It may be hard to imagine, but Las Vegas hasn't always been that city for casino s, entertainment and klinzdde lights. A little over 100 years ago it was even a small village in the middle of the desert in Nevada where quite little gebNZDde. This began to change after the Hoover Dam was built in 1930. But how did Las Vegas become the entertainment capital of the world? And who played an important role in that?
The construction of the Hoover dam created a lot of jobs in a place where the rest had nothing to do. Mostly men moved to Las Vegas to build the dam there, however, there was little to do after their work. The fact that there was little to nothing to do was something that formed the perfect foundation for how we know Las Vegas today, a place full of entertainment, gambling and booze. Something that almost every man loves, especially at that time.
However, there was one person who rolled the ball to make Las Vegas a place full of gambling. That person of Benny Binion, an avid gambler at heart. At a young age, Lester Ben(ny) Binion already ran an illegal casino in the state of Texas. Especially in the city of Dallas, Binion was in the service when it came to gambling and illegal betting houses. However, Binion got competition, and not just competition, because he got competition from the mafia. A competitive struggle that Binion could not win, causing the entreprénzd to leave for Las Vegas in 1946 to seek his salvation there.
Benny and the legendary Horseshoe casino
A few years after Binion arrived in Las Vegas, the Texan decided to buy the Eldorado club and the Apache hotel. After the remodeling and reopening, it was subsequently known as Binion's horseshoe casino . At that time there were already more casinos present in Las Vegas, but Binion decided to approach it differently than the other casinos that were present at the time.
The time of what craps the most popular casino game. The other casinos had a maximum bet of $50 per roll. Binion increased this amount to a whopping $500 per roll. Thus, the horseshoe became the casino for the hardcore gambler who wanted to gamble with larger amounts.
For example, an anecdote goes around that one day a man walked into the casino with 1 million dollars. Which is a huge amount, but for that period was an even larger amount. A $ 1 million bet was certainly not something every casino would take, but Benny Binnion's casino did. The player wagered $ 1 million on the pass line when gambling, which would allow him to double his money.
Unfortunately for the man, he lost his bet, but the man would just see his money doubled if he had won. Binion understood that the reputation of a casino is extremely important, because of this institution Binion got the reputation that he was a man of his word.
What Binion also did differently compared to its competition was the entertainment in the casinos themselves. At other casinos it was normal that there was live music or other live entertainment. At the casino of Binion, this was not an issue, all this additional entertainment only distracts from gambling. In addition, it was normal at the horseshoe to get free drinks, which allowed the players to play longer. At the time, this was very unusual, but it worked in favor of the casino. Therefore, more casinos soon followed the example of Binion.
The casino remained successful and Binion became a legendary name in Las Vegas. Even though he always took risks in taking big bets, Benny knew that the house always has an advantage and will always be on the winning hand in the long run.
Horseshoe casino is growing
In order to grow and make a name for itself, Binion raised the limits of the dice from $500 dollars per roll to $10,000. Which was a huge amount at the time. In the end, Binion removed the maximum limit, making the Horseshoe casino the casino for gamblers.
However, not everything went smoothly for Benny. His past from the time he ran an illegal casino in Dallas, Texas haunted him, while at that time he was doing well with a legal casino in Las Vegas. All this time, the Dallas Police Department was investigating Benny. The moment they had enough evidence against Benny, they arrested him and Benny was convicted of tax evasion, as a result of which he was sentenced to 42 months in prison. This may not have been the worst, because it is not possible to run a casino if you have a criminal record. As a result, Binion lost its casino license. However, his son took over the license and took matters into his own hands at the time Benny was serving his 42-month sentence.
So his son, Jack Binion, takes over the casino, and The Horseshoe doesn't lay wind eggs. Even though there was little confidence in Las Vegas that Jack was the right man, Jack proved the community in Las Vegas the opposite.
After Jack's release, Benny got an advisory role within the company, so Jack ran the casino with his father's philosophy. Especially with regard to high limits, in order to attract the real gamblers in Las Vegas to the casino. Son jack turned out to be a true businessman and therefore ensured that the casino continued to grow and build more and more name and fame. A major step in the Horseshoe's growth was the purchase of the adjacent Mint Casino and hotel for $27 million in 1988. As a result, the casino grew into an even larger casino where more and more people came to take a chance on the increasingly popular Blackjack and roulette spell.
The start of the WSOP at the Horseshoe
One of the most important additions of the Binion family to Las Vegas is the organization of the World Series of Poker. Poker it was not as popular in 1970 as it has been in recent years. However, the Binions saw potential in the game and came up with the plan to organize the WSOP in the Horse shoe. At the time, Benny was very well known in Las Vegas and knew exactly who played poker and who did not. So he came up with the idea of organizing a tournament to determine who was the best poker player in Las Vegas. At the time, only 7 people participated. However, it did lay the foundation for the WSOP that we now know, which attracts 10 thousand people from all over the world.
In 2023, more than 10,000 registrations are expected for the Main Event alone. This year the WSOP has 89 live tournaments and also online tournaments where a WSOP bracelet can be earned. However, all this began in 1970 with 7 people at a poker table at the Horse Shoe Casino.
The great thing is that the famous Doyle Brunson was present at the first WSOP ever. More than 50 years later, the same Doyle Brunson is still present at the WSOP. He has won 10 bracelets. His first WSOP win was in 1976 and his last win was in 2005.
An important step for the WSOP and Las Vegas was in 1972 when the tournament had 12 players competing in a $5,000 Freeze-out tournament. The winner of that tournament a well-known gambler named Amarillo Slim. Slim then went on to tour the country to talk about his win as the best poker player in the world and to make a name for himself at the WSOP. As a result, more and more players came to the WSOP and there was even a TV team present in the 1973 WSOP.
However, in the late 80s of the last century, interest was so great that the Horseshoe casino actually became too small for the WSOP. As a result, the Horseshoe expanded by buying up adjacent casinos and hotels in order to expand and accommodate the WSOP.
Unfortunately, Benny died of a heart attack on december 25, 1989. As a result, he was unfortunately never able to make the growth of the WSOP into a huge poker festival with thousands of players again.
Caesars entertainment bought Horseshoe casino in 2004, giving it the rights to host the WSOP. As a result, during the poker boom that took place worldwide, the WSOP was moved to the RIO casino in Las Vegas.
Legacy of the Binions
Today, the horse shoe casino operates under the name Hotel Apache and the Binions are no longer involved in this place. However, Jack Binion is still active in the casino scene in Las Vegas. He has an advisory role in the well-known Wynn casino.
That the Binions have left their mark on Las Vegas with their high limits, different views on entertainment in the casinos and the organization of the hugely popular WSOP is clear. Las Vegas would probably have looked very different without the influence of the Binion family.
