Ovid Demaris

The Green Felt Jungle Ovid Demaris

The Green Felt Jungle is the first book that dares to penetrate the mirage of Las Vegas, the respectable, fun-loving resort where carefree tourists may innocently and legally indulge in gambling. In a carefully documented exposé (which includes some astounding, secretly taped confidential conversations), the authors explore the real Las Vegas-a clever (and profitable) front for organized crime. Everything is legal, of course-everything except mysterious, unreported murders, systematic tax evasion, widespread prostitution, tacit segregation, and the graft that greases the entire system. Why was Bugsy Siegel, the founder of modern Las Vegas, liquidated? Who are some of Frank Sinatra's sinister partners in the Sands Hotel? How large is Jimmy Hoffa's interest in the glittering hotels along the Strip? Guess who some of Senator Barry Goldwater's companions have been on his numerous gambling junkets. And why was the body of a United States Senator who died just before election day preserved in a bathtub full of ice until all the returns were in? Citing irrefutable evidence, the authors expose the ways in which some of the nation's top criminals, under the pretense of operating "legitimate" businesses, are actually pouring millions of tourist-trade dollars into the coffers of the Mafia. They name the hidden interests who really control the casinos and disclose the hypocrisy and corruption that surround public officials on virtually every level of government. Also explained in detail are the tourist's actual chances of coming away a winner, the various "house percentages," the subtle devices used to lure players to the tables-and keep them there. Ironically, the gambling equipment is possibly the only thing in Las Vegas that is really on the level.