Blood Aces

August 18, 2014
Swanson, investigative projects editor at The Dallas Morning News, shares the old-school crime history of Lester "Benny" Binion, a Texas backwater survivor who rose ruthlessly through the world of vice to serve as a founding father of the modern Las Vegas and create the highly profitable World Series of Poker. Nicknamed "The Cowboy" as a young man, Binion hustled his way through the bootlegging business to the illegal numbers or "policy" in Dallas, gathering influential friends on both sides of the law, marrying a pretty girl, and killing two men after the Chicago mob targeted him. He thrived on the Vegas Strip, acquiring a casino, rubbing shoulders with legendary gangsters such as Bugsy Siegel, and perfecting the sport of high-stakes poker despite legal challenges and government probes. Swanson skillfully brings Binion to life and continually intrigues with the exhilarating account of the history of poker and the decadent metropolis that reminds us that ambition, power, and violence often go hand-in-hand. This is the madcap, bloody, improbable life of an outlaw who left his mark on Las Vegas, poker, and gambling from coast to coast.

June 15, 2014
The big life and fast times of one of the most charismatic and dangerous good ol' boys in America's criminal history.No matter how you approach him, the legendary gambling mogul Benny Binion (1904-1989) was one lying, sneaky SOB, so it's impressive that Dallas Morning News investigative projects editor and crime novelist Swanson (House of Corrections, 2000, etc.) has dug up this much dirty laundry. In this well-researched and executed biography, the author offers a head-scratching explanation as to how a Texas-bred hillbilly with an IQ in the double digits came to lead a multimillion-dollar gambling empire. Fans of other gangster histories will likely be intrigued by Binion's arc, which spanned the 20th century and took him from the sticks of Texas to shape the modern-day direction of Las Vegas. Nicknamed "the Cowboy" after gunning down a local rumrunner, Binion soon came to be one of the most dangerous gangsters in Dallas, with several murders executed by his own hand. He admired his own ilk early, going so far as to arrange the delivery of a wreath at Clyde Barrow's funeral in 1934-from an airplane, no less. In the most damning and fascinating story in the book, Swanson relates Binion's feud with a long-standing rival, Herbert Noble. After an irate Binion put a price on his head, Noble survived nearly a dozen assassination attempts, all related in detail here. Finally, a car bomb that killed his wife nearly drove Noble over the edge before he finally got himself blown up in 1951. "They said he had nine lives," said Binion of his foe. "Damn good thing he didn't have ten." The later sections of the book will be of interest to poker fans, as Binion retreats to Sin City to buy casinos and accidentally creates a legacy when he founds the World Series of Poker as a promotional stunt.An entertaining and provocative portrait of a man whose dichotomies were largely a product of the violent times in which he thrived.

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August 1, 2014

If you ever watch the popular World Series of Poker on television, you can thank the gangster Benny Binion (1904-89) for its creation. Journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Swanson (Big Town; 96 Tears) traces the rise of Binion and how he became one of the most ruthless gangsters in Dallas. Though Binion had brushes with the law, he was never convicted because politicians protected him. However, in the 1946 election, his enemies took full advantage and he was forced to leave the city as new blood was voted in to run it. Binion moved his family to Las Vegas where he started to rebuild his empire, becoming a powerful casino owner. Like many gangsters, he was able to avoid prosecution for crimes (including murder) but was convicted of tax evasion. He would spend the rest of his life unsuccessfully trying to get a presidential pardon. Swanson gives readers an insight into how Dallas operated during the first part of the 20th century and sheds light on the unknown kingpin Binion. VERDICT Recommended for those who appreciate true crime, especially if they are interested in learning more about the lives of gangsters. While there is not a lot of blood and gore here, readers will be fascinated by Swanson's investigative research.--Michael Sawyer, Pine Bluff, AR

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2014
Benny Binion is not as well known as Bugsy Seigel, who created Las Vegas, but, as crime-novelist Swanson makes clear in this rollicking biography, Binion also deserves his place in the Sin City Hall of Fame. Born poor in rural Texas in 1904, Binion soon was on the road with his horse-trader father. The game, Swanson recounts, was to trade a bad horse for a good horse, a scam requiring plenty of chutzpah. Benny soon realized the downsidethe best you could do was end up with a better horsebut he also noticed that the gamblers who ran the games in which the traders lost what little money they had were doing just fine. In a few years, he was running the numbers game in the black neighborhoods of Dallas. After scaring off or killing a few too many rivals, Benny found that Dallas had become a bit too hot for comfort, sending him to Vegas, where he carved out a dominant spot for himself and eventually had the crazy idea of hosting something he decided to call the World Series of Poker. Swanson, a Dallas Morning News editor when he's not writing crime novels, has turned the biography of Binion into a great piece of narrative nonfiction that reads like, well, a great crime novel. When Las Vegas gets its faux Mt. Rushmore (and can that day be far off?), Benny's mug will be there, right alongside Bugsy's.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)