Binion still remembered for legendary generosity

Benny Binion, a sinner turned saint, died on Christmas Day in 1989.

He helped so many people he was known as the godfather of downtown Las Vegas.

I asked his daughter, Becky Behnen, what she remembered about her larger-than-life father's final days.

"Before going to the hospital for the last time, he gave this man, Henry, a large suitcase. They were very close," Behnen said.

"When we opened it up, there were spurs and Western things that were valuable and that he wanted taken care of," she said. "Henry, who is no longer alive, gave them to me."

Binion, the former Texas horse trader turned mobster and gambler, is best-known for opening Binion's Horseshoe in 1951 and founding the World Series of Poker there in 1970.

Binion's family remembers him for his legendary generosity.

Behnen said friends have called to say if there were more people like Benny Binion, maybe things would have turned out differently Dec. 20 when a car plowed into dozens of pedestrians. A woman was killed, and more than 30 were injured.

Las Vegas police report that the driver, Lakeisha Holloway, said she was stressed out because of hotel security guards repeatedly moving her and her 3-year-old daughter off properties.

Behnen said her dad "helped everybody" and suggested that kind of compassion is missing in today's corporate-run casinos.

One of the Binion family's favorite stories was the time he spotted a rare horse bit at a 4H stand in Montana, where he had a ranch that supplied beef for the Horseshoe.

"He recognized it and knew it had been made years and years ago. And he knew who made it," Behnen said. "The girl who was selling it was about 12 or 13. She wanted $5 for the bit. He gave her $500 and told her to keep the rest."

For a horseman, finding that bit "was like coming across a Rembrandt," Behnen said.

She offered another story about a night a man came into the Horseshoe and lost all his money.

"He was really stressed out," Behnen said. "Turned out he was a minister from Arkansas, and he was on his way to Los Angeles to buy a church organ."

"He told my dad, 'I've got to go back and tell my congregation what I did.' Dad said, 'God will forgive you, but your congregation won't,' and he gave him his money back."

One to watch

The co-owners of the Las Vegas Arena — MGM Resorts International and entertainment giant AEG — had done their homework when they announced Shamir would be joining The Killers and Wayne Newton on opening night.

Music critics have fallen in love with the rising star from North Las Vegas.

Radio.com described his countertenor voice as "like (Janis) Joplin's, stops you in your tracks." The scene and heard One man's opinion of the new "Star Wars" film: "Nostalgia aside, disappointment on an intergalactic scale." — Scott Roeben, interactive marketing manager of the Fremont Street Experience and founder of the blog VitalVegas.com.

Media update

Steve Harvey's syndicated radio show will air on KOAS-FM, Old School 105.7, in Las Vegas starting Jan. 4, from 5-9 a.m. on weekdays. Surrounding Harvey are co-hosts Shirley Strawberry, Nephew Tommy, Carla Ferrell and Junior. Harvey's show is syndicated to more than 80 stations. ...

Todd Quinones joins the "Good Morning Las Vegas" anchor desk at KTNV-TV, Channel 13, in mid-January. Quinones is moving to Las Vegas from KYW in Philadelphia, where he was the lead nightside reporter and fill-in anchor. He joins the "Good Morning Las Vegas" team of Beth Fisher, Dayna Roselli, Jessica Janner and Greg Bennett.

On this day

Dec. 27, 2000: The World Wrestling Federation throws in the towel in Las Vegas, a day after selling its 200-room hotel near the Strip. The WWF bought the building in 1998 after Debbie Reynolds' hotel-casino went bankrupt, intending to develop a wrestling-themed resort. It opened as the Royal Inn in 1970. Reynolds, a singer and movie and Broadway star, purchased what became the Paddlewheel in 1992. It became the Clarion Hotel in 2013 and was imploded Feb. 10 by Las Vegas developer Lorenzo Doumani. The punch line "Merry Easter y'all." — Harvey's Christmas Day tweet, which showed him making a V sign as he smoked a cigar by a swimming pool. It was his response to his Miss Universe pageant blunder.

— Norm Clarke's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find more online at www.normclarke.com. On Twitter: @Norm_Clarke.