New memoir ‘The Bookie’ highlights the mobsters and characters in Las Vegas sportsbooks
Early in his career at Las Vegas casino sportsbooks, when mobsters were an intimidating presence around town, Art Manteris confronted Sammy Spiegel. One evening in the early 1980s, while working by himself at the Barbary Coast sportsbook on the Strip, Manteris let Spiegel know he owed money on previous basketball bets. The entire situation could have gotten Manteris “in a real jackpot,” he told The Mob Museum. Spiegel, who served as Tony “The Ant” Spilotro’s driver, was known to demand his own betting odds at the Stardust sportsbook instead of the posted numbers. Back then, Spilotro was the Chicago Outfit’s street enforcer in ...
Learn More
The 1863 draft riots and the birth of the New York City Police
On July 13, 1863, during the Civil War, New York City burst into flames when the federal government started a…
Learn More
Artifact Spotlight: Frank Calabrese Sr.’s handmade dictionary
“PRISON: IS WARE I AM AT,” reads an entry in the handmade dictionary of Frank Calabrese Sr., former boss of…
Learn More
Classic Mob drama ‘The Sopranos’ first aired 25 years ago
When the groundbreaking HBO series The Sopranos debuted in 1999, it was an instant hit and a critical success. It…
Learn More
They don’t just kill each other
Innocent victims of Mob violence are one of the most underreported aspects of organized crime. This is due in part…
Learn More
The Buffalo Mafia’s ill-advised art thefts
“Art Collection Is Looted; Loss Put at $1.3 million,” read a headline in the August 22, 1968, edition of the…
Learn More
Artifact Spotlight: Alternative liquor products from Prohibition
When Prohibition started on January 17, 1920, beer brewers, liquor distillers and winemakers were in a predicament. The 18th Amendment…
Learn More
‘The Green Felt Jungle,’ published 60 years ago, rattled Las Vegas
When The Green Felt Jungle was published 60 years ago, the book created a stir by detailing Mob influence and…
Learn More