Slot machines and the mafia

The claim: “There’s a historical tendency for organized crime to become attracted to casinos”.

Claimed by: Eugene Christiansen, a financial analyst who tracks the gambling industry.

The Reel Story: Words like gambling and casinos are often associated with dark and dangerous men in serious suits, carrying Tommy Guns and cigars. And although these assumptions have become heavily exaggerated with mafia movie masterpieces such as Godfather and Casino, one cannot see past the gangsters in the history of gambling.

This goes especially for American gangster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel who figures prominently in the history of slot machines. “Bugsy” was a major driving force behind the large scale development of Las Vegas, and brought slot machines into his casinos to keep the girlfriends and wives of his rich players occupied.

Another frequent name in the history of mafia and gambling is Franky “Lefty” Rosenthal, the Las Vegas gaming tycoon and a sports book handicap expert. Sounds familiar? Robert De Niro’s character in Scorsese’s Casino from 95’ was based on Franky “Lefty” Rosenthal.

Mafia is less associated with online gaming, although there is a casino site called The Mafia Casino which was down when this was written.

Don Corleone says: “It’s true I have a lot of friends in politics, but they wouldn’t be so friendly if they knew my business was drugs instead of gambling which they consider a harmless vice. But drugs, that’s a dirty business”.

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