Hit Me!

Fighting the Las Vegas Mob by the Numbers

De: Danielle Gomes, Jay Bonansinga

Narrado por: Ed Romanoff

Las Vegas, 1970s - a golden age of Glitter Gulch corruption. Dennis Gomes - the youngest division chief in Gaming Control Board history - whipped a ragtag group of auditors into hardened, gun-slinging investigators, and shattered clichés about milquetoast accountant cops. Coming within a hair’s breadth of death more than once, Gomes capped off his tenure with the famous bust of the Stardust skim, portrayed in the book and movie Casino.

In Hit Me!, there’s action to fill a dozen Scorsese films - midnight raids, heart-rending showgirl romances, and deadly double-crosses. And the cast of characters reads like a roll call of gangster lore. But no matter how much evidence Gomes uncovered, or how many witnesses and informants were bloodied, Gomes was swept aside by a political system that was dirty to its core.

It took nearly three decades, but in 2007, Gomes made a date with destiny at the Family Secrets Trial - the justice system finally taking out a “hit” on the mob. In a Chicago courtroom on July 30, 2007, Gomes - a key prosecutorial witness - finally settled all scores.

Dennis Gomes, who passed away in February 2012, will be posthumously inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame in Las Vegas in October 2012.

©2013 Globe Pequot (P)2021 Danielle Gomes-Chapman

Old Vegas

Great story about old Vegas, the last days of the mob, gaming enforcement, a great man and a love story.

Well written and read well… this was an enjoyable listen. Nice to go back to The Peppermill for a few minutes too!