The Mob Chronicles: Episode 2: Benny Binion; Prelude to a Blood Feud

Episode 2 of THE MOB CHRONICLES: BENNY BINION;
PRELUDE TO A BLOOD FEUD

Before he founded the most successful casino in Las Vegas and became the patron saint of the World Series of Poker, cowboy Benny Binion was a horse trader, bootlegger, and for almost 20 years €œboss gambler€ of Dallas, Texas.

In Episode 2 of the Mob Chronicles, McLean traces Binion€s rise from humble beginnings during Prohibition in 1919 to a seat of power in the Dallas underworld. By the end of World War II, more than 24 €œcasinos€ operated illegally in downtown Dallas hotels, and Benny owned at least half of them. But it was Benny€s policy racket that gave him most of his wealth, over $1 million annually, and he didn€t like interlopers moving in on his bread and butter.

But an ambitious ex-partner of Benny€s named Herbert Noble had dreams of being a gambling boss, and when Sam Murray was killed Noble quickly became the Cowboy€s only true rival for gambling supremacy in Dallas. The Noble/Binion blood feud that erupted instigated 12 attempts on Herbert Noble€s life. When a car bomb intended for Noble killed Mildred, the 37-year old love of his life, the feud turned into a vendetta instigating Noble€s bizarre plot to bomb Binion€s Las Vegas home from a private airplane.

When Benny lost his political connections in 1946, the Chicago Outfit took over illegal gambling in Dallas, and prompted Benny€s move to Sin City. There, in a downtown area that became known as Glitter Gulch, Benny built the Horseshoe Club and reigned supreme as the innovative cowboy gambler who pushed the limits, and changed the face of Western hospitality.