Benny Binion

Benny Binion was a true vestage of the old West. Benny was a
bootlegger turned numbers operator, and was not opposed to settling
his differences with a gun. Indeed, Benny had to leave his home state
of Texas, where he committed a couple murders (one suspended sentence,
and one self defense ruling kept him out of jail). Benny literally
packed up a suitcase with all the cash he had, and headed to Las
Vegas. In 1947, Binion settled into Las Vegas, and bought a share in
the Las Vegas Club Casino in downtown Las Vegas. Later, Binion opened
his own casino, The Horseshoe a few doors down the street. Binion
also had a vision that people would like to watch men play high stakes
poker. The big match in the front of his casino with the great Johnny Moss against Nick The Greek was a precursor to the World Series of Poker, which Binion founded, and remains the biggest poker event in
the world to this day.