The Black Book and the Mob: The Untold Story of the Control of Nevada's Casinos [Hardcover]

Ronald Farrell (Author), Carole Case (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1995

A tale of good and evil, of corruption and deceit, of prejudice, politics, and power, this compelling account scrutinizes the immensely lucrative Nevada gambling industry’s struggle to maintain legitimacy—or at least the appearance of it.
    Ronald A. Farrell and Carole Case tell how state regulators created the “Black Book” in the 1960s, a list of “notorious and unsavory” persons banned forever from owning, managing, or even entering casinos in the state. The regulators dramatically pursued and publicly denounced former lieutenants of Al Capone, alleged overlords of the American Mafia, nationally known professional gamblers, and major casino owners, as well as small-time bookies and hoods, reputed sports fixers, and gambling cheats. To date, thirty-eight names have been entered in the Black Book, including Sam Giancana, Anthony Spilotro, and Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal.
    Farrell and Case contend, however, that the denunciations were a melodrama, meant to show that the government was cleansing the city of corruption. Through the Black Book, the regulators focus public attention on “the Mob,” rather than on a multitude of competing criminal interests already in the gaming industry. The authors uncover evidence of ethnic discrimination by the regulators, including selective prosecution of Italian Americans whose notoriety fit popular Mafia stereotypes.
    The Black Book and the Mob records hearings of the regulatory commission and the voices of lawyers, government officials, casino owners, and the people named in the Black Book itself. This Las Vegas story is a rebuke to the gaming industry and a cautionary tale for many states and communities now weighing the legalization of casino gambling.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In The Black Book and the Mob: The Untold Story of the Control of Nevada's Casinos, criminologists Ronald Farrell and Carole Case uncover the unfair regulation of Nevada's lucrative gambling industry. The "Black Book" is a list of "notorious and unsavory persons" prohibited from participating in Nevada gaming. By examining regulatory hearing records on gaming from 1950 to the present, Farrell and Case reveal unfair targeting of Italian-Americans and others fitting the "mafia" stereotype. The authors explore the cases of two such "excluded persons", Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal and Anthony Spilotro, also the principle characters in the Martin Scorsese film Casino. Farrell and Case maintain that the Black Book is used to make the gaming industry appear clean, that is, free of Mob influence. In fact, they say, corporate crime presents a greater and unacknowledged danger to Nevada's gambling business. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Ronald A. Farrell is professor of criminal justice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is the author of Murder, Inequality and the Law and Deviance and Social Control. Carole Case is associate professor of criminal justice at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She has written Down the Backstretch: Racing and the American Dream.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 1 edition (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299147509
• ISBN-13: 978-0299147501
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,149,844 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The names of the powerful don't necessarily end in vowels., May 19, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Black Book and the Mob: The Untold Story of the Control of Nevada's Casinos (Paperback)

(The numerical rating above is a default setting within Amazon's format. This reviewer does not employ numerical ratings.)

The authors, criminal justice professors at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, argue that the "Black Book", (the list of persons excluded from participation in legal gambling), is maintained by the State of Nevada for symbolic purposes, to assert an image of control and propriety.

The Black Book is further tainted by its focus on stereotypical ethnic types, largely Italian Americans, to the exclusion of others, like the Mormans, who actually wield great power in Nevada gaming but suffer no opprobrium as a result.

Interesting reading.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this book surprised me, August 4, 1998

By 

Eric Aros (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Black Book and the Mob: The Untold Story of the Control of Nevada's Casinos (Paperback)

When I first purchased the book, it was only because it dealt with the mob and Las Vegas. Once I began to read the book, it really made me think and the really great part of the book is that it examines each person and the reasons that they were included in the black book. If you like the mafia and you love Vegas, then you ought to read this one.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very poorly researched with questionable conclusions, August 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Black Book and the Mob: The Untold Story of the Control of Nevada's Casinos (Paperback)

The book written to show prejudice and a white wash of Nevada's casino industry instead showed the lack of research of the authors. The question asked apparently is should Frank Rosenthal or Carl Thomas be in the "Black Book"? My answer is why are so few others included. A review of those included in the "Black Book" show an unusually high number of convicted skimmers and bookmakers. Wouldn't these be the people most likly to cause problems within the casino industry. As for the case of poor Frank Masterana-he ran the largest bookmaking operation in the Dominican Republic until he was closed down and then moved to Latin America where he continues to operate an illegal establishment. I agree that there is a high number of Italian-Americans in the "Black Book" but most bookmaking throughout the US is controlled by those of Italian desent so of course they would represent a high number of gaming offenses and the related extortion and loan-sharking.