Binion's Horseshoe

Binion's Horseshoe also know as the Horseshoe Casino or simply the Horseshoe was a hotel and casino located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada on what is now the Fremont Street Experience. The casino was named for its founder, Benny Binion and had 366 rooms, three restaurants and a rooftop pool.

The Horseshoe brand was used for several casino properities owned by the Binion family members. While not part of the same company, the other Horseshoe Casinos were owned by Jack Binion a co-owner of Binion's.

History

Benny bought the Eldorado Club and Apache Hotel in 1951 opening them as Binion's Horseshoe. It was the first casino to have carpeting and making available comps to all gamblers. Binion also instituted high table limits, even dropping table limits completely at times, which was an immediate hit.

Binion's entire family was involved in the casino. His wife Teddy Jane Binion managed the casino cage and his sons Jack Binion and Ted Binion would become president and manager, respectively and daughter Becky Binion Behnen (Becky Behnen).

Benny served time in Leavenworth Penitentiary from 1953 to 1957 for tax evasion. He had to sell his share of the casino to pay around $5 million for legal costs, but in 1964 his family regained control. However Benny managed to maintain control of the casino during this time.

Benny, was never allowed to hold a gambling license after being convicted, although he remained on the Binion's payroll as a consultant.

Ted would eventually be removed from all casino involvement after his addiction to heroin and other drug use were revealed.

In 1970 Jack started hosting the World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe which became the largest set of poker tournaments in the world. In 1988 the Horseshoe expanded by acquiring The Mint, a high-rise hotel on the west side of the casino. The expansion of the casino from this purchase provided room for Binion's first poker room.

In 1998, Becky Behnen, took over the presidency after a legal battle with Jack Binion. The battle ended with Jack being bought out while retaining a 1% interest in the casino so that he could retain his Nevada Gaming license. Jack moved on to other gambling interests.

Behnen implemented cost-cutting measures, most of which were unpopular with the gamblers. Among the most notable was the removal of the horseshoe exhibit that had held $1 million in $10,000 bills, and had served as a backdrop for free pictures of visitors. She also made changes in the distribution of the money from the entry fees in the World Series of Poker that were unpopular with the casino dealers. It was during this turmoil that a popular restaurant in the casino was closed. Benny had used one of tables in the restaurant as his office.

She also attracted the attention of the state regulators by failing to keep sufficient funds available to pay winners in the casino cage. Bob Stupak also drew negative publicity to the casino when he tried to redeem his $5,000 casino tokens, some of which were stored in the casino's safe deposit boxes, and Becky refused to exchange them for cash.

Under Behnen's leadership, the casino became mired in debt and was closed during a raid by U.S. Marshalls on January 9, 2004 for nonpayment of taxes.

In March 2004, Harrah's Entertainment purchased Binion's Horseshoe. Harrah's Entertainment sold Binion's Horseshoe on March 11, 2004 to MTR Gaming Group. Harrah's retained the rights to the Horseshoe brand and the World Series of Poker when it sold the casino and hotel but sold the Binion's brand. The land the casino sits on is still leased from multiple owners.

Binion's reopened in April 2004 with MTR Gaming operating the hotel and Harrah's Entertainment operating the casino while MTR Gaming acquired the required gaming license. Harrah's continued to operate the casino under a temporary contract with MTR Gaming until March 11, 2005.

MTR Gaming remodeled both the casino and hotel after the purchase, the original carpeting was installed. It turned out that when the carpet was first ordered, Benny Binion had ordered and stored enough carpet to re-carpet the entire casino.

On March 11, 2005, MTR Gaming Group officially took control of the operation of the casino and renamed it Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel.

Sources

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History

Sources