Category: gambling history

Frank Lawrence "Lefty" Rosenthal was a sports handicapper, Chicago Outfit partner, and a former Las Vegas casino executive (June 12, 1929-October 13, 2008). He had received the mocking nickname "Lefty" because at a hearing on gambling and organized crime, he had cited the Fifth Amendment thirty-seven times, even invoking his...

Las Vegas was halfway through a recession. It was April 1957, and two years earlier the town had still come to terms with the opening of five major resorts. The Dunes, the Riviera, New Frontier, Royal Nevada and Moulin Rouge had all fought through changes of ownership, some falling into...

Lester Ben Binion (November 20, 1904 - December 25, 1989) was an American gambling legend, career criminal, and convicted assassin who set up illegal gambling operations in the Texas city of Dallas-Fort Worth. He would later move to Nevada, where gambling was legal, and in downtown Las Vegas open the...

There is one guy actually being thought of as having the greatest gaming run in history. He turned $50 to $40000000 during his run which lasted three years. He is the legendary Archie Karas of course. Archie Karas was born 1951 in Antipata, Kefalonia, Greece, to Anargyros Karabourniotis. Karas had lived...

"Nick the Greek" is a very famous nickname that has become quite common, but Nikos Dandolas, a famous Greek gambler and known high-roller, was the very first "Nick the Greek". Nick's story, like most true high-rollers, was filled with massive wins, untold wealth, and then basically awaits poverty. That just...

In 1829, an 18 year-old Mexican scout for the Antonio Armijo Trading Caravan was tasked with finding a new trade route to Los Angeles from Santa Fe, New Mexico. He came onto an oasis in the desert in his search. Brigham Young ordered 30 missionaries to construct a fort in...