Las Vegas, known for its extravagant casinos, world-class entertainment, and vibrant nightlife, has a fascinating and often shadowy history. While the city's modern image revolves around the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry, its early growth and rise to prominence were deeply intertwined with the influence of organized crime, particularly the Mafia. In fact, the Mafia’s involvement in Las Vegas laid the foundation for its transformation from a quiet desert town into the world-renowned "Entertainment Capital of the World."
This article explores how the Mafia played a crucial role in the development of Las Vegas, from the establishment of its first major casinos to its cultural evolution and eventual dominance of the global tourism industry. We will also delve into key Mafia figures and events that shaped the city’s history, and examine the lasting impact of this underworld influence.
Before the Mafia set its sights on Las Vegas, the city was little more than a small desert railroad town. In the early 20th century, Las Vegas was largely a stopover for travelers heading to California, with only a modest population. Its major industry was railroads, with the Southern Pacific Railroad linking it to the rest of the country. But the construction of Hoover Dam (then called Boulder Dam) in the 1930s brought a surge of workers and capital to the area, setting the stage for Las Vegas’s eventual transformation.
However, it wasn’t until the legalization of gambling in Nevada in 1931 that Las Vegas began to take its first steps toward becoming the entertainment mecca it is today. The legalization of gambling, combined with Nevada’s liberal laws around alcohol, divorce, and marriage, created a perfect storm of opportunity for the Mafia and other criminal enterprises to infiltrate the city.
At the time, organized crime was a powerful force in the United States, particularly in the prohibition era, when the Mafia had flourished by trafficking in illegal alcohol. With the end of prohibition in 1933, many Mafia families turned their attention to Las Vegas, where they saw an opportunity to expand their criminal activities and reap the profits of legalized gambling.
One of the key ways the Mafia influenced Las Vegas was by taking control of many of its earliest casinos. While legitimate businessmen and entrepreneurs were also involved in the development of the city’s casino industry, organized crime syndicates played a decisive role in funding and managing these establishments.
The Fremont Hotel and Casino, which opened in 1956, was one of the first major casinos in Las Vegas to have ties to the Mafia. Owned by the Mob’s Meyer Lansky, who was a key figure in the Jewish Mafia, and operated by other Mafia figures, the Fremont represented the Mafia's deepening involvement in the city's development. Lansky, known as the “Mob’s Accountant,” was instrumental in laundering money for the syndicate’s gambling activities and played a key role in shaping the financial structure of Las Vegas’s casino industry.
Around the same time, the El Cortez was also established with Mafia backing, owned by Santo Trafficante and operated by Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, one of the most notorious figures in Mafia history. Siegel’s role in Las Vegas was pivotal. In the mid-1940s, he was tasked by the Meyer Lansky-led Syndicate to oversee the development of the Flamingo Hotel and Casino, which would become the most famous Mafia-controlled casino in Las Vegas.
The Flamingo is arguably the most iconic casino in Las Vegas’s early history, and its rise is intimately tied to the Mafia. Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, a key figure in the Genovese crime family, was the mastermind behind the Flamingo. Siegel was a rising star in the Mafia, known for his violent temper and his ability to manage large-scale operations. His involvement in the Flamingo project, which opened in 1946, marked the beginning of the Mafia’s deep and lasting influence on Las Vegas.
Siegel’s vision for the Flamingo was to build a glamorous, high-end resort that would attract wealthy tourists, and it was the first to combine a luxury hotel with a casino. However, the project was plagued with problems, from construction delays to rising costs, and Siegel became increasingly desperate to recoup his investments. Reports claim that he skimmed money from the project to fund his lavish lifestyle, and this led to tensions with his Mafia backers. In 1947, Siegel was famously murdered in his Beverly Hills home, likely orchestrated by the very Mafia families he had worked with.
Despite Siegel's death, the Flamingo thrived and set the stage for future Mafia involvement in Las Vegas. The success of the Flamingo helped establish the model for other Mafia-backed casinos, making Las Vegas a lucrative and important revenue source for organized crime.
Throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, Las Vegas casinos continued to be dominated by the Mafia. Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello, and Lucky Luciano, some of the biggest Mafia figures of the time, had financial interests in multiple casinos. They essentially controlled the flow of money through the city's gaming industry, which allowed them to further expand their influence.
While many of the most famous casinos on the Strip were owned and operated by the Mafia, much of their actual operation was hidden behind the scenes. The Mafia had a stranglehold on key aspects of the casino business, including managing dealers, controlling hotel rooms, and ensuring that skimmed money went unnoticed. This “skimming” involved funneling cash from casino profits directly into Mafia-controlled accounts, effectively avoiding taxes and keeping much of the money in the hands of the Mob.
During this period, the Rat Pack—including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr.—frequently performed in Mafia-controlled casinos, cementing the symbiotic relationship between the entertainment industry and organized crime. In fact, the Rat Pack’s popularity among wealthy tourists helped draw even more attention to the Las Vegas Strip, making it a symbol of excess, luxury, and vice.
By the 1970s and 1980s, the influence of the Mafia in Las Vegas began to wane. Several factors contributed to this decline, including increased federal investigations into organized crime, the rise of corporate interests in the casino industry, and the eventual crackdown on illegal gambling activities.
The most significant blow to the Mafia’s power in Las Vegas came in 1967, when the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the FBI began to target Mafia involvement in casinos. High-profile investigations, such as the Federal Wiretap Investigations and the efforts of law enforcement officials like Bill L. Brown, eventually exposed the Mafia’s control over the city’s gambling operations.
By the 1980s, Las Vegas saw a shift from Mafia-controlled casinos to corporate-run enterprises. Companies like MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment began buying out Mafia-owned casinos, ushering in a new era of corporate gaming. The corporate takeover not only reduced the Mafia’s influence but also transformed Las Vegas into the modern, family-friendly entertainment capital it is today.
While the Mafia no longer controls Las Vegas’s casinos, its legacy remains deeply ingrained in the city’s culture. The Mafia played a central role in shaping the city's identity, from the development of iconic casinos like the Flamingo and the Sands to the integration of entertainment and gambling. The Mafia’s influence also helped establish Las Vegas as a destination for high-stakes gambling, luxury resorts, and a world-renowned nightlife scene.
Today, the remnants of the Mafia’s influence can still be seen in Las Vegas’ iconic casinos, and the city’s history continues to be explored through exhibits like those at the Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas. The Mob Museum offers visitors a chance to learn about the history of organized crime in the U.S., including the Mafia’s role in shaping the early growth of Las Vegas.
