Casino Photos For Lester

Geraldine 'Geri' McGee (May 16, 1936 – November 9, 1982) was an American model and Las Vegas showgirl. Her involvement with criminal activity in Las Vegas, along with that of her husband Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal, was chronicled in Martin Scorsese's film Casino (1995). The screenplay for Casino was written by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese, based on Pileggi's biography about McGee and Rosenthal titled Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas. Sharon Stone portrayed McGee in the film, with the character's name changed to 'Ginger McKenna', and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance.^[1]

Lester Diamond is a supporting antagonist of the 1995 crime film Casino. He was portrayed by veteran actor James Woods, who also portrayed Hades, George Sheffield, Maximilian 'Max' Bercovicz, Ned Trent, Owlman, and Byron De La Beckwith. Diamond is first introduced while Ace is narrating his first encounters with Ginger McKenna; Diamond is described as the low-life former boyfriend of Ginger.

Personal life and career[edit]

Geraldine McGee was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of Leona 'Alice' (née Pollock)^[2] and Roy McGee. Her parents married in 1931 and later divorced.^[3] She had a sister, Barbara.

1. Casino is a 1995 American epic crime film directed by Martin Scorsese, produced by Barbara De Fina and distributed by Universal Pictures.The film is based on the nonfiction book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese.
2. The Casino movie true story reveals that Sam and Ginger Rothstein's real-life counterparts, Frank and Geraldine Rosenthal, had a daughter named Stephanie and a son name Steven. Geraldine also had a daughter from a previous relationship with her high school love, Lenny Marmor (James Woods' character in the movie).
3. Just wanted to make a detailed video of all the scoping locations that you can take pictures of to send them to Lester for the Casino Heist. This will cover.
4. Lester’s, the undisputed number one steakhouse in the South, is THE place for celebrations, special occasions, and the perfect date. Lester’s serves up a truly remarkable experience, fabulous steaks and is a place that families can celebrate special occasions, holidays, or just unwind after a busy week.

McGee grew up near Sherman Oaks, California, and graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1954. Her aunt Naomi Ingram inherited a large amount of money upon the death of her husband O.W. Ingram, whose family owned land in Georgia. Ingram offered to send McGee to Woodbury Business School, where she had sent McGee's sister Barbara. McGee told her aunt she did not want to attend Woodbury but would rather attend a different school, and her aunt refused to pay for any other school but Woodbury. McGee instead began working in office jobs during the day, and looked for contests and modeling jobs on the side.^[4]

In high school, McGee met a man named Lenny Marmor, and the two became inseparable. Marmor recognized McGee's talent, and he began entering her in swimsuit and dance contests, where she often took home prizes. After they graduated from high school, the couple had a daughter, Robin Marmor, born in 1958.

Soon, Marmor convinced McGee to move to Las Vegas for more opportunities. Marmor stayed in Los Angeles, and McGee and her daughter moved to Vegas. McGee's mother Alice, now separated from Roy McGee, moved to Las Vegas to take care of Robin while McGee was working.

Around 1960, McGee started working as a cocktail waitress and Tropicana chorus showgirl, and continued through the 1960s, making enough money to buy a house for herself and her family. She worked her way up the Las Vegas social ladder, meeting various businessmen. One of the men she met was Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal. Her sister Barbara moved in with her after separating from her husband; Barbara had two small children and needed a place to stay.^[5]

In 1969, McGee married Rosenthal and had two children with him: a son Steven, and later a daughter Stephanie. Rosenthal expected McGee to be a stay-at-home mom while he was out at the casinos working. She began to resent domestic life, and started going out at night and drinking. Rosenthal threatened to divorce McGee and take custody of the children, leaving her with little money.

The marriage went through a long series of break ups and reconciliations through the 1970s. McGee's mother Alice died in 1977. There were infidelities on both sides, with McGee secretly having an affair with Anthony Spilotro, a mob enforcer in Las Vegas, and a married friend of Rosenthal.^[6] Rosenthal and McGee got in physical altercations, and Rosenthal hired private detectives to track her activities. McGee often left Las Vegas, taking trips with the children to Los Angeles, or shopping with wives of other Las Vegas businessmen. Her divorce from Rosenthal was finalized on January 16, 1981, when McGee was living in Los Angeles. After the divorce, on October 4, 1982, Frank Rosenthal escaped serious injury when a bomb was detonated. The bomb was placed under Rosenthal's car outside the Tony Roma's Restaurant at 600 East Sahara Avenue in Las Vegas.^[7]

Death[edit]

McGee died on November 9, 1982, in Los Angeles, aged 46. She was found heavily drugged in the lobby of the Beverly Sunset Hotel on Sunset Boulevard on November 6, and died three days later. Her sister stated she believed McGee had been murdered by the mob who had tried to kill Frank Rosenthal just weeks earlier because perhaps she 'knew too much' about the Las Vegas underworld.

The Los Angeles coroner ruled McGee's cause of death was an accidental overdose. The coroner found a lethal combination of cocaine, valium, and whiskey in her system. She was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park, a Jewish cemetery.^[8]

Casino[edit]

Nicholas Pileggi began working on the script for Casino, based on the Rosenthal family, with Martin Scorsese around 1990. Filming began in the fall of 1994, and the film was released a year later, in November 1995. Sharon Stone was cast to portray Geri McGee and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Lead Actress for her performance.

The script made many changes to McGee's story. In the film, the Rosenthals only have one daughter, Amy, and in real life, McGee had three children. The script changed the couple's names from Geri McGee and Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal to Ginger McKenna (played by Sharon Stone) and Sam 'Ace' Rothstein (played by Robert De Niro), and Lenny Marmor to Lester Diamond (played by James Woods)

References[edit]

Casino Photos For Lester Holt

1. ^'Real Life Mafia Moll Gave Star Her Oscar Role'. Thefreelibrary. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
2. ^'Alice McGee death record'. Familysearch. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
3. ^'McGee Marriage Record'. Familysearch. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
4. ^'Las Vegas couple inspired movie'. Los Angeles Times. October 16, 2008. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
5. ^'Frank's Life Story'. FrankLeftyRosenthal.com. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
6. ^'Lefty Rosenthal, Kingpin in Las Vegas, Dies at 79'. nytimes.com. October 18, 2008.
7. ^'Gangster Saga gets put on the big screen'. Sun Sentinel. December 29, 1994. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
8. ^'Frank Rosenthal obituary'. The New York Times. October 19, 2008. Retrieved April 5, 2015.

Further reading[edit]

• Pileggi, Nicholas. Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas. ISBN0-684-80832-3.

External links[edit]

• Geri McGee Rosenthal at Find a Grave

Lester Ben Binion (November 20, 1904 – December 5, 1989) was an American gambling icon, career criminal, and convicted murderer who established illegal gambling operations in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area. He would later relocate to Nevada, where gambling was legal, and open the successful Binion's Horseshoe casino in downtown Las Vegas.

Early history[edit]

Binion was born and raised in Pilot Grove, Texas in Grayson County, north of Dallas. His parents initially kept him out of school due to poor health. His father, a horse trader, let him accompany him on trips. While the outdoor life restored his health, Binion never had any formal education.^[1] As he traveled with his father, the young man learned to gamble, a favorite pastime when horse traders met up with farmers and merchants during county fair trade days.^[2]

Criminal history[edit]

Binion's FBI file reveals a criminal history dating back to 1924, listing offenses such as theft, carrying concealed weapons, and two murder convictions.^[3]

Binion moved to El Paso when he was 18, where he began moonshining during the Prohibition Era.^[4] A year later, Binion moved to Dallas where he again set up moonshining operations, for which he was twice convicted.^[5] In addition to his moonshining, in 1928, Binion opened up an even more lucrative numbers game.^[6]

In 1931, Binion was convicted of shooting and killing an African Americanrum-runner, Frank Bolding, 'cowboy style.'^[7] This was the origin of Binion's 'Cowboy' nickname.^[8] Binion received a two-year suspended sentence.^[8]

In 1936, Binion established a network of private dice games at several Dallas hotels, including the Southland Hotel in downtown Dallas. This came to be known as the Southland Syndicate.^[9] By the end of 1936, Binion had gained control of most gambling operations in Dallas, with protection from a powerful local politician.^[10]

In 1936, Binion and a henchman killed a numbers operator and competitor, Ben Frieden, emptying their pistols into him. Binion then allegedly shot himself in the shoulder and turned himself in to police, claiming that Frieden had shot him first. Binion was indicted, but the indictment was later dismissed on the grounds that Binion had acted in self-defense.^[11] In 1938, Binion and another henchmen allegedly killed Sam Murray, another of Binion's competitors in the gambling rackets. Binion was never indicted for this murder, and charges were dropped against his henchmen.^[10]

By the early 1940s, Binion had become the reigning mob boss of Dallas. He then sought to take over the gambling rackets in Fort Worth. The local mob boss of that city, Lewis Tindell, was murdered shortly afterwards.^[12]

The Chicago Outfit made a successful move into Dallas after World War II. With the 1946 election of a Dallas County Sheriff Steve Gutherie, Binion lost his fix with the local government and fled to Las Vegas.^[13]

While in Dallas, Binion had begun a long-running feud with Herbert Noble, a small-time Dallas gambler, which continued after Binion moved to Las Vegas. Binion demanded that Noble increase his payoff to Binion from 25 to 40 percent, which Noble refused to do.^[14] Binion posted a reward on Noble's scalp that eventually reached $25,000 and control of a Dallas crap game.^[7] Noble survived numerous attempts on his life, sometimes narrowly escaping with gunshot wounds. In November 1949, Noble's wife was killed in a car bombing intended for him.^[7] In retaliation, Noble planned to fly his private plane to Las Vegas to bomb Binion's house, but was restrained by local law enforcement before he could execute his plan.^[7] In August 1951, as Herbert Noble drove up to his mailbox, a bomb exploded nearby, killing him instantly.^[15]

Binion lost his gambling license in 1951, and was sentenced to a five-year term in 1953 at Leavenworth federal penitentiary for tax evasion.^[16]

Casino years[edit]

In Las Vegas, Binion became a partner of the Las Vegas Club casino, but left after a year due to licensing problems after the casino relocated.^[17] In 1951, Benny purchased the building which had previously housed the Las Vegas Club, and opened it as the Westerner Gambling House and Saloon.^[18]

In 1951, he purchased the Eldorado Club and the Apache Hotel, opening them as Binion's Horseshoe casino, which immediately became popular because of the high limits on bets. He initially set a crapstable limit of $500, ten times higher than the limit at his competitors of the time.^[19] As a result of outdoing the competition, Binion received death threats, although eventually casinos raised their limits to keep up with him. Additionally, the Horseshoe would allow a bet of any size from a player as long as the bet was no larger than the player's initial bet.^[20]

Binion was in the vanguard of Las Vegas casino innovation. He was the first in the downtown Glitter Gulch to replace sawdust-covered floors with carpeting, the first to dispatch limousines to transport customers to and from the casino, and the first to offer free drinks to players.^[19] Although comps were standard for high rollers, Binion gave them to all players.^[21] He also shied away from the gaudy performing acts typical of other Las Vegas casinos.^[19]

Binion said he followed a simple philosophy when serving his customers: 'Good food, good whiskey cheap, and a good gamble.'^[19][22]

Binion was known to be generous to patrons. For many years the Horseshoe had a late night $2 steak special, with most of the meat for the steaks coming from cattle on Binion's ranches in Montana. The Horseshoe is also believed to be the first major casino to offer 100-times-odds at craps (a patron with a bet on the pass or don't-pass lines could take or lay up to 100 times their bet in odds).^{[citation needed]} The Horseshoe was one of the more profitable casinos in town.^[20]

One of the tourist attractions in Binion's was a large horseshoe with $1 million in $10,000 bills, embedded in plastic.

After his trial and conviction in 1953, to cover back taxes and legal costs, Binion sold a majority share in the Horseshoe to fellow gambler and New Orleans oilman Joe W. Brown.^[23] Binion’s family regained controlling interest in the Horseshoe in 1957, but did not regain full control until 1964.^[24] Benny was never allowed to hold a gaming license afterwards. Instead, his son Jack became the licensee, with Benny assuming the title of Director of Public Relations.^[25]

Casino Photos For Lester Newman

Binion styled himself a cowboy throughout his life. He almost never wore a necktie, and used gold coins as buttons on his cowboy shirts. Despite being technically barred from owning guns, he carried at least one pistol all his life, and kept a sawed-off shotgun close by. His office was a booth in the downstairs restaurant, and he knew many of his customers by name.

Poker[edit]

Benny Binion didn’t consider himself very good at poker, and did not really engage that frequently in competition and private cash games, preferring organizing them. He was however inducted posthumously in 1990 to the Poker Hall of Fame for his contribution to the Poker world.^[26]

Family[edit]

Binion and his wife, Teddy Jane, had five children: two sons, Jack and Ted, and three daughters, Barbara, Brenda and Becky.

Jack and Ted took over as president and casino manager, respectively, in 1964. Benny's wife, Teddy Jane, managed the casino cage until her death in 1994. In 1998, Binion's daughter, Becky, took over the presidency after a legal battle, and Jack moved on to other gambling interests. Becky's presidency saw the casino sink into debt. In 2004, federal agents seized $1 million from the Horseshoe's bankroll to satisfy unpaid union benefits, forcing its closure and eventual sale to Harrah's Entertainment. It now operates as Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel under the ownership of TLC Gaming Group.

Ted was under nearly constant scrutiny from the Nevada Gaming Commission from 1986 onwards for his involvement in drugs and associating with known mob figures. His gaming license was revoked in 1989, and he died in mysterious circumstances about a decade later. Ted's live-in girlfriend (Sandra Murphy) and a man with whom she was having an affair (Rick Tabish) were charged and convicted of his murder, but the verdict was later overturned. They were retried and acquitted.^[27]

Legacy[edit]

In January 1949, Binion arranged for Johnny Moss and 'Nick the Greek' Dandalos to play a head-to-head poker tournament which ended up lasting five months, with Nick the Greek ultimately losing a reported two million dollars. The 42-year-old Moss had to take breaks to sleep occasionally, during which the Greek, then 57, went over to the craps table and played. After the final hand, and losing millions of dollars, Nick the Greek uttered one of the most famous poker quotes of all time, 'Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.' (This is disputed as fact and is most likely a myth. Binion didn't operate a casino until 1951 in Las Vegas.)

After years of arranging heads-up matches between high-stakes players, the seed of an idea grew. Binion invited six high-rollers he knew to play in a tournament in 1970. They would compete for cash at the table, after which they would vote on a winner. Johnny Moss, then 63, was voted champion by his younger competition and received a small trophy. The next year, a freeze-out format with a $10,000 buy-in was introduced, and the World Series of Poker was born.

Casino Photos For Lester Ford

Binion's creation of the World Series helped the game of poker spread and become popular. He actually underestimated how popular it would become: in 1973, he dared to speculate that someday the tournament may have 50 or more entrants; the 2006 main event alone had 8773 entrants.

Benny never forgot his Texas roots and was a key player in getting the National Finals Rodeo to move to Las Vegas. He never forgot the cowboys after they arrived; he always paid the entry fees for all of the cowboys for their championship event. When the casino closed, Boyd Gaming took up the tradition that Binion started by continuing to pay all the entry fees. Every year during the NFR there is a large rodeo stock auction called 'Benny Binion's World Famous Bucking Horse and Bull Sale.'

Benny Binion was also the owner of a horse named 'Nigger' (later referred to as 'Benny Binion's Gelding') who was the 1946, 1947 and 1948 National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) World Champion.^[28] Bred by Binion, ridden and trained by George Glascock, the solid black 15 hand gelding is the only horse to capture the NCHA World Championship three years in a row.^[29]

Death[edit]

Binion died of heart failure at the age of 85 on December 5, 1989 in Las Vegas.^[30] Poker great 'Amarillo Slim' Preston suggested as an epitaph, 'He was either the gentlest bad guy or the baddest good guy you'd ever seen.'^[31] He was posthumously inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1990.

In popular culture[edit]

Relativity Media bought the screen rights to the book Blood Aces: The Wild Ride Of Benny Binion to be written for the screen by Cliff Dorfman, which will be a biopic on Binion's life.^[32]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Doug Swanson. Blood Aces, (New York: Penguin Books, 2014), pp. 7-9. ISBN9780143127581
2. ^Doug Swanson. Blood Aces, (New York: Penguin Books, 2014), pp. 12-13. ISBN9780143127581
3. ^Reid, Ed, and Ovid Demaris. 1963. The Green Felt Jungle. Buccaneer Books, p. 154; Jay Robert Nash, World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime (1993). Da Capo Press
4. ^Doug Swanson. Blood Aces, (New York: Penguin Books, 2014), p. 13-14. ISBN9780143127581
5. ^Doug Swanson. Blood Aces, (New York: Penguin Books, 2014), p. 23. ISBN9780143127581
6. ^Doug Swanson. Blood Aces, (New York: Penguin Books, 2014), p. 27. ISBN9780143127581
7. ^ ^abcdGary Cartwright, Benny and the Boys, Texas Monthly, October 1991
8. ^ ^abDoug Swanson. Blood Aces, (New York: Penguin Books, 2014), p. 25. ISBN9780143127581
9. ^Doug Swanson. Blood Aces, (New York: Penguin Books, 2014), pp. 52-53. ISBN9780143127581
10. ^ ^abReid, Ed, and Ovid Demaris. 1963. The Green Felt Jungle. Buccaneer Books, pp. 156-157.
11. ^Doug Swanson. Blood Aces, (New York: Penguin Books, 2014), pp. 45-47. ISBN9780143127581
12. ^Reid, Ed, and Ovid Demaris. 1963. The Green Felt Jungle. Buccaneer Books, p. 158.
13. ^Reid, Ed, and Ovid Demaris. 1963. The Green Felt Jungle. Buccaneer Books, p. 160.
14. ^Doug Swanson. Blood Aces, (New York: Penguin Books, 2014), pp. 74-75. ISBN9780143127581
15. ^Reid, Ed, and Ovid Demaris. 1963. The Green Felt Jungle. Buccaneer Books, pp. 157-176.
16. ^Reid, Ed, and Ovid Demaris. 1963. The Green Felt Jungle. Buccaneer Books, pp. 176-177.
17. ^Doug Swanson. Blood Aces, (New York: Penguin Books, 2014), p. 120. ISBN9780143127581
18. ^Doug Swanson. Blood Aces, (New York: Penguin Books, 2014), p. 121. ISBN9780143127581
19. ^ ^abcdLinda Chase. Picturing Las Vegas, (Layton: Gibbs Smith, 2009), p. 17. ISBN9781423604884
20. ^ ^abA. D. Hopkins, Benny Binion, Las Vegas Review-Journal, February 7, 1999
21. ^Jack Sheehan. The Players: The Men Who Made Las Vegas, (University of Nevada Press, 1997), p. 62. ISBN087417306X
22. ^Oral History, Lester 'Benny' Binion, University of Nevada, Reno, 1976
23. ^Doug Swanson. Blood Aces, (New York: Penguin Books, 2014), p. 214-15. ISBN9780143127581
24. ^Retrospective on Horseshoe's history from UNLV Center for Gaming Research
25. ^Doug Swanson. Blood Aces, (New York: Penguin Books, 2014), p. 246. ISBN9780143127581
26. ^'Benny Binion's Life: Biggest Profits, Losses and Net Worth'. Somuchpoker. January 24, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
27. ^'Las Vegas City Life'. Archived from the original on September 4, 2012. Retrieved April 2, 2007.
28. ^Michelson, Miles. 'Nigger'. www.allbreedpedigree.com. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
29. ^Sage, Dean (1961). Training and riding the cutting horse. Western Horseman. p. 12.
30. ^'Benny Binion Is Dead; Casino Owner Was 85'. The New York Times. December 27, 1989. Archived from the original on September 17, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
31. ^''The Baddest Good Guy You'd Ever Seen''. The New York Times. December 24, 2005.
32. ^Fleming, Mike. 'Relativity Buys 'Blood Aces'; Story Of Benny Binion, The Cowboy-Gangster-Killer Who Hatched World Series Of Poker'. Deadline. Retrieved January 13, 2015.

Further reading[edit]

• Ann Arnold. 1998. Gamblers & Gangsters: Fort Worth's Jacksboro Highway in the 1940s & 1950s Eakin Press
• Cathy Scott. 2000. Death in the Desert: The Ted Binion Homicide Case 1st Book Library
• Jim Gatewood. 2002. Benny Binion: The legend of Benny Binion, Dallas gambler and mob boss Mullaney Corp
• Jay Robert Nash, 1993. World Encyclopedia of Organized Crime Da Capo Press
• Ed Reid and Ovid Demaris. 1963. The Green Felt Jungle Buccaneer Books
• Gary Sleeper. 2006. I'll Do My Own Damn Killin': Benny Binion, Herbert Noble, and the Texas Gambling War Barricade Books
• Doug J. Swanson. 2014. Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, The Texas Gangster Who Created Las Vegas Poker, Penguin ISBN9780698163508

External links[edit]