Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, the Texas Gangster Who Created Vegas Poker

Very good book. Well researched and interesting.

My whole conclusion is, the whole story, that was fed to the press and the people, for Benny entire time in Las Vegas, was a whitewash of the truth and facts. Wow, what a guy. I mean, I admire his brilliance, but behind that smile he was a mean B-Tard. No one fooled with Benny. "He was either the gentlest bad guy or the baddest good guy you'd ever seen." Amirillo Slim He says it better than I ever could have.

"In January 1949, Binion arranged for Johnny Moss and Nick "The Greek" Dandolos to play a head-to-head poker tournament which ended up lasting five months, with Dandolos ultimately losing a reported two million dollars. The 42-year-old Moss had to take breaks to sleep occasionally, during which Dandalos, then aged 57, went over to the craps table and played. After the final hand, and losing millions of dollars, Dandolos uttered one of the most famous poker quotes of all time: "Mr. Moss, I have to let you go." (This narrative is disputed as fact and is most likely a myth. Binion didn't operate a casino until 1951 in Las Vegas.) "

So was the game real, or just another tall tale.

However, Binion did create the World Series of Poker.

I picked up my copy at Thrift Books for half the price on any major booksellers site. Used $9 + sjipping