This is the eighth in a series of quizzes to test your knowledge of the Silver State. This time, the category is the mob. Until the late 1970s, Las Vegas had a historical connection with organized crime. How much do you know about its history? Good luck!

1. How many days did the Kefauver Committee hearings on organized crime run in the U.S. courthouse on Stewart Street in Downtown Las Vegas?

a. 10

b. Five

c. 15

d. One

2. True or False: The mob first became involved in Las Vegas in 1895.

3. What was the name of the attraction at the Tropicana which combined a multimedia experience with a museum?

a. Las Vegas Mob Experience

b. Crime Story

c. Mob Attraction

d. Me and the Mob

e. a and c

4. Which Nevada agency was created to toughen requirements for licensing of casinos?

a. The Casino Commission

b. The Gaming Control Board

c. Nevada Tax Commission

d. Silver State Gambling Agency

5. What was the room called where a portion of profit would be kept and sent to the mob?

a. The counting room

b. The money slide

c. The skim room

d. The bagging area

6. True or False: Flamingo developer and mob figure Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel’s girlfriend was an ice skating star.

7. Who was the first reputed organized crime figure in Las Vegas?

a. Al Capone

b. Frank Costello

c. Lester Joseph Gillis

d. Jim Ferguson

8. What was the name of the mob-company that ran several casinos in the ’70s, and provided inspiration for the film Casino?

a. A & L Limited

b. The Argent Corporation

c. Silver State Consolidated

d. Lucky Penny Company

9. Which Las Vegas attraction has a distillery in the basement?

a. Mob Attraction

b. Sin City Showdown

c. The Mob Museum

d. The Crime and Circumstance Cocktail Consortium

10. What is the name of the hotel featured in the movie Casino?

a. Circus Circus

b. Tangiers

c. Stardust

d. Casino Royale

Answers

1. C. Although The United States Senate Special Committee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Commerce spent only one day in Las Vegas, it opened here. The hearings eventually went to 14 cities and shed light on how much influence organized crime held.

2. False. Las Vegas was only formed as a city in 1905, and was sparsely populated before that.

3. E. The attraction opened as the Las Vegas Mob Attraction and changed names in 2012. It has since closed.

4. B. In 1955, the Nevada State Legislature created the panel, within the Nevada Tax Commission, to regulate the gaming industry and reduce criminal influence in the industry.

5. C. Although all casino has counting rooms where every banknote and coin is counted, only mob-controlled casinos had skim rooms, where a percentage of the profits were diverted and not reported.

6. False. Virginia Hill was a longtime mob figure and sometimes actress. The Flamingo was rumored to have been named for her long legs. She testified in the New York Kefauver hearing in 1951.

7. D. The “farmer” Jim Ferguson arrived in Las Vegas in 1924 and within a year had started to make moves within the red light district in Las Vegas, Block 16. He became a bootlegger, but that trade lead to his incarceration in 1929.

8. B. The Argent Corporation was owned by Allen R. Glick, a San Diego-based real estate developer who later testified in a 1983 case about skimming operations at Argent-owned casinos.

9. C. The downtown Mob Museum, which also features a speakeasy in the bottom level, was the site of the first Kefauver hearing.

10. B. However, the movie, shot in large part at the since-demolished Riviera, was loosely based on the Stardust, which was known to have mob ties.

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