The Mafia and Casino has been in control of various things throughout the years, such as the drug trade, prostitution, Mafia and Casinolocal police forces, and the justice system. However, gambling has been the cornerstone of its money-making schemes, with sports betting taking precedence above all else.
While most people associate the Mafia and casino ties with Las Vegas, it is also prevalent in the internet age. In fact, many of the most infamous mobsters have used their love of gambling to steal and stay in control. Let’s take a look at some more well-known gangsters.
The Bugs and Meyer Mob
One Jewish-American street gang was named the Bugs and Meyer Mob because the two most prominent mobsters, Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and Meyer Lansky, were members. This group became known as the most violent crew during Prohibition. It focused on murder, extortion, and grand theft auto, ultimately forming the National Crime Syndicate in time.
Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel
Benjamin Siegel was born to Austro-Hungarian Jewish parents who immigrated to the US in 1903 before he was born. Therefore, he grew up in Brooklyn, never knowing any other home.
Though there isn’t much known about his childhood, his family was very poor. Siegel turned to the streets to make money. However, people thought he was as crazy as a bedbug, which is how he got his nickname Bugsy. Everyone learned quickly that his violent temper and wild behavior could get them into trouble.
Bugsy and Lansky met, creating various schemes to cheat people. The pair organized a group of contract killers, which received the nickname of “Murder, Inc.” It was responsible for anywhere between 400 and 1,000 killings, which made Siegel a very unpleasant man to be around.
In time, Bugsy developed a long list of Mob enemies, which required him to move to California in 1937. This led to him becoming a celebrity gangster. When he wasn’t rubbing shoulders with Hollywood stars, he was committing murders and controlling prostitution rings and offshore casinos.
Because of the money from the Mafia and casino dealings, Siegel had the cash to open the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. In early 1946, after guests started pouring in, Bugsy learned that he wasn’t cut out for the business world, preferring to do the dirty work. He was always over budget, causing his investment to shut its doors only a year later.
After an eventful life full of fear and violence, Siegel was killed a few months after his hotel closed. To this day, no one knows who shot him or why.
Meyer Lansky
Meier Suchowlanski was born to Polish-Jewish parents. The family moved to America in 1911, living in New York on the Lower East Side. In time, he changed his name to Meyer Lansky and met Siegel.
Ultimately, the story associated with Lansky is that he watched while a simple craps game started a fight. As the police came to the scene, he told Siegel to drop his gun. This led to the pair becoming friends, which started the Bugs and Meyer Mob.
Lansky was smart, so he was the one who thought up all the ideas and plans. The group called him “The Accountant.” Though he focused on smuggling alcohol into speakeasies during Prohibition, the ban was lifted in 1933. Therefore, he turned to gambling to make money.
Since Lansky was a math whiz, it was easy for him to win while gambling. He always told people that lucky gamblers didn’t exist; there were only losers and winners. The latter were those who could control the game, while the former were just suckers.
When Lansky caught the gambling bug, New York sports betting wasn’t enough. He traveled to Cuba, persuading Fulgencio Batista (the dictator at the time) to legalize betting. Then, he opened various high-class casinos in Havana, the Bahamas, Florida, New York, and New Orleans.
It’s rumored that Lansky had a net worth of $300 million, which he hid in different real estate investments and Swiss bank accounts.
Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal
Frank Lawrence Rosenthal inspired the Scorsese film “Casino,” but he began his career in Chicago on the West Side, often skipping school to watch different sports teams. Since he had a keen eye for odds, Lefty got a job with the syndicate in the area. However, he was destined for bigger things and soon ran a successful and illegal bookmaking office for the Mafia.
Turning his attention to Las Vegas, Rosenthal ran the Fremont, the Stardust, the Hacienda, and the Marina, all of which were owned by the Chicago Outfit. In fact, he opened the very first sportsbook at the Stardust, introducing female blackjack dealers to the mix. This doubled the profits in under a year.
Though he had many innovative ideas, the Mob bosses didn’t care for him. No one knows for sure, but it’s said that the syndicate put explosives in his car in 1982, causing it to explode. Luckily, he survived.
Ultimately, this led Rosenthal to “go straight.” He tried getting a casino license, but he was “blackbooked” in 1988 and banned from entering Nevada gaming houses for life.
Tony “The Hat” Cornero
Many people refer to Tony “The Hat” Cornero as “The Godfather of Vegas.” He was a rum runner during the Prohibition years, turning to gambling when alcohol was legalized again. This led him to open the Meadows, which was one of the first hotel/casino complexes in Las Vegas.
When the Depression hit, Cornero went back to Los Angeles, where there was a no-gambling law in place. He tried to avoid this issue by purchasing cruise liners. Fitting them out to look like casinos, he put them just off the coast, thinking he wouldn’t get in trouble. Sadly for him, the state’s attorney general shut each one down, forcing him to return to Las Vegas.
Though Cornero wasn’t part of a Mob family, he was definitely involved in many ways. In fact, the Mafia tried to kill him in 1948. He survived that murder attempt, but he wasn’t lucky the next time.
Cornero was constructing a new Vegas casino in 1955. He realized he was running out of money and asked Mob investors for $800,000 to complete the Stardust Hotel. Later that day, he was playing craps at the Desert Inn Casino and dropped dead.
No one knows why he died. The casino staff removed his body from the floor and washed his cup before the cops arrived. Likewise, no one ever demanded an autopsy, so his formal cause of death was listed as a heart attack.
Tim Donaghy
Tim Donaghy was the NBA referee from 1994 to 2007 and enjoyed sports betting on the games he officiated during that time. Because of his 75 percent success rate, the Mafia became interested and moved in on him quickly.
Donaghy claimed that the Mafia threatened his family, saying he had to provide members with the best sports betting picks. He did so but was caught by local law enforcement. Ultimately, he was sentenced to 15 months of prison time.
Final Thoughts: Avoid the Mafia and Casino Ties with Online Gambling
It’s easy to see how the Mafia and casino gambling were tied together in the past. In fact, you could say there wouldn’t be betting games like blackjack or roulette without the Mob.
However, you don’t have to deal with the Mafia when you enjoy online gambling from 7XL. This internet casino is available 24/7 and has many of the top games you love. Whether you enjoy Hold’em, Rush & Cash, Omaha, or Flip & Go, there are tons of options available. Register today and enjoy some exciting entertainment.
