Poker Winner Blog

Some of the first casinos in America were established during the early 1800s in New Orleans, along the Mississippi River. Although, at that time, there were no casinos on the riverboats themselves, informal gambling was a popular way for travellers to pass the journey. Professional gamblers, called sharps, would target wealthy passengers and relieve them of their money. Gambling moved westward with the expansion of the railroads and flourished during the time of the California gold rush and the Nevada silver era.

Las Vegas in Nevada owes its success to the mobster Benjamin `Bugsy’ Siegel who organized gaming and bookmaking operations for The Mob (the Mafia). Due to a crackdown on gambling in the eastern USA, Siegel moved west in the 1940s. During the Great Depression gambling had been legalized in Nevada to increase revenue for the state, but what existed in Las Vegas at that time were a few decidedly downmarket casinos that were frequented by the locals.

Siegel planned to open a luxurious hotel where the rich and famous could gamble and, after a failed attempt to take over an existing casino, he decided to build his own. Once Siegel had managed to convince.

The Mob to invest in his idea, building started, but costs escalated from initial estimates of $1.2 million to over $6 million, because everyone, including Siegel, was stealing money from the project. It is rumoured that the palm trees were sold to the casino several times over and that Siegel’s girlfriend, Virginia Hill, was accumulating money in a Swiss bank account.

The Mob soon discovered Siegel’s skimming and ordered him to be killed, but decided to give him a reprieve until after the opening.

The Flamingo Hotel and Casino finally opened on 26 December 1946. A huge party was organized, with many of the film stars of the day in attendance. The hotel was not finished, so the guests had nowhere to sleep. They partied for two days and then went home.

The Flamingo was a flop and Bugsy Siegel was eventually killed by The Mob in 1947, but his dream of making Las Vegas into a gambling centre survived.

As other businessmen realized that Las Vegas had potential as a resort, investment flowed into the town. The Desert Inn Casino opened in 1950, followed by the Sands Casino in 1952, with the Dunes, and the Riviera opening in 1955.

Despite gambling being illegal, casinos continued to operate elsewhere in the USA thanks to widespread corruption in the police and government. One of the most luxurious `illegal‘ casinos was Chicago’s Big House which operated between 1929 and 1950. Run by associates of gangster Al Capone, it was elegantly furnished, with mahogany gaming tables, oriental rugs and a free taxi service to shuttle players to and from Chicago’s southside. The club was also the headquarters of a countrywide bookmaking operation.

From Mob to State Control

During the 1950s virtually all the casinos in Las Vegas were controlled by The Mob. A US senate investigation into criminal activity in the casino industry found that skimming (retaining a portion of the profits) was rife, resulting in tax evasion on stakes and profits.

When legislation allowing corporations to own Las Vegas casinos came into being in 1965, entrepreneur and multimillionaire Howard Hughes was the first to take advantage of this change in the law, buying the Desert Inn and several other casinos, as well as plots of land in the city. When MGM, Hilton and Holiday Inn followed suit, the finances of the mob proved to be no match for the might of the major corporations, and gradually the casino industry was cleaned up.

Opposition to Gambling

In many countries, gambling has gone in and out of favour depending on the prevailing moral, social and religious climate. Most objections to gambling are based on social and religious issues. However despite numerous attempts throughout history to outlaw gaming, it has still thrived. Banning gaming simply results in the establishment of illegal casinos.

Gaming-related social problems are as old as gambling itself. In Roman times, gaming was restricted to one week of the year, during the Saturnalia festival (equivalent to the Christmas and New Year holidays). However this did not deter Roman players, who continued to gamble in private houses and clubs. Even when fines (equivalent to four times the stakes) were introduced for players caught gambling, the Romans managed to evade the law by using engraved discs, called roundels, instead of money.

Almost as soon as playing cards were introduced to Europe, they were opposed. In Paris, legislation prohibiting playing cards was passed in 1377, and in Italy, playing cards and dice were burned.

In the USA, many attempts were made to prevent gambling. Early Puritan settlers initially banned the possession of gaming equipment, but relented, allowing games for recreational purposes. Later legislation was ineffective as it banned specific games. Players simply changed the names or invented new games. By 1910 gambling was made illegal throughout the USA, but due to widespread corruption among law enforcement officers, this law had little effect.

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