Benny Binion, a Man Who Changed Las Vegas

Early Life of Benny Binion

Benny Binion (full name Lester Ben Binion) was born November 20, 1904, in Grayson County, a small Texas town about a hundred miles from Dallas.

Due to poor health, he almost did not go to school. His father traded horses and took him to gather herds, hoping the fresh air would make him stronger. The boy recovered but didn't receive an education.

In the camps where they stayed with his father in their hauls, Benny got used to playing cards and achieved significant success as a gambler. He did errands for various card swindlers, and they taught him how to make card cheats.

Later he lured new customers to underground gambling houses and hunted in bootlegging during Prohibition. In their late twenties, he opened an illegal lottery.

First Problems with the Law

According to FBI files, Benny started to have trouble with the law in 1924. He was accused of stealing, bootlegging, and wearing a secret weapon. However, these were "flowers."

In 1931 when Benny moved to Dallas, he got the nickname Cowboy when he shot in a cowboy style his partner Frank Balding in the illicit trade of alcohol. Benny suspected Frank of stealing alcohol, and the backyard between them clashed. Years later, the son of Binion Lonnie described that incident:

This guy was a horrible person. They say he stabbed several people. He quickly jumped up; his father thought he would stab him, so he tumbled back with logs, pulled out a gun, and fired from the ground. He hit him in the neck and killed him.

Balding had a knife, but he did not buy it. Binion escaped two years of probation due to the terrible reputation of the victim.

Five years later, Benny shot another man. At that time, Ben Frieden was his rival in the lottery business. He was taken to the police and said that Frieden had attacked him first. The court declared Binion innocent, arguing that it was self-defense. Yet, it was rumored that Benny and one of his gang members hunted down and shot unarmed Frieden. Binion shot himself in the shoulder to make the version of self-defense believable.

In 1938, Benny and his friend killed another competitor, but his partner was found guilty of the crime, and Binion escaped punishment.

Benny Binnion in Dallas

In the mid-thirties, Dallas authorities turned a blind eye to minor offenses. Such loyalty was due to the approaching centenary of the state. There were regular raids on underground casinos from time to time, but their owners were not put behind bars or even deprived of business, only fined.

Even the Great Depression brought the local oil business tycoons a lot of money. Binion used the situation and took concessions from the authorities to open the tables for craps. This game was trendy among the soldiers who got addicted to it in barracks. After World War II, they came to Dallas to play at Benny's.

He was a central crime boss in the city, but after the elections in 1946, he could not establish contact with the new mayor and had to move to Las Vegas. In Dallas, Herb Noble was in charge of the business. He paid Binion twenty-five percent, but eventually, Benny wanted to increase his share to forty percent. Noble refused to produce such an amount, and Binion set a reward for his head. Herb escaped more than ten attempts. One of them killed his wife. But he was still blown up by a bomb prepared in the mailbox in front of his house.

Benny Binion in Las Vegas

In Las Vegas, Binion became the co-owner of Las Vegas Club Casino; a year later, he came out of the share because he was dissatisfied with betting limits. In 1951, he bought the casino and opened it as a casino and saloon Westerner. Later he purchased a hotel and club, Apache Eldorado, to make them Binion's Horseshoe casino. High-interest rates and a good level of service immediately made it popular among the players.

For example, the maximum bet for the craps tables was $500, and competitors offered no more than $50. Binion introduced free services to all players, not just high rollers. Horseshoe Casino could boast chic interiors unusual for casinos of that time and original shows.

Mafia was unhappy with the excessive popularity of Binion. They thought it would attract unwanted attention to their Dallas and Las Vegas activities. Besides, not only does Benny act provocatively, but also other members of his gang. When one of them committed a resonant murder, criminal bosses helped the authorities to put Binion behind bars. He received five years for tax evasion and lost his gambling license.

Binion was forced to sell his casino share for about five million dollars to cover the legal costs.

In 1957 his family bought back most of the Horseshoe, and in 1964 it once again fully returned to Binion. He could not obtain a license again, so he used a role of a formal consultant.

Benny and his wife, Teddy Jane, had five children actively involved in the casino's management. Throughout the years, Binion's wife, son Jack, and daughter Becky took the presidency. Under the latter's guidance, Horseshoe was declared bankrupt and sold to Harrah's Entertainment. Today it belongs to TLC Gaming Group.

Benny Binion as a Poker Player

In 1949 Binion arranged a poker tournament between Johnny Moss and Nick Dandalos, which lasted for five months. Moss won the game, and Dandalos lost about two million dollars; after the final hand, he said the historic phrase:

Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.

Benny continued arranging such contests between High Rollers for several years, and in 1970, he invited six famous players to the tournament six prominent players. Johnny Moss won, and the following year he held the first tournament of the format freezeout with a buy-in of ten thousand dollars, initiating the famous World Series of Poker.

The Death of Benny Binion

Benny Binion died of a heart attack in Las Vegas on December 25, 1989. He was 85 years old. A widely known statement about him belongs to the great poker player Amarillo Slim Preston, a friend of Benny,

He was the greatest gentleman of bad guys and the worst of the nicest guys you've ever seen.