History can be cruel. Places that were once thriving centers of attraction can at a later time lie ignored and neglected, deprived of their past glory. One such institution is the Binion’s Horseshoe Casino, which is where poker gained respectability in the United States.

Benny Binion bought the Eldorado Club and Apache Hotel on the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Vegas and converted them into Binion’s Horseshoe Casino, which opened to the public in 1951. It was run by the Binion family. Benny’s wife Teddy Jane managed the casino cage until her death in 1994. His sons Jack and Ted supervised the games and his daughter Becky looked after the kitchen.

Benny believed in the mantra that in order to be successful one has to be different. Horseshoe Casino was the first in Las Vegas to have carpeting. Benny wanted the widest spread of clients possible. Horseshoe Casino offered comps to even the low rollers. This attracted a large number of them and they contributed in volume to the casino takings. To attract the high rollers Benny Binion raised the table limits to well beyond the then practice in Las Vegas casinos. In 1964 Benny installed the famous $1 million dollar display on the casino floor. This was created using 100 $10,000 bills and drew a large number of visitors. Many of them stayed back to dine or gamble.

Horseshoe Casino is closely associated with the history of poker. Soon after it opened, the Horseshoe Casino hosted the legendary heads-up poker match between Johnny Moss and Nick “the Greek” Dandalos. It went on for months. Benny was convicted for tax evasion in 1953 and could not hold a gaming license. Then his son Jack officially became the owner. In 1970 Jack began the World Series of Poker. Today this annual tournament draws poker players from all over the world. In 1988 the Binions bought The Mint hotel and converted it to an independent poker room.

After Benny’s death in 1989, a legal battle ensued between Becky and Jack over Horseshoe Casino. Eventually Becky became president and her husband Nick became manager. However, the two were unable to run it. The famous $1 million exhibit was sold, the casino cage often was unable to pay the winners and a labor dispute in 2002 forced the closure of Binion’s Horseshoe Casino. Becky sold it to Harrah’s Entertainment in 2004.

Harrah’s retained the Horseshoe and WSOP brands and sold the physical property and the Binion’s brand to MTR Gaming Group. In 2005 the casino opened again as Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel. Benny Binion had stored the leftover portion of the original carpeting and this was now used in the renovation. In July 2005, Binion’s hosted the WSOP main event for the last time. After that the event moved to Harrah’s Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino. However, the casino continued to display the Poker Hall of Famers and previous WSOP Champions in its poker room. The Poker Hall of Famers included Benny and Jack Binion.

In 2008 MTR sold the Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel to TLC Casino Enterprises. In another move to connect with past glory, TLC created another $1 million casino floor display with 2,700 $100 bills, 34,400 $20 bills and 42,000 $1 bills. In 2009 TLC closed the hotel, but the casino is still running.