Benny Binion
Founder of Binion's Horseshoe Casino,
home to the World Series of Poker
Benny Binion was born on November 20, 1904 in Pilot
Grove, Grayson County, Texas. As a son of a horse trader Benny
Binion traveled around a lot in his youth, and was never able
to attend school.
In the early twenties of the previous century Binion supported
himself mainly with the money he made from his bootlegging
business. In 1928 Binion started running an illegal lottery,
to be followed eight years later in 1936 by running craps
games from hotel rooms near the Dallas' oil fields.
In January 1947, Benny Binion moved to Las Vegas, because
of the increasing competition among Texan gambling operators,
who didn't hesitate to resort to violence to eliminate their
competitors.
After a brief joint venture with J.K. Houssels in the Las
Vegas Club, Benny Binion opened it's own casino, the now famous
Benny Binion's Horseshoe, in 1951. The Benny Binion's Horseshoe
was a huge success due to the fact the table limits in this
casino were higher than in any other casino at the time, and
also because of it's unprecedented generous way of comping
*all* players, not just high rollers.
In 1953 Benny Binion sold his share in the Horseshoe to pay
for the legal cost of defending himself against racketeering
and tax evasion charges stemming from his Texas' operations.
However, in 1964 the Binion's family managed to regain control
of the Horseshoe.
In 1970, Benny Binion and his sons brought the World Series
of Poker to the Benny Binion's Horseshoe Casino. This was
the first time a respectable casino started to promote poker,
a game that was considered by many casinos at the time as
not profitable and not respectable. In 1970 and 1971 the tournament
was won by Johny Moss. In 1972 the winner was Amarillo Slim
Preston who did a great job at promoting the event by attending
numerous national talk shows after becoming the World Champion.
The World Series of Poker today is *the* number one poker
tournament, with more than 800 players and a first prize of
$2,500,000.
Benny Binion died on Christmas Day 1989, in Las Vegas, at
the respectable age of 85.
|
