From its legal inception in 1931, Las
\nVegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>\u2019 gaming and sports betting industry has been
\nbuilt on the dreams and imagination of people who have had the courage to
\nquestion the status quo. But while many a daring dreamer has left his legacy in
\nthis desert oasis, four men stand out. <\/p>\n

Part 1: The Man Who Invented Las Vegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>.<\/p>\n

It was on the night of June 20, 1947<\/st1:date>,
\nthat nine bullets from a .30-.30 carbine ripped through the living room window
\nof socialite Virginia Hill\u2019s home on 810 North Linden
\nDrive<\/st1:address><\/st1:Street> in Beverly Hills<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>.
\nThe first shot crashed into the man\u2019s head, driving the victim\u2019s right eye from
\nhis skull and hurling it 15 feet<\/st1:metricconverter>
\nacross the room. The other shots quickly followed but there was no need.
\nBenjamin \u201cBugsy<\/span>\u201d Siegel, the era\u2019s most infamous
\nmobster, already was dead. <\/p>\n

Ironically, hundreds of miles away, in a desert outpost called Las
\nVegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>, Siegel\u2019s gambling dream was alive and well and
\njust beginning to prosper. <\/p>\n

Ben Siegel first came west in 1937 to California<\/st1:place><\/st1:State>
\nto organize the mob\u2019s lucrative narcotics, prostitution and bookmaking
\nenterprises there. A much-feared New York criminal who by his early 20s already
\nhad committed several murders, Siegel had partners in crime including the
\nunderworld elite, from Meyer Lansky – with whom he\u2019d formed an execution squad
\nthat predated Murder Inc. by seven years – to Al Capone, Lucky Luciano<\/span>, Dutch Schultz, Albert Anastasia, Legs Diamond,
\nArnold Rothstein, Vito Genovese and Frank Nitti<\/span>.
\nExcept for his movie star good looks, Siegel fit right in. <\/p>\n

By 1945 Siegel had used a combination of bribery and deadly force to
\nconsolidate his power in California, buying off cops and politicians and
\nkilling those who couldn\u2019t be bought. Three years earlier, in 1942, he\u2019d taken
\nover control of Las Vegas\u2019 racewire<\/span> services,
\ncharging the hotels exorbitant fees for the racetrack information. <\/p>\n

But Siegel had bigger plans for Las Vegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>.<\/p>\n

Early in 1946 he decided to build the largest and most lavish casino in the
\nworld there. But it wouldn\u2019t be just a casino. There\u2019d be a hotel, too, with
\ncarefully manicured grounds, a swimming pool, restaurant, bar and nightclub.
\nThere\u2019d be nothing like it anywhere on the planet and as soon as it opened on a
\npatch of inexpensive land at the desolate southern end of what would later be
\ncalled the Strip – Las Vegas Boulevard<\/st1:address><\/st1:Street>
\n– Siegel instantly would be transformed from mobster to mogul. He\u2019d be America\u2019s
\nking of gambling. It\u2019d all be legit, too. <\/p>\n

But the casino, which Siegel called the \u201cFabulous Flamingo Hotel,\u201d was horribly
\nunder funded. Siegel had invested his own ill-gotten fortune, about $1 million,
\nin what was estimated to be a $1.5 million venture. But the hotel\u2019s plumbing
\nalone cost $1 million and building supplies, particularly steel and copper, were
\nscarce in post-war America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>.
\nSiegel paid extra to get them. <\/p>\n

The tab for the project quickly soared to $6 million, an incredible sum at the
\ntime. Siegel raised $3 million in stock sales and got the rest the Mob,
\nextorting $2 million through the sale of his TransAmerica<\/span>
\nracewire<\/span> service, an audacious move that later cost
\nhim his life. <\/p>\n

On Dec. 26, 1946<\/st1:date>, with Virginia<\/st1:place><\/st1:State>
\nHill at his side and Jimmy Durante<\/span> in his nightclub,
\nSiegel opened the Flamingo Hotel. It was a terrible disappointment. Bad weather
\nhad grounded many of Siegel\u2019s celebrity friends in Los
\nAngeles<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> and, as luck would have it, the casino lost
\nheavily the first night. Two weeks later, $100,000 in the hole, the Flamingo
\nclosed. <\/p>\n

On March 27, 1947<\/st1:date>, Siegel
\nreopened the Flamingo. For three weeks, the casino continued to lose money.
\nThen, finally, as it often happens for those who accept wagers, red turned to
\nblack. In May, the casino cleared $300,000. <\/p>\n

Three weeks later, Benjamin \u201cBugsy<\/span>\u201d Siegel, 41, was
\ndead. But the town he built, the gambling and sports betting Mecca<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\nknown as Las Vegas<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>, was just coming
\nto life. <\/p>\n

This article was written on behalf of OffshoreInsiders.com<\/a><\/span><\/b>
\nby Luken<\/span> Karel<\/span> for http:\/\/www.thegreek.com<\/span><\/strong><\/a>.<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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