Benjamin Bugsy Siegel and The Flamingo Hotel

Benjamin Bugsy Siegel is often given credit for helping turn Las Vegas into the tourist mecca that it is today. Though Siegel’s Flamingo hotel was the most lavish and expensive at the time, several casinos were already established. With hotels like the Golden Nugget, Frontier, and Monte Carlo already starting to attract attention from professional gamblers it was only a matter of time and money until Las Vegas rolled a seven.

Benjamin Bugsy Siegel Early Years

Benjamin Siegel was born in 1906, to parents of Jewish Russian immigrants. Like many early immigrants of the day they lived in poverty and struggled to survive in Brooklyn. During the early 1900’s Brooklyn was a place that offered little hope for many immigrants and gangs were one of the few ways one could really dig themselves out of the poverty that followed most who lived in the area. Siegel was soon attracted to local gangs though most of his crimes involved minor thefts. He later teamed with Meyer Lansky, forming a gambling and protection racket. After becoming established the mob sent Siegel to the west coast to capitalize on opportunities that the expansion and growth of the Los Angles area had created.

Benjamin Bugsy Siegel and The Flamingo Hotel

Once on the west coast Siegel claimed he made a living horse race handicapping at Santa Anita to cover his ill gotten gains. Though he did have a passion for horse racing he was hardly a success at it, and was known for losing a small fortune on the ponies. Siegel did however understand what Las Vegas was destined to be and he wanted to play a major role. It was on a dirt rode on highway 91 that he saw his dream, the 30 acres of land was acquired or swindled as some would say from a elderly widow.

As soon as work was started Siegel began skimming from the Flamingo’s budget that was raised from mob funds. He had strict control over every part of construction. Siegel would charge the company Nevada Projects Corporation $50,000 for something that cost $40,000, keeping $10,000. This might account for some of his madness as he would often have jobs in the hotel that were complete torn down and restarted. Construction workers also over billed for the Flamingo and soon costs double, tripled and finally reached $5 million. Out of money Siegel feared he could not borrow more from the mob without them discovering how much he had stolen from the budget as his mob backers demanded to see the books. He secretly was able to finance the opening by selling non existent shares. Siegel knew that his safety was at risk but perhaps was to arrogant to believe it could happen. In his suite at the Flamingo he had a specially constructed escape hatch in the floor of his clothes closet for a quick escape.

When the Flamingo finally opened it drew decent crowds at first, however many believe mob interest had rigged the game on Bugsy. Seeing the opportunity in Las Vegas they wanted control for themselves. Gamblers raked in thousands often with the help of crooked casino staff who may or may not of been placed there by the mob. After just a few weeks gamblers had won over $250,000 at the Flamingo and as the crowds dwindled, operation was stopped in January 1947. The mob had the excuse they needed. The man who boasted that he could not be killed was assassinated at his home in Los Angles, shot in the back of the head on June 20, 1948.

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