of Gold, Which He Might Sell You    233
Circus Circus Comes to Town    245
Frank Sinatra Had 4 Wives and Slept with 14,035* Other Women    257
Furor Over the Fuehrer     271
Don’t Touch the Showgirls    281
References and Further Reading    291
About the Author     295