Ted Binion

Lonnie Theodore Binion (November 28, 1943 – September 17, 1998), also known as Ted Binion, was an American gambling executive and the son of Las Vegas casino magnate Benny Binion, owner of Binion's Horseshoe casino.

Ted Binion was involved in multiple criminal cases which included associating with organised crime figures.

Binion had a multi-million dollar bullion coin and silver bar collection, known as the Binion Hoard, which he hid inside the Horseshoe casino and at two properties that he owned.

Ted Binion was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1943, to casino executive Benny Binion.

He had an older brother, Jack, president of the Horseshoe casino and former chairman of Wynn Resorts, and three sisters: Becky, Brenda, and Barbara.

Ted moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, with his father in 1946.

He was involved early on in his father's casino, Binion's Horseshoe.

While growing up, Ted spent summers at the family's Montana retreat, a cattle ranch in Jordan, to work with the ranch hands.

Later, in the early 1960s, Benny sent his three grandsons — his daughter Barbara’s sons — to Montana to work on the ranch.

In 1964, Benny regained full control of the Horseshoe after previously selling his interest to cover his legal costs in defending himself on tax evasion charges.

Since he was a convicted criminal, Benny was no longer allowed to hold a gaming license.

His sons Jack and Ted — aged only 23 and 21, respectively — took over the day-to-day operation of the casino while Benny remained on the payroll, assuming the title of Director of Public Relations.

Jack became president of the Horseshoe, while Ted became casino manager.

For the next thirty years, Ted Binion was the face that was most seen during the peak evening hours of the Horseshoe's casino operation and became well known as the host of its poker tournaments.

He loved living the high life and partying, schmoozing with high-profile guests of the Horseshoe and flirting with attractive women.

In 1967, Binion was the target of a kidnapping plot.

The alleged perpetrator, cabdriver and petty criminal Marvin Shumate, was found dead, shot in the chest and in the head at the base of Sunrise Mountain on the east side of Las Vegas.

Binion was an avid reader of magazines and books.

He was a history buff, particularly American Civil War history, and enjoyed watching History Channel and Discovery Channel programming.

In addition, he was mathematically gifted — easily able to mentally calculate odds or the "house take" in gambling transactions with no aid.

According to the county recorder’s office, by the 1980s, Benny had expanded his holdings to 85000 acres (340 km2), with the last parcel purchased in 1985.

Binion was arrested in 1986 on drug trafficking charges and began drawing attention for his connection to organized crime figure Herbert "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board (GCB) also suspected that Binion was using his live-in girlfriend, Sandy Murphy, as a bagwoman.

Binion had met Murphy while she was working at Cheetah's, a topless club.

The relationship had caused Binion's estranged wife and daughter to pack up and leave for Texas.

In 1996, the GCB provisionally banned Binion from any management role in the Horseshoe and he had to undergo regular drug testing.

He was also banned from the casino's premises.

Binion struggled to avoid running afoul of drug tests and, at one point, he shaved off all of his body hair in an attempt to circumvent a hair test that would reveal his history of usage.

In May 1997, his gaming license was suspended when it was found that he had violated the drug testing agreement.

When Binion died in 1998, there were suspicions of foul play.

Binion's girlfriend Sandra Murphy and her lover Rick Tabish became the prime suspects.

Both were charged and convicted of murder in Binion's death.

The two were later granted a new trial and acquitted on the murder charges.

The family sold all of the parcels in April 1998 to John Hillenbrand.

In March 1998, after the GCB learned that Binion was associating with Blitzstein, it voted unanimously to permanently revoke his license.

Binion was the first person to lose his license for violating a Nevada regulation that bans gaming licensees from associating with known criminals.

Inside the basement of the Horseshoe — housed in a floor-to-ceiling vault — was Binion's silver collection, later known as The Binion Hoard.

When his ties to the family casino were severed, he was forced to move the collection from the casino property and was not allowed to be associated with the family business again.

After the revocation of his license and the sale of his family's Montana ranch, he became even more involved in drugs, especially marijuana, Xanax, and the street drug tar heroin, which he smoked; he was known to "chase the dragon" (inhale the smoke).

Casino dealers had known when Ted was present due to the telltale odor of marijuana smoke whenever he used the eye in the sky to monitor the casino floor.