• Blood Aces

  • The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, the Texas Gangster Who Created Vegas Poker
  • By: Doug J. Swanson
  • Narrated by: John McLain
  • Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (373 ratings)

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Blood Aces  By  cover art

Blood Aces

By: Doug J. Swanson
Narrated by: John McLain
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Publisher's summary

The astonishing story of Benny Binion - a rip-roaring saga of murder, money, and the making of Las Vegas. Benny Binion was many things: a cowboy, a pioneering casino owner, a gangster, a killer, and founder of the hugely successful World Series of Poker. Blood Aces tells the story of Binion's crucial role in shaping modern Las Vegas. From a Texas backwater, Binion rose to prominence on a combination of vision, determination, and brutal expediency.

©2014 Doug J. Swanson (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Blood Aces

Average customer ratings
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Great Title to listen to

This is a great listen. I didn't know this history. very interesting. highly recommend this one.

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perfect

Great story of Benny’s life and also of the whole era. Very well researched.
Narrator’s voice is perfect. This is a fascinating biography of the man and the times

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Great book on an amazing character!

Love him or hate him, Benny Binion led a life that is unparalleled. An amazing story, well written and narrated!

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  • Overall
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Interesting book

Benny Binion was an interesting character. A tale of the Wild West in Las Vegas.

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    4 out of 5 stars

I loved this story

Great story about the early days of Dallas as well as Vegas- and of course Benny Binion.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Truth be told

The image of Benny Binion that was portrayed in Vegas after his death was that he was a friendly old gambler cattle rancher who owed a casino or two. A lot of people, both locals and tourists, believed it too.
Blood Aces shows a different side of Binion. In his early years Benny was the kind of man who would have people killed for getting in the way of his illegal gambling operations in Texas before relocating to Las Vegas.
While the book does cover Binion's conviction for Tax Fraud in the 1950's and the period that the Horseshoe was owned by Joe W. Brown I would have liked a little more detail on this.

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Good Listen...good story...

I love Poker and Las Vegas. I think the book is worth the listen. I would listen to more stories like it.

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Winner

Well researched, constructed and written. Great information about the history of Las Vegas. Bennie Binion was an original; the jury is still out on how to judge him

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good history

Anyone into overall poker and the
wild west, gambling, mobsters this is a must read

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a great mobster book.

the story of vinnie Binion founder of the horse casino in Las vegas. he also invented the world series of poker and was a key figure in Las Vegas for many years, but he had a checkered past and was suspected of committing a lot of crimes. a very interesting story.

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