Casino: The REAL Sam 'Ace' Rothstein/Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal

in the glittering heart of the Las Vegas Strip where the neon lights shine even brighter than the Desert Sun itself one man would establish himself as a legend of Sin City's Golden Era he was a Visionary and a Maverick who redefined the way casinos operated and pioneered Las Vegas into the gambler's Paradise we know it as today his name was Frank Lefty Rosenthal and he was the mob's secret man in Vegas tasked with running their Casino operations while simultaneously stealing as much of the money as he could at one point Lefty seemed invulnerable and absolutely everything he touched turned to Gold but in the end his unquenchable hubris would lead to his shocking downfall in 1995 Lefty was immortalized in the Public's conscience when the Martin Scorsese film Casino was released the main character of which was Robert Dao's Sam Ace Rothstein who was based on Lefty but a lot of the more scandalous aspects of his life didn't make the final cut and so today we will examine the true story behind the rise and fall of Frank Rosenthal Lefty was born on June 12th 1929 in Chicago and grew up in the city's West Side his father was a successful produce wholesaler who was also an avid equestrian that owned several race horses Lefty spent a lot of his formative years with his father at the racetrack where he was first introduced to the world of gambling at a young age he learned everything there was to learn about betting and one day he and some friends skipped school and went to the racetrack out of the eight Races they stayed for Lefty managed to pick the winner seven times he won a good amount of money which he of course all lost the next day when he went back to the track but Lefty didn't care and gambling quickly became his first love a feeling that only blossomed when he first made a trip to Wrigley Field on his first visit he met a man named Stacy who loved to bet on everything from how many strikeouts there'd be to how many times someone would get to first base Lefty was full of Pride from his successes at the racetrack and so he'd regularly make make Bets with Stacy but eventually Lefty realized that he was being hustled and that the odds Stacy gave him were fake to ensure that he'd always win undeterred Lefty quickly realized the one thing that separated the serious gamblers like Stacy from the Schmucks was accurate information and so Lefty bought a shortwave radio and subscriptions to every major newspaper in the country so he could learn everything there was to know about the teams he wanted to bet on he'd also call Sports reporters all across the country and come up with bogus stories to find out extra bits of information that didn't make it into the papers eventually people started to catch on to what he was doing which Lefty turned into a business proposition anytime someone's information helped him place a successful bet Lefty would share a piece of the proceeds with them this insured that by the time he was 20 Lefty had amassed an entire Army of informants all across the country who kept him updated anytime a player was sick or had a nagging injury that the media or other gamblers didn't know about Lefty did by 1950 Lefty had established a reputation as the most successful Sports better in the city he soon caught the attention of Fior bueri a member of the powerful Chicago mob also known as the outfit because of his uncanny knack for making money Lefty quickly became friends with many of the outfit's highest ranking members which surprised the local FBI as usually the Mobsters would never associate with a lowly Gambler Lefty would be seen moving all around town with some of the top guys he'd go for coffee with them he'd go places where outfit guys never took Outsiders later the bossers began using him whenever they found that their own gambling operations weren't making as much money as they had in the past we had very good information that the outfit's top guys would often call Lefty whenever they had gambling questions he was like the boss's troubleshooter and he could question anyone even made men this unique position Lefty was afforded was solely due to his ability to make money and before long the outfit placed him in charge of an illegal bookmaking operation based in s Illinois under ley's leadership this small office quickly grew into the largest sports betting operation in the United States but his success soon caught the attention of the FBI who were in the midst of a nationwide Crackdown on illegal gambling he would eventually be indicted as a conspirator on multiple Sports bribery charges he beat the charges but with the heat only increasing Lefty decided that it would be in his best interest to move his operations and so he relocated to Miami Florida starting with just $15,000 Lefty's operation recorded a profit of over 400,000 by the end of the college basketball season his success soon caught the attention of Eli the Juiceman a shady grapefruit salesman who acted as the middleman between local criminals and corrupt cops in the area Eli met with Lefty and told him that it would be in his best interest to pay him $500 every month Lefty refused and not long after on New Year's Day his door was busted down by the police as soon as he saw them Lefty began yelling what's the matter you didn't get your piece is that why you're here insulted that he directly called out their corruption the local police began harassing Ley by following him everywhere he went and riding him tickets for even the most minor of infractions one night while driving down a deserted Road outside Miami Lefty was pulled over by two undercover federal agents as he stepped out of his car one of the agents grabbed him by the collar and threw him to the ground and said we finally got you we're going to take you into the woods and beat you to a [ __ ] pulp at that moment another car appeared on the other side of the road the driver was none other than Lefty's childhood friend from Chicago Tony Spilotro even though he stood at just 51 Tony squared up with the agents and told them you two gutless sons of [ __ ] you ain't going to do nothing to him not wanting any trouble from someone willing to fight back the two agents got in their car and left Tony had been sent to Florida by the outfit bosses to look after Lefty as he was still their top gambling expert but Tony was power less against Lefty's most dangerous adversary newly appointed attorney General Robert F Kennedy who had begun looking into the alleged connection between illegal gambling and organized crime Lefty was issued a subpoena to appear before us Senator John mclen subcommittee on gambling and organized crime he was accused of attempting to bribe a halfback on the Oregon Ducks college football team to lose their game by exactly eight points the halfback pretended to agree to Lefty's offer but secretly told his coach who in turn informed the Fed before his appearance at the committee Lefty was told by his lawyers if he answered even one question that he would then be forced to answer every subsequent question or be held in contempt of court which would have meant jail time to get around this Lefty turned his testimony into a complete Fiasco when asked by the chairman are you left-handed Lefty replied I respectfully declined to answer that question as I honestly believe my answer might incriminate me a response that he repeated an astonishing 37 times this ensured that he was able to get away without any charges but State authorities were able to use the very fact that he had even been called to testify before the committee as reason enough to ban him from every racetrack in Florida around this time a number of lefties competitors had their businesses firebombed which the FBI strongly suspected Lefty as having orchestrated and so they opened an active case file on him that quickly amassed over 300 pages with the heat only increasing Lefty would find himself arrested over a dozen times on gambling charges over the next four years he'd beat all of the cases except for one in North Carolina where he had been accused of bribing a New York University basketball player to throw the game he pleaded no contest and while the conviction didn't come with any jail time it would have a Monumental effect on Lefty's career down the road the State of Florida was determined to shut Lefty down an ambition that they would eventually succeed in when they were able to obtain a court order to have the telephone lines in his house pulled out as they were able to prove to a judge that he was using them to commit criminal activities with that Lefty decided to call it quits in Florida and he again relocated this time to Las Vegas which was quickly becoming the gambling capital of the world before he had even stepped off the plane Vegas Police received a tip off from the Chicago crime commission that Lefty was coming to town after being in town for only a day Lefty was arrested and brought to the police station with his hands cuffed behind his back Lefty was brought to the office of Jean Clark the chief of Detectives Clark told Lefty quote I want you out of this town by midnight tonight we don't want your type around here when Lefty declined Clark went behind Lefty and started strangling him just as he was about to faint Clark released him and said you got the message be out of here by midnight because there are a lot of holes out there in the desert and you don't want to fill any of them thankfully for Lefty though he was able to calm the situation by calling his friend Dean chandelle an executive at Caesar's Palace who then phoned the chief and convinced him that Lefty was unaffiliated with anyone in organized crime and wouldn't cause any trouble with that taken care of Lefty rented a room at the Tropicana Hotel and placed all of his bets at the Rose Bowl a legal sports book across the street from Caesars even though his operation had been substantially downsized Lefty hadn't lost his ability to pick winners and that year he bet on the correct team for every week of Monday Night Football one night as he was returning to the Tropicana Lefty's eye was caught by one of the casino's dancers a woman named Gary McGee she was the most beautiful girl I ever saw she was tall statuesque great posture and everyone who met her liked her in 5 minutes the girl had fantastic charm Lefty was absolutely smitten and the two began dating not long after Jerry however didn't return Lefty's affections as he was just one of several individuals all rich businessmen whom she was seeing at the time one day Lefty even saw a Rolodex that was filled with the names of her clients men from all over the country who she'd hook up with whenever they were in town she had come from a poor family and now at 33 years old she was supporting her mother sister two nephews and daughter who all lived in her three-bedroom home as Jerry was now in her 30s her sister convinced her that the Clock Was ticking for her to marry a rich man Jerry agreed and although she was initially hesitant to the idea of marrying Lefty due to the fact that he was a triple Gemini she eventually accepted that he was her best candidate since he was a rich businessman who also lived in Vegas so she wouldn't have to move away from her family Lefty was at first against the idea but an incident later that year would change his mind one night while he and Jerry were out on a date at a nightclub in walked Johnny Hicks an old boyfriend and the son of the owner of the alers hotel while Lefty was sitting on the sidelines nursing an ulcer Johnny started dancing with Jerry and put his hands on her hips enraged Lefty got up and tackled Johnny to the ground but since Johnny was almost 30 years younger he easily threw Lefty off and started beating him up before the fight was broken up by security Lefty was Furious and so he went back to his hotel room and got a gun he was determined to kill Johnny but Jerry eventually talked him down at that moment Lefty realized that he loved Jerry and the two would marry on May 1st 1969 I knew Jerry didn't love me when we got married but I was so attracted to her when I proposed I thought I could build a nice family and a nice relationship 3 years later Lefty took a job at the Stardust Hotel one of the Premier casinos in Vegas His official title was floor manager but very quickly the other employees realized that he wasn't just an average hire as within only a week of his employment he was bossing around other employees who technically outranked him the biggest clue that things were not as they seemed though was the fact that Lefty was from Chicago a trait he shared with many of the casino's top Executives managers dealers and even security guards the year Lefty went to work at the Stardust was the same year that the casino along with the Fremont Hotel were sold to a San Diego real estate developer and Vietnam veteran named Alan Glick in 1972 Glick took out a $2.3 million loan and used it to purchase a controlling share in the hasienda hotel casino looking to expand his Empire Glick then set his sights on the Stardust and so he secretly met with Frank balistrieri the boss of the Milwaukee crime family and the father of his college friend and Joseph they negotiated a deal where balistrieri would provide Glick the funds required to purchase both the Stardust and the Fremont Hotel and in return Glick agreed to one day sell his ownership shares to balistreri's Sons for just $25,000 balistrieri then met with mob bosses from both Chicago and Kansas City who all agreed to use their influence with the Teamsters Union to take out a $62 million loan from their pension fund but before the money was handed over to Glick balistrieri had had just one more condition there's a guy living in Las Vegas he's working for you now it would be helpful if you give him more recognition he can help you and that person was of course Lefty Glick looked into Lefty and discovered that he was a master Gambler who knew everything there was to know about casino games he also learned that he would probably never be given a gaming license due to his previous bribery conviction and alleged ties to organized crime but Glick didn't have any other choice and so he named Lefty his special adviser almost instantly after Lefty began making sweeping changes at the casinos that he never bothered to First consult Glick about the two would constantly butt heads with Lefty making operational changes only for Glick to later reverse them their Feud came to a head one day when Glick invited Lefty to a meeting in a cafe in the Stardust Glick foolishly believed that because his name was the one on the ownership papers that he was the top boss and he intended to fully assert his authority over Lefty once and for all instead however Lefty cut him off mid rant and said quote I was placed in this position not for your benefit but for the benefit of others and I have been instructed to not take any nonsense from you if you interfere with any of the casino operations or try to undermine anything I want to do here I represent to you that you will never leave this Corporation alive Glick then realized that he'd been played the mob bosses never intended for him to be the actual boss of the casinos he was only to act as such while Lefty Secret ran things behind the scenes the mob needed him to act as the frontman due to his squeaky clean business reputation but as Lefty told him in no uncertain terms if he presented a problem then he was easily replaceable while Glick continued to offer minor resistance Lefty was now solidly in charge and over the next several years he instituted numerous changes that would alter Vegas forever one of which was to hire female Blackjack dealers the first casino to do so and this would end up doubling the stardust's profits in just one year he also opened up the first sports book inside a casino a trailblazing step that also significantly increased the stardust's profits but Lefty wasn't put in his position to increase Casino profits in actuality his main goal was to oversee what was called the skim the embezzlement of Casino profits before they could be officially recorded through the usage of fake weighing scales and rigged slot machines the FBI estimated that in Just 4 years the mob managed to steal over $15 million through lefy a inations which is the equivalent of over $93 million when adjusted for 2023 inflation but things were complicated with the arrival of Tony Spilotro sent by the bosses back in Chicago to watch over and protect Lefty Tony was more interested in becoming the Crime Boss of Vegas and he imposed a street tax on all criminals in the city and murdered anyone who refused to pay up he also brought in his crew from Chicago who committed a series of high-profile burglaries across Vegas the media named them the Hole in the Wall Gang due to their penchant for breaking into business by hammering a hole in the wall with Tony's arrival on the scene the Vegas murder rate went up 70% which led to the police putting him under 247 surveillance in order to take him down due to their previous Association the heat Tony was generating also extended to Lefty but that didn't stop his skimming scheme from working beautifully but all that would change when in 1976 the police discovered that Lefty was working inside the casino without having the proper gaming license due to his history they strongly suspected that he was also secretly running the show in the casinos and so the Nevada Gaming Control Board held a hearing to determine whether or not he was eligible for a license the hearing which was chaired by Future Democratic party Senator Harry Reid would rule against Lefty due to his previous arrest record as well as his well-established history with Tony spalatro Lefty was incensed and vowed to obtain a gaming license no matter what and to take his case all all the way to the US Supreme Court if he had to in the meantime however he had to take the title of food and beverage director and later entertainment manager both of which allowed him to work inside the casinos without a license to lend legitimacy to his latter job title as well as to feed his ego Lefty launched a talk show called The Frank Rosenthal show that was filmed in the Stardust while ostensibly he did this to promote the casino in actuality he did it to promote himself as well as his legal battle despite the fact that the show aired only sporadically because of the big names that would appear as guests including Frank Sinatra and OJ Simpson the program was one of the most watched in the area making Lefty a Bonafide Vegas star he was regularly noticed and asked for his autograph and celebrities from all across the United States wanted to party with the Ace of Vegas this newly found Fame only served to further alienate his wife Jerry who had already grown to hate him after he forced her to have another child against her wishes Jerry soon began a clandestine affair with Tony one day the two had a massive fight after things calmed down Jerry looked at Lefty and calmly told Hime I [ __ ] Tony she then left his house and drove to the bank where she stole a substantial amount of his savings the two would eventually divorce in 1981 and Jerry would die in 1982 from a suspected drug overdose back in 1978 though and the mob's conspiracy to skim the profits from Vegas casinos was continuing without a hitch but a meeting in Kansas City would change everything Joe austo and Carl Thomas Executives with the Tropicana Hotel met with high ranking Kansas City mobster Nicholas CLL inside his home which unbeknownst to everyone involved was wired by the FBI from 10: a.m. to 6 p.m. the three men discussed their involvement in skimming the tropicana's profits and sending it back to Kansas City at Great length Agosto discussed everything from his favorite and least favorite ways to skim money to even how the skimming methods the Chicago mob used in its casinos were different from how they did it he detailed the mob's entire Vegas scheme in shockingly intricate detail when the FBI heard this tape they raided cella's home and inside they discovered Carl's detailed notes that outlined how the entire skimming operation worked and also discussed the distribution of profits between bosses in Chicago Kansas City and Milwaukee with this information in hand the FBI was able to shut down the mob's entire Vegas operations and sent out indict ments to dozens of high ranking Mobsters including Milwaukee boss Frank balistrieri Chicago boss Joey doves Kansas City boss Carl SLL and even Tony spalatro with the House of Cards tumbling down Lefty survived an assassination attempt after someone placed a bomb in his car he miraculously survived thanks to a manufacturing issue where a metal plate was placed under the driver's seat on all Cadillac Eldorado models to correct a balancing problem the plate shielded his body from the blast although no one was ever charged with attempted murder police believed that Frank balistrieri was behind it as they heard him on a wiretap blaming Lefty for all of the legal problems he was currently facing 6 months later Lefty departed Vegas and moved to California where he focused on raising his children in 1987 he was officially placed in the state of Nevada's blackbook meaning he was officially banned from entering every Casino in the state later in life he moved back to Florida where he opened a sports bar called Crocs Frank Lefty Rosenthal died on October 13th 2008 at the age of 79 from a heart attack and that was the video If you enjoyed it please like And subscribe thanks and I'll see you next time

Channel: Crime Time Stories

Views: 237,321

Keywords: lefty, left, casino, robert de niro, robert deniro, joe pesci, joe pecsi, vegas, mob, mafia, organized crime, casino movie, casino movie ace, ace rothstein, nicky santoro, casino joe pesci, casino robert de niro

Id: pI7mnu8oBQs

Length: 20min 40sec (1240 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 08 2023