How Nevada Banned 11 Men From Every Casino

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Published Aug 27, 2026

#TrueCrime #LasVegas #Mafia #Sinatra #OrganizedCrime #MobHistory #VegasHistory #Casino #Nevada #TrueCrimeDocumentary #GangsterHistory

In 1960, Nevada found a way to punish 11 men without arresting a single
one of them. No charges. No trial. No appeal. Just a black binder — and
a rule that could cost any casino its license.

This is the story of Nevada's "List of Excluded Persons," the book
everyone called the Black Book. Facing the skim, the suitcases of
untaxed cash, and a Washington that threatened to take gaming regulation
away from the state, Governor Grant Sawyer's team reversed the logic of
enforcement: if you can't revoke a mobster's license, take away the
building. Any casino that let a listed man stay would answer for it with
the one thing it couldn't afford to lose — its own license.

We cover:
• The skim — how casino cash left before the count and vanished into
Chicago, Kansas City and Cleveland
• The Kefauver hearings and why they put Las Vegas on trial in public
• Grant Sawyer's 1958 promise to keep organized crime out of gaming
• The 11 men in the first 1960 edition — including Chicago Outfit
enforcer Marshall Caifano
• Marshall v. Sawyer and the ruling that gambling is a privilege, not a
right — still the foundation of Nevada gaming law today
• Sam Giancana at the Cal-Neva Lodge, and how it cost Frank Sinatra his
Nevada gaming license

The Black Book didn't end the mob in Las Vegas. What it did was quieter,
and more permanent: it moved the fight to the front door, made the
casino the state's enforcer, and turned reputation itself into a weapon.
The book is heavier now. It has never closed.

#LasVegas #TrueCrime #MobHistory #Sinatra #Casino

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