Abstract
The UNLV Libraries Collection of Binion’s Horseshoe Hotel and Casino Promotional and Press Materials includes clippings, press kits, press releases, and promotional materials dating from 1963 to 2004 for Binion’s Horseshoe Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Finding Aid PDF
Date
Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The UNLV Libraries Collection of Binion’s Horseshoe Hotel and Casino Promotional and Press Materials includes clippings, press kits, press releases, and promotional materials dating from 1963 to 2004 for Binion’s Horseshoe Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. This collection contains items previously described as "Promotional and publicity material: Binion’s Horseshoe Hotel and Casino."
Access Note
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials remain as they were received.
Biographical / Historical Note
In 1951, Lester Benjamin Binion purchased the Eldorado Club on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada and renamed it the Horseshoe Club. He established a reputation as a casino operator who provided his customers unmatched hospitality with inexpensive, quality meals and high-limit tables. The Horseshoe was the first downtown property to have a fully carpeted casino. After his conviction for tax evasion in 1953, Binion sold the majority interest in the Horseshoe to Joe W. Brown, but later regained full ownership. By 1964 the Horseshoe Hotel and Casino was renamed Binion's Horseshoe. Benny Binion's son Jack became the president of the Horseshoe and his younger son Lonnie "Ted" Binion acted as casino manager. Although Benny was not licensed, he was listed on the payroll for decades as a consultant.
Binion's greatest contribution to the gaming industry was the introduction of tournament poker. He originally conceived the idea in 1949 when he arranged an extended match between poker greats Nick the Greek and Johnny Moss. Decades later, Binion bought the rights to host the World Series of Poker from a casino owner in Reno, Nevada and began hosting the annual tournament at the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1970. The contest was open to professional poker players and amateurs alike, provided they could pay the ten thousand dollar buy-in fee. Beginning in 1977, a separate women's event was established within the larger tournament, a move which broke a barrier to a game traditionally perceived as masculine and received extensive press within the industry. The increasing popularity of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) attracted more players and potential winnings increased to an excess of a million dollars. The Binions orchestrated a system of time-limited play that allowed the tournaments to be televised on networks such as ESPN. Binion's Horseshoe hosted the World Series of Poker for over thirty years.
Source:
Binion's Horseshoe Casino Records on Poker, 1960-2002. MS-00325. Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
Preferred Citation
UNLV Libraries Collection of Binion’s Horseshoe Promotional and Press Materials, 1963-2004. MS-00940. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were acquired periodically by UNLV Special Collections and Archives from a variety of sources; accession number 2019-054.
Processing Note
In 2019 as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Miguel Dominguez and Nia Banks compiled the materials from multiple sources that included subject files and previously cataloged material. Miguel Dominguez wrote the finding aid.