Las Vegas has two historical, equestrian statues. One is Rafael Rivera, allegedly the first white man to find the Las Vegas Valley. The other is Benny Binion.
To say that Binion was a character is like saying the sun is hot. Born in 1904 in Texas, Binion overcame earlier childhood sicknesses by accompanying his father, a horse trader, on his many outdoor trips. As his horse trading skill grew, so did his skill at gambling, the pastime of many traders in their campgrounds. But, according to Binion, most gamblers were masters at cheating with cards and dice. “I never did learn how to do any of these tricks like cheat people,” Binion once said, “which I'm kind of proud of now. But I was always pretty capable about keeping from gettin' cheated."
In the Dallas area, Binion advanced from running errands for gamblers, to steering customers to clandestine gambling joints, to bootlegging. He carried three pistols, and built a reputation as a rough-and-touch gambler. He got one murder conviction, but only a 2-year sentence because the victim was known as a real bad guy. And there were the deaths of several of his rivals, none of which were ever pinned on Binion.
When reformers took municipal office in Dallas, they “invited” Binion to leave town. He did so, settling in Las Vegas, and eventually opened his own place: Binion’s Horseshoe. Over the years, his place initiated many of the firsts that are now commonplace in Vegas: he raised the betting limits on poker and, later, keno; was the first to have limos pick up customers at the airport; the first to have carpet in the casino; the first to give free drinks to slot machine players.
In the 50’s, Binion served prison time again, this time relating to tax evasion connected to his remaining Texas operations. His family took over the business, and introduced one of the biggest “firsts:” bigtime poker. Binion’s, like a lot of major casinos in Vegas at the time, didn’t even offer poker. The game had a disreputable history, and it was hard for casinos to make big money on it. But Binion’s took over the fledging World Series of Poker and the rest, as they say, is history.
