When it had opened it was a massive failure as it was not completely finished and parts of it was still under construction. Lansky of course ran the money for the Mafia and was assigned to Las Vegas to supervise Siegel and others to make sure the mob's interests were protected. The Flamingo opened on December 26, 1946, and was run by Siegel and Meyer Lansky, both mafia figures in the Jewish Mob. In addition, most of the chips you see out there are nowhere near the great quality condition as this one and in this kind of shape.

Finding the ones that haven't been punched are the toughest to find like this one here and their value amongst poker chip collectors is significantly more sought after and valued because of this.

Every casino does this, but most of these chips you find out there have this 'hole punch' if you would, as the hotel obviously had most of the population of these chips in circulation. Many of these chips have holes punched into them which were done by the Flamingo cashier cage and dealers know the chip is discontinued and can no longer be used as currency in the casino. The chip itself is in really nice condition and is bright orange in color. The chip is a standard size orange clay chip with a wafer metal inlay in the middle on both sides that red 'THE FLAMINGO LAS VEGAS 5.00'. This type of chip is known as a 'Bugsy Chip' as this was the only type of chip that was around while he still ran the iconic Las Vegas landmark hotel. Since that day, the Flamingo has changed ownership 4 times, including its final sale from Park Place Entertainment in 2005.Looking for that next great memorabilia item for your collection? Well, this it! 1946 Flamingo $5 Poker Chip! This is an original poker chip from the opening of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. On June 20, 1947, 300 miles from Las Vegas, at the Beverly Hills mansion of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill, Bugsy was killed in a hail of gunfire by unknown assailants. Siegel's preoccupation with safety and escape routes proved to be geographically misplaced. This included a hidden ladder leading from the hallway closet to a basement tunnel, which led to an underground garage, where Bugsy allegedly had a chauffeured getaway car awaiting at all times.īut Mr. And, although there was only one entrance to the top-floor suite, there were five possible exits. The windowpanes, for instance, were bullet proof. Siegel's 'Bugsy Suite,' or 'Presidential Suite,' as it was sometimes referred to, was unique in more ways than one. The hotel, which housed 77 rooms, including the notorious Mr. On this site, Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel's original Flamingo Hotel stood from Decemuntil December 14, 1993.

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