El Cortez Trivia
Long time ago before the Flamingo Bugsy had owned the El C.
Bugsy left something behind when Houssels bought the property in '46 and never returned it.
Jackie G bought the El C in '63 and after noticing this called Houssels and asked if they knew they left it behind.
They did. They told Jackie it came w the hotel.
Jackie Called Benny B to see if he wanted it but BB said no.
Pray Tell what was it?
Houssels left him behind and said he came with the hotel.
Since Irish always at at Benny Binion's (for free) he didn't want to also put him up for free.
Benny's actual response (in vernacular English) was-
"I feed Irish for nothin'. You got to keep him at the hotel for nothin'."
I don't know what the eventual resolution was.
I remember before the remodel of the original rooms some of the rooms had names instead of numbers.
Quote: pacomartin"Fat Irish" Green was left behind at the El Cortez.
Houssels left him behind and said he came with the hotel.
Since Irish always at at Benny Binion's (for free) he didn't want to also put him up for free.
Benny's actual response (in vernacular English) was-
"I feed Irish for nothin'. You got to keep him at the hotel for nothin'."
I don't know what the eventual resolution was.
Way I read it was Ben left IG a suitcase for safekeeping, when Ben was known to be dead IG called Lansky, told him about it, and offered to open it in Lansky's presence. It was full of cash, over $500K. Lansky was touched enough to give IG a lifetime RFB comp at the hotel. When the new owner saw the tab hadn't been paid in 20 years or so he cried to Lansky who told him "tough" in effect. For reasons unkniown, Benny Binion took over the FB part of the RFB comp.
Quote: AZDuffmanWay I read it was Ben left IG a suitcase for safekeeping, when Ben was known to be dead IG called Lansky, told him about it, and offered to open it in Lansky's presence. It was full of cash, over $500K. Lansky was touched enough to give IG a lifetime RFB comp at the hotel. When the new owner saw the tab hadn't been paid in 20 years or so he cried to Lansky who told him "tough" in effect. For reasons unkniown, Benny Binion took over the FB part of the RFB comp.
Nothing like getting into a post that's 3 years old. I had heard of this story and sure enough in the book When The Mob Ran Vegas you can read about it. The suitcase had $300,000 in it not $500,000, and the reason that Binion took on the FB part of the RFB is because he owed Gaughan a favor (see pages 47 & 48). I wonder what the favor was? Completely unrelated side note: I had always thought Jackie's last name was pronounced (Goo Gone), it's pronounced: Gone.
Update: I've done some further research and ran across a story where Gaughan noticed that Green, while living at the El Cortez gratis, liked to eat at Binion's and Jackie asked Benny if he could lodge him at the Shoe. Benny said, " I feed Irish for nothin', so you got to keep him at the hotel for nothin'." So it appears that Binion took on the FB comp before Gaughan bought the El Cortez in '63. I also read that the amount in the suitcase was between $60,000 and $600,000 (you know, let's not clarify the rumor and bring the IRS into this).
