Bugsy Siegel & The Flamingo

Bugsy Siegel, along with Billy Wilkerson, opened the first luxury casino on the Strip. Warning: graphic content for language and images.
Bugsy Siegel & The Flamingo, Part II:
• Bugsy Siegel & the Fla...
Other Channel: ‪@VegasVisualTheater‬
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[@VegasVisual]

Every effort was made to use original sources and documents but if there is anything incorrect or there is additional significant information missing please comment down below and ideally include a source. Quotes and information from key figures are included to get their side even when I was 93.52% certain that they were lying. Warning: Graphic content for language and images.

[@Rocks_Dad]

You did real well with this. If there was a PhD given to someone for mob study , I would have a couple of them. I'm afraid I must have something wrong with me but I find these old school gangsters and the schemes they made out on absolute genius. I've read just about anything and everything on Siegel and, not meaning to degrade your good work, I just have really struggled to find anything new on him. Any suggestions for a book you may have knowledge of. I would greatly appreciate. Thanks again

[@VegasVisual]

@@Rocks_Dad Thank you, I don't have any really good book in particular to suggest.

[@texadonkey34]

Can’t wait, old mob history is my thang 🎉👍. I got sent home in the third grade for reading Al Capone books during class.🤣🤣

[@VegasVisual]

That is too funny! There is a photo of Al Capone in this one like the Meyer Lansky skimming case one, plus he is mentioned once.

[@TheLaughingLion]

Awesome research. I can appreciate all the time you took to create this video. This is worthy of showing on the history channel and even in high schools as a teaching tool.

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you Keno for your kind words and support.

[@exploringsincity]

agreed! this channel is pretty freakin amazing.

[@sterlingshane2566]

Amazing detail and we’ll done!! I just bought a Bugsy autograph on a stock certificate!

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you, that is a very cool document, the signed stock certificate.

[@LasVegasandBeyond]

Really enjoyed this historical account, even made my girlfriend watch. Can’t wait for Part II

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you Alan, hopefully your girlfriend tolerated it! LOL

[@SleeplessInLasVegas]

Documentary time!! 🥤🤓🍿

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you for watching Ted.

[@asullivan4047]

Interesting/informative/entertaining. Excellent photography job enabling viewers to better understand what/whom the orator was describing. Special thanks to all the veteran mobsters/city officials/investors. For sharing personal & business information/activities. Making this documentary more authentic and possible. Through the timeless investigative research. Of various historians. Unfortunately uncle Bugsy 🐜 got caught with his hands 🙌. In his Investors cookie 🍪 jar. Excellent bullseye 🎯 shot to his eye 👁 ball. Ending his emptying of his investor’s cookie 🍪 jar. ☠

[@VegasVisual]

There is a lot of information on Bugsy Siegel.

[@exploringsincity]

Loved this. Thank you

[@VegasVisual]

Most welcome.

[@simonsouth6184]

Looking forward to this v.v 👍🇬🇧

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you Simon, it goes a bit into the weeds but I would always rather have too much info than skip some details.

[@texcoast44]

This was really well done and great watch!

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you for the kind words.

[@exploringsincity]

I totally agree

[@vegastocali]

Congratulations on 803! Fantastic video. Thanks for your hard work.

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you Cali, I am happy to be moving on to a different topic now.

[@rockinron3215]

Thank you for your hard work on this.

[@VegasVisual]

Most welcome.

[@unXrico]

This was really well done. Very informative, and I love all the original material used. Keep up the good work!

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@mircomirco-zm6ji]

Just excellent reaserch 👍

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you.

[@mojomar7]

Excellent presentation of Siegel’s saga. It looks like a PhD thesis video.

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you Mark for the kind words, Siegel's saga is an appropriate phrase.

[@Coco-up7bl]

Sorry I missed the Live but what a great watch with my morning coffee. You did an amazing job!!! 👏👏👏Love old school gangster (especially Vegas gangsters) stuff. Keep em coming 😉

[@VegasVisual]

Thanks Coco, no worries about missing the premiere. The next one isn't too far away, Part II is Sunday at 7 pm.

[@KiaBelle]

This was so awesome. Great job, friend!

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you Kia!

[@cuts240]

Bugsy’s daughter is delusional in how great her father was

[@VegasVisual]

Very true, although she does admit that she didn't know about his business life.

[@cuts240]

@@VegasVisual true. But she knows all that has been rewritten and publicized. She may not know - “first hand”- yet …

[@VegasVisual]

@@cuts240 Yes, she has no excuse.

[@paulchristie8452]

What were his redeeming qualities? Are there any of his rumoured crimes that you don't believe he did? @@VegasVisual

[@VegasVisual]

@@paulchristie8452 Bugsy was good to his family, his kids at least.

[@ricksvegas]

Great video Kevin! Couldn't imagine how long this took to put together. 😁

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you Rick. I have been working on the Flamingo topic since November and I completed the Meyer Lansky Flamingo skimming case history in late January. I have been working on this Flamingo Bugsy history since late January. It's time to get off the Flamingo topic and work on some other Vegas history projects.

[@exploringsincity]

seriously! he puts some serious work into his videos

[@texcoast44]

Like Part 1, this is outstanding. Thanks for the great watch.

[@VegasVisual]

Most welcome, more to come but they will tend to be shorter projects.

[@valerieneal2747]

I AM HOOKED...GREAT CONTENT. AND I JUST BECAME YOUR 778th SUBSCRIBER 😎

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you for your support, I try to complete a history vlog every month but like this one it took several months. I also do a weekly show on Mondays about Vegas vloggers that you may or may not be interesting in watching.

[@jeffreypardy2831]

I met bugsy in fairbanks alaska in 1990, I sat next to him and said hello Bugsy Siegel, he looked at me some what shocked and nodded. A few days later his friend Don said that he was bugsy. Don asked how I knew and I said his eyes.

[@brianpress1392]

Wow, That's Very interesting, Only in 1990 Bugsy wasn't alive He was murdered in 1947, I believe it's been said. 👍

[@jeffreypardy2831]

@@brianpress1392 so I thought also but it is true I know another guy who was in the know of mafia business who said a lot of the exiled in the vagas mob found refuge in the wilds of alaska

[@johnnyraider]

​@@jeffreypardy2831ASSWIPE, F O A D . R U A DUMB N WORD? SOUNDS LIKE IT.😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@rockinron3215]

I used to check people into his room in the 1990's. It was on the 4th floor of the middle highest building by the pool. I think the Oregon building. It had bullet proof glass and an escape hatch in the closet that went all the way to where Caesars Palace is by tunnel. Wish I had a cellphone back then.

[@VegasVisual]

Very cool! You were part of Vegas history. In part II to this video there is information on the Oregon building

[@frankfacts6207]

Benny Blue-Eyes

[@lemorab1]

This is so interesting! My dad was a musician and mom and I accompanied him to Las Vegas in the early 1950's when he performed there. I was in all the major hotels of that era and I swam in all the swimming pools, including the Flamingo pool. It was and still is one of the most glamorous places I have ever been. What I don't understand is, how could the Mob not have put an experienced nightclub manager in charge of the Flamingo from the get-go? And how could they have expected the Flamingo to immediately begin turning a profit!? They were angry at Siegel for skimming money and bleeding the till. I guess Virginia Hill's true role in all this will never be known? Did the Men From The East, i.e The Commission, make all their money back by 1950?

[@VegasVisual]

Bugsy was in charge of the Flamingo construction and management on behalf of the Commission. The reason why the mob leadership didn't like him, besides spending/wasting too much money on the Flamingo, is because Bugsy didn't always follow directions from the mob leaders, he did his own thing as I mentioned in a quote early in the video. The mob bosses probably wanted an experience manager for the Flamingo but Bugsy probably wanted to do it himself. The Flamingo started making money just before Bugsy was murdered and it made a lot of money after Bugsy was murdered. If Siegel would have just spent about $1M on the construction instead of over $5M then the Flamingo would have made money from the start.

[@lemorab1]

@@VegasVisual Thank you for getting back to me. I stumbled on your video while looking for information on Susan Berman, whose father Davey ran the Flamingo for awhile in the years after Bugsy's demise. I went to UCLA with Susan and was hanging out with her when she learned her dad had been a mobster, I think in about 1969. I was last in Las Vegas in 1960. I would never want to see it now.

[@VegasVisual]

@@lemorab1 Sure, you must have some great experiences from the Vegas past. Vegas has changed a lot since the 1960's, its a whole new world or universe.

[@Mcdamn1026]

@@VegasVisual it wasn’t that easy not to spend more money on the construction of the flamingo. After WW2 the cost of all the materials increased, it was hard to get materials, workers were stealing materials when they actually got them and then sold them back to bugsy…he couldn’t control everything but bugsy’s biggest problem was his vision was far for more elaborate and expensive then what the other investors wanted….he would have somebody work on a section of the hotel and then bugsy wouldn’t like the design and then have the workers tear everything down and start all over. Bugsy’s suite that he had built for himself was so elaborate and he even had a secret stairway to get away. Another problem was I truly believe Virginia hill was the one stealing the money and not Bugsy. Bugsy became obsessed with the hotel and casino and every detail imaginable and then Virginia hill and Bugsy were not good together. They were crazy together lol

[@VegasVisual]

@@Mcdamn1026 One big problem is that Bugsy had no experience building a hotel.

[@TracyJ4418]

Wow !! He died at 41 yrs old .This was very interesting to say the least. How many hours did it take you to complete the documentary ?

[@VegasVisual]

I have been working on this since January, half the time on this project and half the time on the weekly show. Although some of the research was done last summer when a I did a brief history (10 minutes) of the Flamingo.

[@courtneyslots9422]

Hello new friend here Stay connected 🍀

[@VegasVisual]

Hello friend, thank you for your support!

[@jeffjanktube]

Impressed by the dedication to captions, citations, and accuracy here. Well done! My only criticism is at 7:50 where you've captioned the guy Bugsy Siegel only because Posta Productions says it's Siegel. Posta wants to believe it's Siegel and so do his viewers. If you look at Posta's other videos he has some clear mistakes - his Arrowhead Springs is captioned in the video as Palm Springs, and after this was pointed out as incorrect he changed the title of the video but couldn't change the video itself. The point is, his father didn't keep notes with the videos, he's just making guesses based on what he sees.

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you for the clarification. I heard that there are only two confirmed film clips of Bugsy Siegel and I assumed this was one of the two. These are like "first drafts" because I have found more information about other history vlogs that I will be updating in the coming years.

[@Rocks_Dad]

Not much new out there on Ben Siegel. I've been hearing these same old regurgitated stories for decades now. Must not be anything else out there to make new content over. Lansky is the one I'd like to see more on. That was a smart operator.

[@VegasVisual]

This is not a regurgitated story. This video uses original documents, quotes and FBI memos to report on the information about Bugsy and the Flamingo. But yes, many Bugsy videos are regurgitated stories. Here is Meyer Lansky and the $ 36M Flamingo Skimming case, again, using original sources and FBI memos: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXuQaaiHpbibpLc

[@Rocks_Dad]

@@VegasVisual you did good. Sorry if my comment read otherwise. There just isn't a whole lot on Siegel. I think we he was alive he, of course, was secretive and I believe society was different to the point no one cared too much to document them

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

This is a very unusual documentary in that it rudely refers publicly to Siegel's perpissity at 24:57, Only his closest associates ever knew about his perpissing in perpublic, and it shows extreme bravery on Vegas Visual's part to make news of it.

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

The sound track is not altogether clear: the reference may actually be to his rapissity: his speedulence was extremely neatworthy.

[@tomdalton4293]

Excellent video, most accounts about the history of the Flamingo completely cut out Billy Wilkerson's role and imply that it was all Siegel's idea and vision. Bugsy Siegel is no doubt an important and interesting figure in Las Vegas history but he is overrated as a visionary and innovator.

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you. The one thing historians give Bugsy credit for is bringing people to Vegas in droves but that was after he was murdered and the murder was linked to Vegas and the Flamingo. So his biggest accomplishment was being murdered. A top 10 list of most important developments in U.S. Gaming history listed Bugsy Siegel as 1 of the 10, a list compiled by historians and gaming experts. 10 Most Important Events In U.S. Gaming History: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aaikiGeFiLN9ibc

[@onieljohnson-zm6sf]

This would be nice if los Vegas was in gta

[@Mcdamn1026]

Great video I learned a lot I didn’t know!

[@VegasVisual]

Thank you!

[@denisezuckerman1114]

Oh boy! 👍

[@VegasVisual]

Hope to see you tonight Denise.

[@johnnyraider]

HEY LADY, SHOULDN'T U BE ZUCKERSTEIN? JUST SAYIN'😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@GanondorfsWife]

If I'm not mistaken, wasn't Benny from New Vegas somewhat designed after this dude??

[@VegasVisual]

Benny took over the construction of Flamingo from Billy Wilkerson who ran out of money to complete Flamingo. The Flamingo and the Strip were not Benny's idea.

[@GanondorfsWife]

@@VegasVisual I meant to add Fallout New Vegas lol

[@VegasVisual]

@@GanondorfsWife Im not sure if Benny from Fallout is designed after Bugsy but could be.

[@GanondorfsWife]

@@VegasVisual Looks like it tbh.

[@johnwright291]

Take note of how bugsy has his right hand deep in his jacket pocket. Hmm what do you suppose he was holding on to ? This was one of only two verified motion pictures of him. In bugsys FBI file which is available online it goes into detail on his effort to circumvent regulations on acquiring building materials which were earmarked for building homes for returning GIs. Boy I take one look at Virginia hill and think man they had a different idea of beauty back then. The senator in the godfather almost certainly was modeled on pat McCarron.

[@VegasVisual]

I knew the film footage of Bugsy was rare but I didn't know there were only two verified clips of Bugsy. I didn't really think about what Bugsy was holding in his pocket but it would be interesting to know what was in his pocket. The FBI files has a lot of great info on Siegel.

[@johnwright291]

@@VegasVisual on youtube type bugsy siegel at arrowhead. There is a short color film of him lounging around with some of the same guys in the film on your video. He did some screen tests ad he fancied himself movie star potential but it seems to have been lost. I'm a bugsy fanatic. I even went to the mansion where he was shot and looked through the same window he was shot through.

[@johnwright291]

I typed as not ad but autocorrect ruins everything I type. I hate it with a passion

[@johnwright291]

@Mister Google I believe every generation has a unique look that they consider hot. I'm 66 and think the women on playboy's center fold were much hotter when I was young than they are now.

[@Rocks_Dad]

It's hard to fathom how these guys were able to operate and buy off whatever and whoever. Modern times I wonder if we ever have privacy and everything is recorded and known about . They are solving 50 year old cold cases with DNA now, I dont see how anyone could operate today.

[@VegasVisual]

It truly is amazing how loose things were back then. It was still like the wild west back then.

[@Rocks_Dad]

@@VegasVisual I bet they had one hell of a good time. Siegel spent so much money he didn't value it. Virginia Hill spent so much the movie stars couldn't keep up with her. I bet it was one hell of a good time, as long as you didn't get shot in the head

[@VegasVisual]

@@Rocks_Dad Yes, some people with a lot of money don't value money as much.

[@Rocks_Dad]

@@VegasVisual Siegels daughter was buried in a non Jewish accepted paupers funeral because apparently she was broke. You never know with Jewish folks, she might a gave a few million away to her grandkids with instructions to give her a paupers funeral. I think she was broke and I find it sad the lady wasn't buried according to her familys religious standards, especially given her father left her and her sister 500 acres of land on the strip when he died. Do the math, modern day 500 acres on the strip would be worth billions with a B wouldn't it ? She either was stolen from or extremely misled. Her uncle was a prominent Beverly Hills Dr. wasn't he? Something doesn't sound right, seems like that family would spring for a proper Jewish burial

[@johnnyraider]

HHHMMMMM, MAYBE, MAYBE NOT. I THINK HE GOT WHACKED AT HIS PUSSIES HOUSE IN B HILLS. BUT INVESTIGATE INVESTIGATE INVESTIGATE !!!!!!!!!! HOW COME HE'S NOT BUGSY SEIGALSTEINSTEEN? ASS WIPE.JEWBIE😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@onlythewise1]

me and my brother went to flamingo and played Roulet , my brother lose this money he was 21 i was not winning to but i gave my brother 20.00 more dollars he puts it on double 0 and it hits , he wins 200 dollars or so but they ask him for his id see if he is old enough to win , oh he is old enough to play, but they have to check see if he is old enough to win . ha ha

[@onlythewise1]

this back in 1975

[@VegasVisual]

Great story, 1975 was back when the Flamingo still had some of the original structures.

[@onlythewise1]

@@VegasVisual yes, my uncle live there since 1945, has single level hotel cheap rooms for five dollars a night but he become a alcoholic gambler spend all his money . he even hire men to remove him from table after he built up the money before he loses it all /

[@VegasVisual]

@@onlythewise1 Wow, your uncle lived through lived through classic Vegas and he was a lot like Billy Wilkerson but didn't have the money that Billy had.

[@onlythewise1]

@@VegasVisual nope but he owned a bar and a dog race track ,

[@gilbertchandler3847]

hello

[@VegasVisual]

hello

[@daddy69daddy]

Meyer Lansky was a genius

[@VegasVisual]

Very much so.

[@johnnyraider]

+ I THINK LANSKYSTEIN WAS F'D TOO. SILLY HEEBIE JEEBIE TOOK HIS DOG( NO NOT HIS WIFE) EVERYWHERE WITH HIM. STUNNED HEEBIE JEEBIE!!!!!!!! ALL F'D😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@VegasVisual]

The FBI spent slot of time watching Lansky's dog.