Editing Bugsy Siegel (section)

==Las Vegas==
[[File:Bugsy Siegel Gangster.png|thumb|Siegel in Las Vegas]]
Problems with the Outfit's wire service had cleared up in Nevada and [[Arizona]], but in California, Siegel refused to report business.{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|p=288}} He later announced to his colleagues that he was running the California syndicate by himself and that he would return the loans in his "own good time." The mob bosses were patient with him because he had proven to be a valuable man.{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|p=289}}

===Flamingo Hotel===
In 1946, Siegel found an opportunity to reinvent his personal image and diversify into legitimate business with [[William R. Wilkerson]]'s [[Flamingo Las Vegas|Flamingo Hotel]].{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|p=62}} In the 1930s, Siegel had traveled to southern [[Nevada]] with Sedway to explore expanding operations there. He had found opportunities in providing illicit services to crews constructing the [[Hoover Dam|Boulder Dam]]. Lansky had handed over operations in Nevada to Siegel, who turned it over to Sedway and left for Hollywood.{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|p=74}}{{sfnp|Griffin|2006|pp=6–7}}

In the mid-1940s, Siegel was operating in [[Las Vegas]] while his lieutenants worked on a business policy to secure all gambling in Los Angeles.{{sfnp|Turkus|Feder|2003|p=288}} In May 1946, he decided that the agreement with Wilkerson had to be altered to give him control of the Flamingo.{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|p=80}} Within the Flamingo, Siegel would supply the gambling, the best liquor and food, and the biggest entertainers at reasonable prices. He believed that these attractions would lure thousands of vacationers willing to gamble $50 or $100, as well as "high rollers".<ref name="Greed Carpet">{{cite news|last=Koziol|first=Ronald|title=Bugsy Siegel Rolled Out The Greed Carpet For His Fellow Mobsters|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1987/09/27/bugsy-siegel-rolled-out-the-greed-carpet-for-his-fellow-mobsters/|access-date=September 26, 2012|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=September 27, 1987|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426224539/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1987-09-27/travel/8703130656_1_las-vegas-boulevard-flamingo-hotel-and-casino-bugsy-siegel|archive-date=April 26, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Wilkerson was eventually coerced into selling all stakes in the Flamingo under the threat of death, and he went into hiding in [[Paris]] for a time.{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|p=98}} From this point the Flamingo became syndicate-run.{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|p=81}} By October 1946, the Flamingo's costs were above $4&nbsp;million.{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|pp=83–84}} By 1947, the costs were over $6&nbsp;M (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|6|1946|r=0|fmt=c}} M in {{Inflation-year|US-GDP}}).{{sfnp|Jennings|1992|p=6}} By late November of that year, the work was nearly finished.{{sfnp|Jennings|1992|pp=169–171}}

According to later reports by local observers, Siegel's "maniacal chest-puffing" set the pattern for several generations of notable casino moguls.<ref name="First 100 Persons...">{{cite web |last=Smith |first=John L. |date=February 7, 1999 |title=Benjamin Siegel (1905-1947) 'Bugsy' |url=http://www.1st100.com/part2/siegel.html |work=[[Las Vegas Review-Journal]] |access-date=March 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308034529/http://www.1st100.com/part2/siegel.html|archive-date=March 8, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> He boasted one day that he had personally killed some men; he saw the panicked look on the face of head contractor [[Del Webb]] and reassured him, "Del, don't worry, we only kill each other."{{sfnp|Jennings|1992|p=17}} Other associates portrayed Siegel in a different aspect; he was an intense character who was not without a charitable side, including his donations for the [[Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation|Damon Runyon Cancer Fund]].<ref name="First 100 Persons..." /> Siegel's Las Vegas attorney Lou Weiner Jr. described him as "very well liked" and said that he was "good to people."<ref name="First 100 Persons..." />

====Opening====
The Flamingo opened on December 26, 1946, despite being unfinished.{{sfnp|Griffin|2006|pp=9–10}} Local people attended the opening, and some celebrities present included George Raft, [[June Haver]], [[Vivian Blaine]], [[Sonny Tufts]], [[Brian Donlevy]], and [[Charles Coburn]]. They were welcomed by construction noise and a lobby draped with drop cloths. When word made its way to Siegel during the evening that the casino was losing money, he became irate and verbally abusive and threw out at least one family.{{sfnp|Griffin|2006|p=10}} 

After two weeks, the Flamingo's gaming tables were $275,000 in the red and the casino briefly shut down.{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|pp=99–104}} Siegel continued construction and hired [[Hank Greenspun]] as a publicist. The Flamingo reopened on March 1, 1947,{{sfnp|Wilkerson|2000|p=106}} and began turning a profit.<ref name="Siegel and the Flamingo">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Burbank|first=Jeff|title=Bugsy Siegel and the Flamingo Hotel |date=October 18, 2010 |encyclopedia=The Online Nevada Encyclopedia |publisher=Nevada Humanities |url=http://www.onlinenevada.org/bugsy_siegel_and_the_flamingo_hotel |access-date=December 16, 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130322123335/http://www.onlinenevada.org/bugsy_siegel_and_the_flamingo_hotel |archive-date=March 22, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first1=Ed|last1=Koch|first2=Mary |last2=Manning |url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/15/mob-ties/ |access-date=November 19, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121230183419/http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/15/mob-ties/ |archive-date=December 30, 2012 |url-status=live|title=Mob Ties|date=May 15, 2008 |work=[[Las Vegas Sun]]}}</ref> However, by this point mob bosses had lost their patience for Siegel.<ref name="First 100 Persons..." />