May 8, 2018 ▸ Places

Episode 295: Las Vegas: From Mob Dive to Sin City

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On this episode of The Sofa King Podcast, we take a road trip, hit the high desert, squander our hard earned money, and talk all things Vegas. Las Vegas is a town unlike any other. It is a city founded in the Old West but evolved by the Mafia. From Bugsy Siegel to a host of others, the city we know as Sin City has been a unique bastion in the desert for decades. It started as a small spot for water (Las Vegas means “the meadows” where the water flowed in the desert from underground wells), and it grew years later when the railroad went through. This gave the town a purpose, and it slowly grew as a stop between major train lines.

Eventually, however, construction of the Hoover Dam changed everything. During the depression, this massive project brought thousands of well-payed laborers to the area, most of them single and able to move around for work. And what do single males want after a hard day of damming? Women, cards, and booze, apparently. The earliest casinos and brothels opened as a place to relieve the vices of the laborers, and the city never looked back.

Once gambling became persecuted in California, more and more gamblers moved to Vegas as a safe haven for their craft. At this point, the Mafia took notice, and they started to open up or take control of casinos in the area. With turbulent starts, such as Siegel’s failed opening of the Flamingo that got him killed, eventually they became money makers, and the mob moved in. They ran the city from the 1940s until Howard Hughes moved in with his bag full of crazy and started buying up the town. He was able to wrestle properties away from mobsters, and this single-handedly broke their monopoly on Vegas.

And that leads us to where we are today. Corporations and individual billionaires tend to own the major casinos on the strip, and while the mob is surely still involved, they aren’t the only game in the town of games. So how much money do modern casinos make? Why did Bugsy Siegel get killed for his involvement in the Flamingo? Where does Liberace come in? How many mob families were involved in Vegas? What Vegas stories do Brad, Brent, and Dave share? Listen, laugh, learn.

Mob Ties in Las Vegas: https://lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/15/mob-ties/