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The Battle for Las Vegas: The Law Vs. the Mobx$10.17
  (15 reviews)
Best Price: $14.95 $10.17
From the 1970s through the mid-1980s, the Chicago Outfit dominated organized crime in Las Vegas. Unreported revenue, known as the "skim," from Outfit-controlled casinos made its way out of Vegas by the bagful, ending up in the coffers of the Windy City crime bosses and their confederates around the Midwest. To ensure the smooth flow of cash, the gangsters installed a front man with no criminal background, Allen R. Glick, as the casino owner of record, Frank "Lefty" Rosenthaal as the real boss of casino operations, and Tony Spilotro as the ultimate enforcer, who'd do whatever it took to protect their interests. It wasn't long before Spilotoro, also in charge of Vegas street crime, was known as the "King of the Strip." Federal and local law enforcement, recognizing the need to rid the casinos of the mob and shut down Spilotro's rackets, declared war on organized crime. The Battle for Las Vegas relates the story of the fight between the tough buys on both sides, told in large part by the agents and detectives who knew they had to win.
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Customer Reviews
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About the Book
By A2CC71H5RVPUGN on 2006-08-07
"King of the Strip"
In the 1970s and thru the mid-1980s, the Chicago Outfit was the dominant organized crime family in Las Vegas, with business interests in several casinos. During those years the Outfit and its colleagues in Kansas City, Milwaukee, and Cleveland were using Sin City as a cash cow. Commonly referred to as the "skim," unreported revenue from Outfit-controlled casinos was making its way out of Vegas by the bag full and ending up in the coffers of the crime bosses in those four locations.
The skim involved large amounts of money. The operation had to be properly set up and well managed to ensure a smooth cash flow. To accomplish that goal, the gangsters brought in a front man with no criminal record to purchase several casinos. Allen R. Glick, doing business as the Argent Corporation (Allen R. Glick Enterprises) purchased the Stardust, Fremont, Hacienda, and Marina. They next installed Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal as their inside man, and the real boss of the casino operations. Rosenthal was a Chicago native and considered to be a genius when it came to oddsmaking and sports betting. Under Lefty's supervision the casino count rooms were accessible to mob couriers.
But even with the competent Rosenthal in charge, there remained room for problems. What if an outsider tried to muscle in on the operation? Or just as bad, suppose one of their own decided to skim the skim? To guard against such possibilities the Chicago bosses decided to send someone to Vegas to give Rosenthal a hand should trouble arise. The successful applicant had to be a person with the kind of reputation that would deter interlopers from horning in, and make internal theft too risky to try. But the mob's outside man had to be capable of action as well as threats. In other words, he had to be a man who would do whatever it took to protect the Outfit's interests. So, in 1971, 33-year-old Tony Spilotro, considered by many to be the "ultimate enforcer," was sent to the burgeoning gambling and entertainment oasis in the desert. Spilotro, sometimes called "tough Tony," or "the Ant," was a made man of the Outfit and a childhood friend of Rosenthal. He was known as a man who could be counted on to get the job done.
Being an ambitious sort, Tony quickly recognized that there were other criminal opportunities in his new hometown besides skimming from the casinos. Street crimes ranging from loan sharking to burglary, robbery, and fencing stolen property were all in play. It wasn't very long before Tony had his hands into every one of these areas. As the scope of his criminal endeavors grew, Tony brought in other heavies from Chicago to fill out his gang. The five-foot-six-inch gangster was soon being called the "King of the Strip."
Federal and local law enforcement recognized the need to rid the casinos of the hidden ownership and control of the mob, and shut down Spilotro's street rackets. They declared war on organized crime and the battle was on. It was a hard fight, with plenty of tough guys on both sides. But it was a confrontation the law knew it had to win.
The Battle for Las Vegas relates the story of that conflict, told in large part by the agents and detectives who lived it.
Great Read
By A3CZIB4DJISBTC on 2006-11-09
Like most new things, Las Vegas had growing pains as aptly depicted in THE BATTLE FOR LAS VEGAS.
We have all heard of Bugsy Siegel and on the other side, Eliot Ness...but how many are familiar with the likes of Tony...The Ant...Spilotro? There is speculation as to how Spilotro got his nickname...some think it was a shortened version of his given name...others thought it was due to his stature. However the name The Ant came about, he is introduced to us in this exciting portrayal of how Sin City was steeped in not only sin but greed as well.
From murder to skimming to prostitution, this account tells it all. We meet the city officials as well as the law enforcement personnel who were `in the pockets' of these crooks. The general Las Vegas public appeared to be more obsessed with prostitution than they were with the mobs. There is a theory that most mob crime is mob upon mob and the average citizen would not feel the tentacles of this corrupt octopus. The public was so concerned with the sex crimes that they voted out their Sheriff, McCarthy, who went after the mob with a vengeance.
I would like to see the movie Casino once again now that I can put names to the characters with a much better understanding of who they are...thanks to Dennis Griffin.
If you'd like a vivid portrayal of how Las Vegas was tamed, be sure to put this on your reading list.
He Did It Again
By A1PCHP7WREHTRC on 2006-09-02
Another super writing by Dennis Griffin...keep them coming. He just gets better and better with every book..way to go!!!
Excellent, informative!
By A35ZJY01RQSY5O on 2007-06-12
This is a great book! It's informative, well-written, and exciting! Sometimes the truth is much more exciting than fiction. My family and I would go to Vegas in the 70's, and after reading this book, I couldn't believe what was going on behind the scenes during that time. This book gives you factual information, and keeps your attention throughout the entire book!
Business end of the dog
By A2M9ANEOKBVD2D on 2007-07-01
Excellent, well-written and well-researched book. The book outlines the mobs' local crew under Tony Spilotro efforts to squeeze Las Vegas dry for their own purposes as well as the skim for their handlers in the midwest. The movie CASINO parallels this story. The movie presented law enforcement as country-bumpkins that, when unable to use effective law enforcement tactics, resorted to politics to interdict the mob. Griffin does a yeoman's job in showing that police/FBI were NOT ineffective and DID prevail. They prevailed, with hands tied in some cases, because they were intelligent and brave men that never gave up.
- The Real Deal
By A10FLE0VUKVZG6 on 2006-08-10
In a city built on myth, "The Battle for Las Vegas" is the real deal. For everyone that thinks they know the Rosenthal/Spilotro story because they have read or seen "Casino", read "Battle" to get the real behind the scenes story.
Lynn Zook, Las Vegas Historian, As We Knew It
- The war on the streets of Las Vegas
By AC77DGEC5DA5C on 2006-08-27
The battle was fought in the streets, in the buildings and in the desert. It wasn't in some foreign land it was here, in the good old USA - in Las Vegas, NV. It was the law versus the mob, or more precisely the FBI and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department waging a war to protect the citizens from the Chicago mob, Tony "The Ant" Spilotro and his gang and "Lefty" Rosenthal. It was THE BATTLE FOR LAS VEGAS, THE LAW VERSUS THE MOB, by Dennis Griffin.
A lot of time and research went into making this a fair and accurate account of the battle that raged between good and evil in the 1960s and 1970s. It takes in murder, mayhem, burglary, robbery and bribery and payoffs to name just a few crimes. The war went on for years with the legal system being corrupted at times and conspiring against the brave law enforcement officers.
The Battle for Las Vegas, tracks the crime sprees from the beginning of Rosenthal and Spilotro's reign in Las Vegas to the attempt on Lefty's life and the recent arrests for the murder of Tony "The Ant".
- The Law Vs. the Mob
By A2BTDPPU8F4BNS on 2006-11-08
If you've read The Last Mafioso or seen Casino, you've seen only half the story. Now read the other half, the law enforcement side, and get the full story behind the taming of the Green Felt Jungle. Dennis Griffin has once again preserved some remarkable and exciting history.
- Must read for Lost Vegans
By A1UP2U63STCUIA on 2007-07-22
This book chronicles inter alia the corruption and in-fighting of law enforcement in Vegas during the 70's and 80's when the Feds and Metro finally got on the same team against the Chicago mob, and put a major dent in it. In the end, the mob pre-empted the law and did a little house cleaning of its own. This is the real story of the people upon which CASINO was based. Many of them played themselves in cameo roles for the movie. Written by an ex-cop it has a certain Dragnet style, but worth reading for sure.
- If you love Las Vegas history
By A36XZ4K4WRG3YI on 2007-08-12
This is the book that explains in wonderful detail, how the Mob came to control Las Vegas and what they did to lose it so quickly.
it also tells the tale of the Law Enforcement coming of age at the same time. Its growth problems and going from a small town to being a big city and dealing with the big city problems it had caused.
No real telling of Las vegas history would ever be complete without this book.
Denny writes in a unique style that grabs your attention and tells you what it was like. Not boring, yet filled with details and stories from the FBI, Metro and the Mob.
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