Italian Mafia Gambling
Introduction
TheAmerican Mafia, also known as ‘the Mob,’ has attained the status ofpop icons within American culture. This outcome has been due tomovies which have depicted members of the Italian Mob as ruthless butlikable individuals. Many films centered on the Mafia have a scenewhere a group of tough-looking mobsters sit around a table playing agame of poker. This famous scene is probably why many peopleassociate casino table games with the Mob. Is the Mafia involved ingambling? To answer this question, we should first gain anunderstanding of who the Mafia are.
The Mafia The Mafia in Las Vegas Gambling has always been a very important business in the Mafia. From card games to betting on horses and other sports, the Mafia has earned cash from all of them.
Historyof the Mafia
The Seattle crime family, or the Rufalo crime family is an Italian-American Mafia (La Cosa Nostra) organized crime family in Seattle, Washington and Tacoma. The family is on the verge of extinction, with only about 5-10 members left. Boss: Accursio 'Andrew' Rufalo (1949 - 1977) (died of natural causes), Carl 'Clark' Cutino (1977 - 1985) (retired), George 'Johnny' Respino (1985 - 1993. Organized crime in Italy and its criminal organizations have been prevalent in Italy, especially Southern Italy, for centuries and have affected the social and economic life of many Italian regions since at least the 19th century. There are five major native mafia-like organizations currently operating and heavily active in Italy. The oldest and most powerful of these organizations, having. Members of an Ontario ‘crime family’ with alleged ties to the Italian Mafia laundered more than $70 million in dirty money through provincial casinos in “just a few short years,” according. The Seattle crime family, or the Rufalo crime family is an Italian-American Mafia (La Cosa Nostra) organized crime family in Seattle, Washington and Tacoma. The family is on the verge of extinction, with only about 5-10 members left. Boss: Accursio 'Andrew' Rufalo (1949 - 1977) (died of natural causes), Carl 'Clark' Cutino (1977 - 1985) (retired), George 'Johnny' Respino (1985 - 1993.
Theterm ‘Mafia’ primarily refers to an intensely hierarchical ItalianAmerican criminal society that has existed in the US from the 1900s.Members of the organization are predominantly of Italian originbecause the Mafia is an offshoot of the much older Sicilian Mafia.Sicily is in Europe and has been an autonomous part of Italy from thetime of the Romans.
Asthe largest island in the Mediterranean, Sicily has been conqueredand ruled by multiple empires. This successive occupation byoppressive regimes is the reason why the people on the islandacquired their rebellious streak. The Sicilian Mafia could itself bea descendant of revolutionary groups formed to oppose the foreignoccupation of the island.
TheMafia in America
TheMafia emerged in poor immigrant neighborhoods of major Americancities on the east coast in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Duringthis period, the fascist dictator Mussolini was in power in Italy andwas hell-bent at eradicating all opposition to his regime. Theoutcome was political upheaval in Italy, marked by the arrest andexecution of members of the Sicilian Mafia. The result was asignificant departure of Sicilian immigrants from the Island to theAmericas. Some immigrants ended up in Brazil and Argentina while anotable majority arrived on the shores of the USA.
Theharsh living conditions and high unemployment escalated crime inghettos like New York East Harlem. As a means of protection and as away to pool meager resources together, residents in Sicilianneighborhoods began to form loose coalitions made up of skilled andunskilled laborers. The government opposed the formation of suchgroups because they represented opposition to the rule of law in theghettos. This outcome caused the loose coalitions among Sicilianimmigrants to morph into a hierarchical underground organization. Themembership grew to include Sicilian immigrants from all major ghettoson the east coast.
Thisis how the American Mafia came into being. The essential unit of theMafia was, and still, is the ‘family’ whereby family refers to eachdistinct underground criminal organization in the Mob. Because NewYork ghettos were at the epicenter, the first five leading Mafiafamilies were all from New York. These Mafia families are Lucchese,Gambino, Genovese, Bonnano, and Colombo. These Mafia families wereinvolved in both legit and illegit businesses. The organization hadvast networks of legit grocery stores, restaurants, and clubs. It wasalso involved in several underground criminal activities, whichincluded illegal bookmaking operations, illegal gambling pools,illegal gambling halls in addition to drug and liquor trafficking.
TheMafia and Legal Gambling
TheMafia had been involved in illegal gambling in major east coastcities before the government legalized gambling in 1931. Thegovernment had the desire to entice the Mafia to move their gamblingoperations to the state of Nevada and away from the east coast. Inthis way, the administration hoped to put a leash on the Mafia’sgambling revenue stream as well as lower crime in east coast cities. The 1931 gambling legislation turned out to be a genius move by thefederal government.
By1940 major Mafia families from New York and Chicago had set up basesin Las Vegas. Major Mafia families did not waste the opportunity toenter legal business and were among the first groups to investmentsin Las Vegas. The Desert Inn, the Thunderbird, and Flamingo are someof the earliest and best-known casinos with certified ties to the NewYork Mafia. By 1946, the Mafia had been playing a pivotal role in thetransformation of Highway 91 to the glamorous Las Vegas strip.
TheChicago Mob was not to be left behind for long and by 1950 was behindthe creation of the Stardust, Fremont, Sahara, and Riviera. By thistime, Las Vegas was the number one gambling destination in the US. Anincreasingly large number of tourists came from the west coast andsouthwest as compared to the east coast in the early days. This couldbe because the involvement of the Mafia was mostly unknown in thewest. The infamy of the Mafia did keep tourists from visiting LasVegas early on, but this changed as the reputation of their casinosspread.
By1970, the Mafia families that had been in Las Vegas from itsinception found a way to recoup their investment. This opportunitywas in the form of the legislature that allowed public corporationsto own and run casinos. The families made colossal profits by sellingtheir casino establishments to other public and private investors. Agood example is when a New York Mafia family sold the Desert InnCasino to multimillionaire Howard Hughes. It is worth noting that asubstantial number of Las Vegas casinos do not have any affiliationwith the Mafia. Private mega-corporations, with no ties to the Mafia,now own most of the casinos.
TheMafia in Italy
Despitethe attempts of Mussolini to purge the island of Sicily of the Mafia,the original Sicilian Mafia has evolved to become a significantpolitical power in Italy. Well-known Mafioso has gone on to holdsignificant positions in government and industry in thisMediterranean Nation. However, even in their home country, theItalian Mafia is no stranger to controversy. The group has beenlinked to known attempts to undermine the government’s gamblingmonopoly in Italy.
A national-wide new feature hasexposed that the Italian Mafia is behind a scheme targetinggovernment-approved slot machines. The group is said to have soughtthe aid of foreign hackers in rigging the slot machines connected tothe Italian government gambling control network. The outcome was thata percentage of the money from the slot machines was diverted toMafia offshore coffers. Computer hackers were able to install linksto external gambling platforms by creating a parallel networks tothose controlled by the government.
Italian Mafia Movies List
Furtherinvestigations have revealed that the Italian Mafia has been involvedin the manufacture, supply, and installation of cloned slot machinesacross the nation. The affected gaming machines have includedwell-known brands, including Rischiatutto and Normandia 2 slotmachines. The Italian government asserts that it has taken steps toeliminate the Mafia backed slot machine smuggling ring. Thegovernment has also promised that gambling within the country is toremain under the firm control of the administration.
Italian Mafia Gambling Money
Conclusion
Thepresent-day Mafia in the United States is known to be still active innortheastern cities, including New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia,Buffalo, and New England. The Mob is also present in several citiesin the Midwestern United States, including Chicago, Kansas,Cleveland, Detroit, and St. Louis. The organization has a minimalpresence in the south and west coasts in cities including Denver, NewOrleans, and Los Angeles. However, the Mafia today are not asinvolved in the gambling arena as they were once were. Anyaffiliation of a gambling establishment to the Mafia is more likelyprofessional than criminal.
Otherthan the USA and Italy, there is hardly any other country in whichthe Mafia has been directly involved in gambling. This, however, doesnot mean that there aren’t other equally organized criminalorganizations that might be interested in gambling. These groups maybe active in the gambling sector within their country of origin.
Thiscan be said of such countries such as Russia, India, Malaysia, and avast host of other countries the world over. Such criminal groupscould be involved in the manufacture and distribution of gamingequipment. They may also be involved in the creation of legal orillegal gambling establishments. The involvement could also be higherup in government where a criminal group can influence legislationaffecting gambling. It is virtually impossible to rule out theinvolvement of criminal groups in gambling because of the undeniablelure of huge earnings. However, you need not fear when visiting alegal betting establishment anywhere in the USA.