Las Vegas was the Mob's greatest venture and most spectacular success, and through 40 years of frenzy, murder, deceit, scams, and skimming, the FBI listened on phone taps and did virtually nothing to stop the fun. This is the truth about the Mob's control of the casinos in Vegas like you've never heard it before, from start to finish.

Two of the nation's most powerful crime family bosses went to prison in the 1930's: Al Capone, and Lucky Luciano. Frank Nitti took over the Chicago Outfit, while Frank Costello ran things for the Luciano Family. Both men were influenced by their bosses from prison, and both sent enough gangsters into the streets to influence loan sharking, extortion, union control, and drug sales.

Bugsy Siegel worked for both groups, handling a string of murders and opening up gaming on the west coast, and that included Las Vegas, an oasis of sin in the middle of the desert - and it was legal. Most of it. The FBI watched as the Mob took control of casino after casino, killed off the competition, and stole enough money to bribe their way to respectability back home.

By the 1950's, nearly every major crime family had a stake in a Las Vegas casino. Some did better than others. Casino owners watched-over their profits while competing crime families eyed each other's success like jealous lovers. Murder often followed.

Reno was truly Hell on Wheels in the 1920’s. The rest of the nation considered the town Sodom and Gomorra, but that’s only half the truth. Reno offered everything in the way of adult entertainment, from speakeasy’s and houses of ill-repute, to open gaming – legal or not. And it took plenty of sins by the founding fathers to make Reno “The biggest little city in the world.” When the gold-veins of Tonopah and Goldfield ran out, the casino owners moved to Reno, where even greater riches awaited. Together, a group of four men (Nick Abelman, Bill Graham, Jim McKay, George Wingfield) took over Reno’s casinos and held sway over the town for the next three decades. Together they administered policy, collected juice, ran politicians, and owned the red-light district and most of the town’s casinos. When that wasn’t enough they took over the banks and laundered money for crooks like “Pretty Boy” Floyd, Alvin Karpis, and Ma Barker’s boys, and offered safety to “Baby Face” Nelson. It was a good gig. The Reno Four dictated policy all over Northern Nevada, taking special care of Reno and Lake Tahoe casinos up until the late 1950’s. Their influence made Reno before Bill Harrah or “Pappy” Smith ever arrived, needing an introduction and permission to build their own casinos, Harold’s Club and Harrah’s.

In 1903, the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad Co. purchased 1800 acres of some of the most inhospitable land in the nation. In 1905 they had an auction to sell lots in a new townsite - Las Vegas. The fact that they were able to sell any of the lots at all is a miracle, but what Las Vegas and the entire state of Nevada grew to is an even larger miracle.

"Nevada's Golden Age of Gambling" tells the story of the pioneers in the casino industry; where they came from, and why they stayed. Among the many chapters are stories on Bill Harrah, "Pappy" Smith of Harolds Club, Wilbur Clark and his Desert Inn, "Pop" Squires, "Bugsy" Siegel, Meyer Lansky, Howard Hughes and so much more.

This exceptional look at Nevada gaming includes 59 photos, many never published elsewhere. The book is also fully indexed for easy reference.

Casinos and money, that's what it's all about in Nevada. To protect the state's greatest asset, cash, the eye-in-the-sky runs 24/7, but something at the Royal casino was never supposed to be seen. Now Kevin Webb needs to figure out which one of his friends can help him stay alive after being just a little too good at his job. This fast-action thriller takes you behind the scenes of a major casino and lets you take-in what the cameras see and only the bosses are supposed to know about.

Since the publication of edition 12 in 2010, the editors have added approximately 2,000 new chip records to The Chip Rack, and have revised a further 2,000 existing entries in addition to price changes. We have once again maintained a single volume issue, with no change in price. The 13th edition of The Chip Rack was published in June 2011.

The new edition has a whole new columnar format, similar to The Chip Rack, making it easier to read whilst continuing to provide all the additional data within the same single volume. Approx 800 existing listings have been consolidated, and a further 7,400 edits and new entries have been made so that this edition now contains some 31,400 records.

• All locations with legitimate gaming commissions are listed, Nevada, Colorado, Deadwood, Atlantic City, and the 6 riverboat states!
• Over 2150 rare chips, worth over $2,000,000 are pictured in full color
• All prices and rarity ratings have been completely revised
• CC&GTCC grading standards
• Nostalgic photos and postcard shots of many casinos
• Comprehensive index to help in finding casinos quickly and easily
• Hard Rock Las Vegas section with limited editions now in this issue!
• 400 pages including an application to join the National chip club CC&GTCC.