Las Vegas museum opening becomes mob-era reunion

Leave it to former mayor/mob attorney Oscar Goodman to deliver the quip of the night.

While posing Wednesday for a photo with legendary Clark County Sheriff Ralph Lamb at the Mob Museum, Goodman put the museum's featured attractions into perspective.

"I defended half of them, and Ralph arrested all of them," said Goodman, only half kidding.

Added Lamb, nearly blind as he approaches his 85th birthday: "If I could see, I would've known all of 'em."

They were among about 500 people representing opposite sides of the law during an era when Las Vegas was under mob influence.

The invitees included Gail Kefauver, Suzanne Dalitz, Meyer Lansky II, Henry Hill, Peter Maheu, Frank Cullotta and Robert Sedway.

Kefauver's father, Sen. Estes Kefauver, sparred with Las Vegas mob figures here, part of Kefauver's committee hearings on organized crime in 1950-51. The Las Vegas stop was held at the federal courthouse and post office building, which now houses the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, aka the Mob Museum.

Dalitz is the daughter of Moe Dalitz, the Godfather of Las Vegas. She was seen chatting with Maheu, whose father, Robert Maheu, was the alter ego of Howard Hughes, a catalyst in ridding Las Vegas of mob control and opening the door to corporate ownership of casinos.

Lansky's same-named father was a mob figure who had Sedway's father, Moe, carry out the takeover of the Flamingo after Bugsy Siegel was whacked.

Hill was the inspiration for Nicholas Pileggi's "Wiseguy," which director Martin Scorsese turned into the "Goodfellas" film. Cullotta ran with Tony Spilotro's feared Hole-in-the-Wall gang.

Pileggi's next crime project is a CBS pilot on Lamb, sheriff for 18 years starting in 1961.

LUCK BE A LADY

Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Chrissy Teigen has all the luck. Teigen, who got engaged over the holidays to Grammy-winner John Legend, turned a $100 roulette bet into $3,500 Thursday at The Cosmopolitan after a night of clubbing.

"I picked my old soccer number, 11, and won," Teigen said during a photo shoot near Serendipity 3 outside Caesars Palace. "Thankfully I had some very good people around me who said, 'You're done.' "

Well, not quite. "I cashed it out and hit the craps table, and all of a sudden it was 3:30 a.m. I ended up with a 30-cent voucher, but luckily I had the $3,500 saved."

Teigen and the 17 other S.I. models are in town for the magazine's swimsuit edition launch .

SIGHTINGS

Crooner Bruno Mars, trading in his signature fedora Thursday for an LA Kings snap-back hat at CRSVR Sneaker Boutique (Cosmopolitan). ... Home run king Barry Bonds and NFL great Jim Brown, shooting a TV show for Fox Sports Net about Muhammad Ali's influence on sports and society at Caesars Palace on Tuesday. The panel included Harry Edwards, Warren Sapp and John Salley and Fox's Jason Whitlock.

THE PUNCH LINE

"The president may have significantly reduced our trade deficit with China. He sold the Chinese vice president a billion Jeremy Lin jerseys at $50 apiece." -- Jay Leno

Norm Clarke can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke.