Blood aces : the wild ride of Benny Binion, the Texas gangster who created Vegas poker

Swanson, Doug J. 1953- (Author).

Summary: "Benny Binion was many things: a cowboy, a pioneering casino owner, a gangster, a killer, and founder of the hugely successful World Series of Poker. Blood Aces tells the story of Binion's crucial role in shaping modern Las Vegas. From a Texas backwater, Binion rose to prominence on a combination of vision, determination, and brutal expediency. His formula was simple: run a good business, cultivate the big boys, kill your enemies, and own the cops. Through a mix of cold-bloodedness, native intelligence, folksiness, and philanthropy, Binion became one of the most revered figures in the history of gambling, and his showmanship, shrewdness, and violence would come to dominate the Vegas scene. Veteran journalist Doug J. Swanson uses once-secret government documents and dogged reporting to show how Binion destroyed his rivals and outsmarted his adversaries--including J. Edgar Hoover"--

Record details

ISBN: 9780143127581 (pbk.)
Physical Description: print
viii, 355 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
Publisher: New York : Penguin Books, 2015, c2014.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-340) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Part one : the roll of the dice, 1904-1946. Snides and dinks : an education -- The bumper beater -- Pancho and the Klan -- Good friends and a dead rival -- The thug club -- Shoot-outs and payoffs -- The mob war is joined -- "Lit out running" -- Part two : death and taxes, 1947-1953. Mobbed-up pilgrims -- Texas vs. Vegas -- "A kill-crazy man" -- "Tears rolling down the man's eyes" -- The Benny brand goes national -- The cat's last days -- "They was on the take" -- "No way to duck" -- The great bonanza shootout -- "Whacked around pretty good" -- Part three : the ride back home, 1954-1989. The fireman gets religion -- Strippers and stooges -- Charlie, Evlis, and the revolution -- Another one blows up -- Heroin and the hit man -- U-turn at the gates of heaven -- "They do things like that' -- Happy birthday, dear Benny -- Epilogue : back in the saddle.