Vegas Casino History - Flamingo Hotel

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The Flamingo hotel and casino is a mainstay at the Las Vegas Strip, located at 3555 Las Vegas Blvd South, around the street from Caesars Palace and shut to Bally’s and the Bellagio at the corner of Flamingo Avenue. It's the oldest remaining casino at the Strip, even though it was reconstructed and updated several times. The valuables covers 40 acres, offers 3600 rooms, 77,000 square feet of gaming space, several bars, gift shops, restaurants, and the Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville restaurant and gift shop, which incorporates the adjacent Margaritaville mini-casino. Although first opened in 1946 on the Flamingo, the name flip-flopped backward and forward over time: 1947 The Fabulous Flamingo, 1950 The Flamingo, 1952 The Fabulous Flamingo, 1974 Flamingo Hilton, 2000 Flamingo Las Vegas. Casino chips from the primary opening have sold for over $10,000 each.

Building the Flamingo

Construction of the Flamingo was started in 1945 by Billy Wilkerson, owner-editor of The Hollywood Reporter. Wilkerson was a compulsive gambler who lost millions of greenbacks on the Mob-owned downtown casinos of Las Vegas. He rented the El Rancho Vegas casino for 6 months, looking to keep himself occupied and out of the opposite casinos, but by the tip of his lease he had still managed to lose $200,000 on the El Cortez, run by Moe Sedway and “Bugsy” Siegel.

Wilkerson figured the one way he could stay out of the opposite casinos was by owning his own, so he purchased a plot of land a mile from the El Rancho Vegas and started building his own resort. Rather than the cowboy theme found on the El Rancho and Last Frontier, the primary two properties built at the road to La which became known on the Las Vegas Strip, Wilkerson envisioned an opulent gaming facility with upscale restaurants, accommodation, a glitzy showroom along with his Hollywood star friends, and big-money players streaming to the brand new entertainment of Las Vegas. Unfortunately, Wilkerson was short on cash by the point he had broken ground and begun construction. He borrowed $200,000 from Howard Hughes, who liked to go to Las Vegas, although he never bet greater than $1 at a time on games of chance, and $600,000 from Bank of America. To check out and make up the rest $400,000 that he needed, Wilkerson again visited the El Cortez casino. The effects were disastrous.

Instead of winning, Wilkerson lost his front-money from his investors and in addition lost $400,000 in credit he have been extended playing craps. To carve his way out of his predicament, he sub-let the casino operation to Moe Sedway and returned to his construction site. A month later he was broke, and the valuables sat undeveloped for several months. During a visit to Vegas from LA, Wilkerson was introduced to a brand new York investor who thought the brand new resort was a lovely idea. He agreed to advance $1 million to Wilkerson in exchange for 2/3rd’s ownership of the valuables. Wilkerson was excited, especially after the money arrived at his bank. He was lower than excited after construction was restarted and he was introduced to his new managing partner, “Bugsy” Siegel.

Slowly but surely, Siegel took over control of the project, and while he too bumped into financial troubles, the development continued under the direction of Del Webb and by late 1946 it appeared the valuables could be ready for a grand opening at Christmas time. By then, Siegel had given Wilkerson a controlling interest in stock for the corporation, but by then Wilkerson knew he had no real control of the valuables. Siegel’s girlfriend, Virginia Hill was accountable for the internal decorating. “Bugsy” controlled the design of the valuables. Wilkerson was advised by J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI to think about getting out of the deal. Consistent with the book, Vegas and the Mob, the FBI was well aware thon the Mob and “Bugsy” Siegel were controlling things at the work site. They were also aware that the project, once expected to price not more than $1.9 million, was now a money-pit within the desert that had swallowed up over $5 million. Their hope was that the Mob would go broke. J. Edgar miscalculated the Mob’s deep pockets and their plans for the casino, and “Bugsy.”

Flamingo Grand Opening

With additional funding from back east, Siegel managed to get the valuables open on December 26, 1946, however the hotel rooms weren't finished. In addition, a winter storm kept the Constellations “Bugsy” had chartered to fly his Hollywood guests to Vegas at the runways in L. a.. Although a couple of brave souls made the trip by car, including his friends George Raft and Jimmy Durante, it wasn’t enough. The casino opened at 5:00 p.m., but without a rooms, those from out of town needed to go elsewhere, reminiscent of the El Rancho. Locals have been waiting for seeing the overall product offered by this massive casino project, however it seems everybody who showed up had brought their good luck with them. George Raft helped-out by managing to lose $65,000 around the green felt tables, but he was within the minority. Over the following two weeks, the casino lost over $300,000. Ben was a playboy, not a businessman, and his expertise didn't extend to running a casino, so the valuables was shut down until the hotel rooms were finished.

A new opening happened on March 1 with Jimmy Durante, the Xavier Cugat Band, and Baby Rosemarie playing within the showroom. Guests wandered the property, ate $7 steak dinners (slightly pricey for Vegas on the time), after which hit the gaming tables, which continued to lose money, especially at blackjack. The rest of the development needed to be halted, although the valuables stayed open this time, still bleeding profit. June, “Bugsy” sent checks to Del Webb Construction totaling $150,000 knowing they wouldn’t clear the bank. Then he went to L. a. to sit back. On June 20, 1947 Ben was gunned down in Virginia Hill’s home in Beverly Hills while he calmly read the newspaper. An hour later, Gus Greenbaum and Morris Rosen walked into the Flamingo and took over operations. Business continued as if nothing had happened, except over the following three months the Flamingo turned a profit of nearly $1 million.

Funding for the general construction of the Flamingo was provided by several Mob groups, including Tony Accardo in Chicago. Based on agreed upon terms, each family got a cut of the profits, and far of the money generated was “skimmed” off the highest without being reported (and taxed). The skim was transported by couriers to Meyer Lansky, who handled Mob cash for several decades, first hiding it, then redistributing it in cash and payments from legitimate businesses to Mob families everywhere in the country.

The skim of the Flamingo continued until Kirk Kerkorian acquired the valuables in 1967. It was resold to Hilton Corporation in 1972. The Flamingo Las Vegas remains to be a well-liked hotel and casino situated on the center of the Strip. Today, the valuables is a part of Caesars Entertainment.

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