Abstract
The Binion’s Horseshoe Club Photograph Collection dates between approximately 1940 to 1985 and contains black-and-white and color photographic prints and negatives depicting Benny Binion’s family, friends, and Binion’s Horseshoe Club, also known as Binion’s Hotel and Casino, Binion's Horseshoe, and Binion's Gambling Hall. Photographs of Binion’s family and friends show them posed at Binion’s casino property, Binion Ranch, and events including rodeos and the Helldorado parade. Binion’s Horseshoe photographs include views of street scenes and billboard advertisements featuring Binion’s Horseshoe, the Million Dollar Display, quarter horse sales, World Series of Poker events, Binion’s Horseshoe stagecoach, and celebrities visiting the property.
Finding Aid PDF
Date
Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The Binion’s Horseshoe Club Photograph Collection dates between approximately 1940 to 1985 and contains black-and-white and color photographic prints and negatives depicting Benny Binion’s family, friends, and Binion’s Horseshoe Club, also known as Binion’s Hotel and Casino, Binion's Horseshoe, and Binion's Gambling Hall. Photographs of Binion’s family and friends show them posed at Binion’s casino property, Binion Ranch, and events including rodeos and the Helldorado parade. Binion’s Horseshoe photographs include views of street scenes and billboard advertisements featuring Binion’s Horseshoe, the Million Dollar Display, quarter horse sales, World Series of Poker events, Binion’s Horseshoe stagecoach, and celebrities visiting the property.
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
Lester Benjamin "Benny" Binion was born on November 20, 1904 near Dallas-Fort Worth, in Texas. In 1951, 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 for providing customers with well-received hospitality and amenities. 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 changed its name to Binion's Horseshoe. Benny Binion's oldest son, Jack, became the president of the Horseshoe, and his younger son, Lonnie "Ted" Binion, acted as casino manager. Although Benny not possess a gaming license, he remained listed on the payroll for decades as a consultant.
Binion first introduced tournament poker in 1949 when he arranged an extended match between poker players Nicholas Andreas "Nick the Greek" Dandolos and Johnny Moss. In 1970, Binion bought the rights to host the World Series of Poker (WSOP) from a casino owner in Reno, Nevada and began hosting the annual tournament at the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. The contest was open to professional poker players and amateurs alike, as long as they could pay the ten thousand dollar buy-in fee. Beginning in 1977, a separate women's event was established within the tournament. The increasing popularity of the WSOP attracted more players and potential winnings increased to an excess of a million dollars.
Binion died on December 25, 1989.
Source:
Hopkins, A. D. "Benny Binion." Las Vegas Review-Journal. February 7, 1999. Accessed March 5, 2020. https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/benny-binion/
Preferred Citation
Binion’s Horseshoe Club Photograph Collection, approximately 1940-1985. PH-00318. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 1991 by Jack Binion; accession number 1991-30.
Processing Note
In 2020, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Jimmy Chang wrote the finding aid and entered the data into ArchivesSpace.