Vegas Mob Connection Started at Flamingo

as Vegas has become a favorite destination for American tourists, many of whom are attracted by the city's connection to organized crime figures. Indeed much of the narrative surrounding the funding of resort hotels in Las Vegas in the two decades after World War II focuses upon the mob financing of them. While it is true that money from mobsters played a role in the construction of several hotels, including the Sands, Tropicana, and Caesars Palace, there were also investors and developers not associated with the criminal underworld. Notably, the funding of the first of the post-war hotels, the Flamingo, which enjoyed a spectacular opening on December 26, 1946 with Jimmy Durante performing before a packed house, showed how mob bosses worked together with more traditional investors to promote growth in the city. Most who have written about the development of this property contend that the mob funded the Flamingo's construction because, while it was the brainchild of Billy Wilkerson, gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel completed the casino and hotel. Yet examining the evidence suggests that mob bosses had a specific role in funding construction. They provided seed money to fund projects that bankers thought were too risky.