Economics Of Gambling Income

11 Pages 2787 Words

sky and Lucky Luciano, established the Desert Inn in 1947. Lansky, the brains of this group, was a genius with numbers, while Luciano, the brute of the group, was a genius for finding Lansky. 1952 brought the opening of the Sahara by some run-out's from Oregon. The Sands, with Frank Sinatra as a headliner, opened in 1953, funded with Chicago mob money. This was the first attempt at bringing big time entertainment out to Las Vegas to draw people to casinos. Tony Stralla, a hoodlum from California, opened the Stardust in 1955.

The Stardust towered over the rest of the hotels on the strip and had more luxuries inside.8 Each hotel became bigger than the next and all made a lot of money. Much of the money was skimmed off the top and sent around the country to different mob headquarters before taxes could be taken out. By the late 1950's, federal accusations such as the Kefauver expose and investigations by the Treasury Justice, showed the mobs involvement in Las Vegas and the ways they were stealing money from the government such as skimming.9 O...