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Bugsy Siegel: Organized Crime, Hollywood and the Flamingo

Benjamin Siegel—better known as Bugsy—moved between worlds that Las Vegas mythology often blends together. The Brooklyn-born racketeer became a major West Coast gambling figure, mixed with Hollywood society and emerged as the public face of the Flamingo's troubled opening. His life ended in a still-unsolved Beverly Hills murder in 1947.

Compiled by Casino Time CapsuleResearch and editorial by Oscar Lappalainen
5 minute read6 chaptersLas Vegas · Los Angeles
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Why this history matters

But Siegel did not invent Las Vegas, and the Flamingo was not originally his idea. Billy Wilkerson conceived the resort before Siegel took practical control. Siegel's real role is more revealing than the legend: he used syndicate-backed capital, ambition and intimidation to force an existing luxury-hotel project toward opening.

Chapter 01

From Brooklyn to a national criminal network

Born Benjamin Siegelbaum on February 28, 1906, Siegel grew up in a Jewish immigrant family. Accounts of his youth place him among street racketeers who extorted small traders. His partnership with Meyer Lansky grew into the Bugs and Meyer group, and Prohibition gave their activities room to expand.

Illegal liquor required transport, protection and enforcement. Through that business, Siegel became associated with Lucky Luciano, Louis Buchalter and other national criminal figures. His reputation for violence was real, but later stories often attach him to particular murders without equally strong proof.

Even the label Murder, Inc. needs care. It describes an overlapping world of criminal enforcement, not a formal organization with a surviving membership roll. In the Harry Greenberg case, Siegel was prosecuted but not convicted. That legal result proves neither guilt nor exoneration beyond the case itself.

Sources for this section[25] Yale University Press — Bugsy Siegel: The Dark Side of the American Dream[26] Yale University Press — authorized excerpt, “Bugsy Siegal”[32] UNLV — Larry Gragg, “The Powerful Mythology Surrounding Bugsy Siegel”[34] The Mob Museum — Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel
Chapter 02

California, celebrity and the race wire

Siegel moved his family and operations to Los Angeles in the later 1930s. As his bookmaking and gambling interests grew, so did his Hollywood connections. The polished social figure and the racketeer were part of the same life; access, money and reputation moved easily between them.

Fast race information was valuable because bookmakers needed entries, odds, results and payoff prices before a bettor could exploit news they had not received. Control of a regional wire distributor meant influence over who received that information—and how much they paid for it.

Nevada's 1941 law allowed licensed wagering on out-of-state horse races while restricting certain betting information sent outward. It did not legalize every race-wire practice. Siegel's wire interests gave him leverage in Nevada before the Flamingo, including reported connections to the Golden Nugget's bookmaking operation.

Sources for this section[4] FBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 29[10] Kefauver hearings, Nevada–California volume record[20] Nevada Legislature — 1941 horse-race betting statute[21] Nevada Legislature — 1941 racing-information restriction[47] J. H. Graham — “The Race Wire”
Chapter 03

The El Cortez before the Flamingo

In 1945, Siegel joined a syndicate-linked group that acquired downtown's El Cortez. Meyer Lansky, Moe Sedway, Gus Greenbaum and other associates were part of the group. Later accounts disagree on the exact shares, but they do agree on one important point: Siegel was not the sole owner.

The El Cortez gave the group experience with a working Nevada hotel-casino and local operating relationships. They sold it back to J. Kell Houssels in 1946 as the much larger Flamingo consumed attention and money. By then Las Vegas was already a functioning gambling city—not empty desert waiting for Siegel to discover it.

Sources for this section[29] UNLV — Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel[40] PBS American Experience — Benjamin Siegel
Chapter 04

Taking control of Wilkerson's project

Billy Wilkerson, publisher of The Hollywood Reporter and a nightclub entrepreneur, imagined the Flamingo as a sophisticated alternative to the Strip's Western-themed properties. When his financing ran short, Lansky-linked capital entered the project and Siegel assumed practical control.

The company behind the resort was more complicated than the one-man legend. An FBI summary of Nevada Project Corporation records lists Wilkerson, Siegel, Sedway, G. Harry Rothberg and N. Joseph Ross as directors. That tells us who appeared on the formal paperwork, not exactly how much each person invested or who held practical power at every moment.

Costs climbed toward the commonly reported total of about $6 million, although the path to that figure is not completely documented. Postwar building restrictions also produced a federal dispute over whether the Flamingo counted as one existing structure or several newer ones. Investigative files mention bribery allegations, but they do not establish them as findings.

Sources for this section[13] FBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 18[14] FBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 23[35] The Mob Museum — “Wilkerson’s idea, Bugsy’s baby”[38] Larry Gragg, “Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegel and Financing the Flamingo Hotel, 1946–1947”
Chapter 05

A crowded opening that lost money

The Flamingo opened on December 26, 1946, as the third resort on the Strip. Modern architecture, landscaped grounds, entertainment and Hollywood publicity set it apart from the older frontier look. One familiar myth says nobody came. Contemporary reporting says the opposite: the opening drew large crowds.

The real problem was turning that attention into a complete, profitable stay. Guest rooms were unfinished, weather disrupted travel and winning gamblers could leave for competitors that had rooms ready. On February 6, 1947, the casino, restaurant and shops closed while construction continued.

Business improved after the March reopening, and reports described profits. At the same time, returned construction checks and emergency borrowing pointed to continuing financial pressure. A busy casino floor could make money while the larger project still struggled under accumulated debt.

Sources for this section[14] FBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 23[15] FBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 23 scan[36] The Mob Museum — “Separating fact from fiction on the Flamingo Hotel’s 75th anniversary”[38] Larry Gragg, “Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegel and Financing the Flamingo Hotel, 1946–1947”[40] PBS American Experience — Benjamin Siegel
Chapter 06

The murder and the resort that survived

On June 20, 1947, an unidentified gunman fired through a window at Virginia Hill's Beverly Hills home and killed Siegel. The shooter and motive remain unresolved. Anger within the syndicate over money is a persistent and plausible theory, but investigators also considered race-wire disputes, bookmaking rivalry and personal conflict.

After Siegel's death, operators including Gus Greenbaum and Davey Berman took over Flamingo management. July reporting described a sale of roughly $3 million to a hotel-owner group headed by Sanford Adler. The broad transfer of control is clearer than the final settlement of shares, liens and obligations.

The Flamingo survived because later managers and owners stabilized and expanded it. The Bugsy legend often pushes Wilkerson, earlier resorts and those successors out of the frame. Siegel still mattered enormously—but as a forceful link between organized-crime capital, Hollywood glamour and the emerging resort economy, not as the lone founder of Las Vegas.

Sources for this section[14] FBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 23[16] FBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 31[32] UNLV — Larry Gragg, “The Powerful Mythology Surrounding Bugsy Siegel”[43] Los Angeles Public Library — “A Quiet Evening With a Quick Death”[50] Los Angeles Times — “Who Killed Bugsy Siegel? 50 Years Later, Still a Mystery”
At a glance

The story in time

  1. 1906

    Benjamin Siegelbaum is born in Brooklyn.

  2. 1930s

    Siegel expands from New York rackets into California gambling.

  3. 1945

    A Siegel-associated group acquires the El Cortez.

  4. December 26, 1946

    Flamingo opens under Siegel's practical control.

  5. February-March 1947

    Initial operations close, then reopen with the hotel more complete.

  6. June 20, 1947

    Siegel is murdered in Beverly Hills; the case remains unsolved.

  7. July 1947

    Contemporary reports describe a new Flamingo ownership group.

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Sources & further reading

The numbered links in each chapter point to the supporting material below. The wider bibliography also includes archival collections and specialist references. Historical uncertainty is explained where it affects the story; a source link does not grant permission to reproduce its images.

Start with these sources

Yale University Press — Bugsy Siegel: The Dark Side of the American DreamUNLV — Benjamin “Bugsy” SiegelUNLV — Larry Gragg, “The Powerful Mythology Surrounding Bugsy Siegel”The Mob Museum — “Wilkerson’s idea, Bugsy’s baby”The Mob Museum — “Separating fact from fiction on the Flamingo Hotel’s 75th anniversary”Larry Gragg, “Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegel and Financing the Flamingo Hotel, 1946–1947”
  1. Research sourceFBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 01
  2. Research sourceFBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 19
  3. Research sourceFBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 21
  4. Research sourceFBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 29
  5. Research sourceFBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 25
  6. Research sourceFBI report in the Kansas City Massacre file
  7. Research sourceLos Angeles Public Library — Siegel at a 1941 hearing
  8. Research sourceLos Angeles Superior Court — criminal-record access
  9. Research sourceU.S. Senate — Kefauver Committee history
  10. Research sourceKefauver hearings, Nevada–California volume record
  11. Research sourceKefauver hearings, Nevada–California volume at Internet Archive
  12. Research sourceEmerson Marcus, “Reno at the Races,” Nevada State Library and Archives
  13. Research sourceFBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 18
  14. Research sourceFBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 23
  15. Research sourceFBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 23 scan
  16. Research sourceFBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 31
  17. Research sourceLibrary of Congress — “Bugsy Siegel case dismissed by court,” 1940
  18. Research sourceNevada Legislature — Gaming in Nevada
  19. Research sourceNevada Legislature — 1945 gaming statute
  20. Research sourceNevada Legislature — 1941 horse-race betting statute
  21. Research sourceNevada Legislature — 1941 racing-information restriction
  22. Research sourceNevada Legislature — 1949 race-information licensing law
  23. Research sourceNevada Supreme Court — Dunn v. Nevada Tax Commission
  24. Research sourceCalifornia Court of Appeal — People v. Brophy
  25. Research sourceYale University Press — Bugsy Siegel: The Dark Side of the American Dream
  26. Research sourceYale University Press — authorized excerpt, “Bugsy Siegal”
  27. Research sourceJSTOR — Bugsy Siegel: The Dark Side of the American Dream
  28. Research sourceTimes of Israel — Shnayerson interview and Siegel family history
  29. Research sourceUNLV — Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel
  30. Research sourceUNLV — Flamingo
  31. Research sourceUNLV — “5 Big Myths About Gaming”
  32. Research sourceUNLV — Larry Gragg, “The Powerful Mythology Surrounding Bugsy Siegel”
  33. Research sourceUNLV — Guide to the Flamingo Hilton Hotel Records, MS-00239
  34. Research sourceThe Mob Museum — Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel
  35. Research sourceThe Mob Museum — “Wilkerson’s idea, Bugsy’s baby”
  36. Research sourceThe Mob Museum — “Separating fact from fiction on the Flamingo Hotel’s 75th anniversary”
  37. Research sourceThe Mob Museum — Wilkerson artifacts acquisition
  38. Research sourceLarry Gragg, “Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegel and Financing the Flamingo Hotel, 1946–1947”
  39. Research sourceWilliam R. Wilkerson III, The Man Who Invented Las Vegas, sample chapter
  40. Research sourcePBS American Experience — Benjamin Siegel
  41. Research sourcePBS American Experience — Las Vegas: An Unconventional History
  42. Research sourcePBS American Experience — The Syndicate
  43. Research sourceLos Angeles Public Library — “A Quiet Evening With a Quick Death”
  44. Research sourceLibrary of Congress — George Raft with Bugsy Siegel
  45. Research sourceLos Angeles Times — “He Was a Visionary—and ‘the Most Dangerous Man in America’”
  46. Research sourceJ. H. Graham — Los Angeles chronology and source leads
  47. Research sourceJ. H. Graham — “The Race Wire”
  48. Research sourceFBI Vault — Bugsy Siegel file, Part 24
  49. Research sourceThe Neon Museum — Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel & Casino
  50. Research sourceLos Angeles Times — “Who Killed Bugsy Siegel? 50 Years Later, Still a Mystery”

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