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Binion's Horseshoe was a hotel and casino located in
downtown Las Vegas, Nevada on the Fremont Street Experience.
The casino is named for its founder, Benny Binion and
has 366 rooms.
In the 1940s Binion moved to Las Vegas
from Texas because of increased political pressure.
He bought the Eldorado Club in 1951 which later became
Binion's Horseshoe. It was one of the first casinos
to have carpeting and comps for all its players, and
was an immediate hit because of the large limits on
bets.
Binion's entire family was involved
in the casino. His sons Jack Binion and Ted Binion would
become president and manager, respectively, and his
wife Teddy Jane managed the casino cage.
History
In 1970 it became the host to the
largest set of poker tournaments in the world, the World
Series of Poker. In 1988 the Horseshoe expanded by acquiring
The Mint, a high-rise hotel adjacent to it. Benny Binion,
the founder, died in 1989.
In 1998, Binion's daughter, Becky Behnen,
took over the presidency after a legal battle. Jack
moved on to other gambling interests, but retained a
tiny ownership interest in Binion's. Behnen implemented
cost-cutting measures, some of which were unpopular.
Among the most notable was the removal of the horseshoe
exhibit that had held $1 million in $10,000 bills, providing
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.
Under Behnen's leadership, the casino
became deeply in debt and was closed during an IRS raid
on January 9, 2004 for non-payment of taxes. In March,
Harrah's Entertainment purchased Binion's Horseshoe,
which re-opened in April.
After buying the Horseshoe, Harrah's
Entertainment sold the property on March 11, 2004 to
MTR Gaming Group, which operated the hotel. Harrah's
continued to operate the casino under a temporary contract
until March of 2005. Harrah's retained the rights to
the Horseshoe name and the World Series of Poker name.
When the casino was remodeled after
the purchase, the original carpeting was installed.
It seems that Benny Binion had ordered and stored for
all these years, enough carpet to re-carpet the entire
casino.
On March 11, 2005, MTR Gaming took
over operation of the casino and it was renamed Binion's
Gambling Hall & Hotel.
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