Bugsy Siegel and The Flamingo Hotel

His opening nights entertainment was headed by singer and comedian Jimmy Durante and music provided Cuban band leader Xavier Cugat. He even brought in some of his actor friends from Hollywood. Despite this the opening night was a flop. Bad weather prevented many of his guests from attending and because gamblers had no rooms at the hotel they took their winnings and spent them elsewhere. In the first week of opening the casino lost $300,000.

Siegel and his business partners had invested $1 million into the project while it was already under construction by Billy Wilkerson, the owner of the Hollywood reporter and some nightclubs already located and in operation on the Sunset Strip. Wilkerson had wanted to recreate this success in Las Vegas, his dream was of a European style hotel of a luxurious standard with a spa, health club, nightclub and restaurant. He also had plans for a golf course but he soon ran out of money. The high cost of materials immediately after the war had increased significantly.

Siegel had the largest interest in a racing publication named ‘Trans America Wire’ he had been drawn to Las Vegas by the legalized gambling and betting. He purchased the El Cortez Hotel for $600,000 in 1945 and sold it for a profit of $166,000. Together with his associates in organized crime they managed to influence Wilkerson to accept new partners and Siegel took over the running of the project even renaming the proposed hotel ‘the Flamingo’ after his girlfriend, flamingo being her nickname.

Just two weeks after the grand opening the Flamingo closed down. It re-opened in March 1947 as the ‘Fabulous Flamingo. Wilkerson was forced out of the business dealings in April of 1947 and a month later the resort began to operate a profit. It was however already too late for Siegel. His partners in organized crime had become convinced that he was not giving them an accurate account of the profits and arranged to have Siegel killed. Siegel was in Beverley Hills on June 20 1947 when he was killed while reading a newspaper, the perpetrators to this crime have never been caught, his closest associates were all out of the country at the time of the shooting.

The Flamingo Las Vegas has since that time undertaken many name changes as well as changes in ownership. It is the oldest resort hotel on the strip and houses over 3,600 rooms and a 77,000 square feet of space inside its casino.