The True Story Behind Casino’s Nicky Santoro 

Vegas went from the Italian mafia to the corporate mafia.

In the beginning you forgot rule #4, no messing around with the other guy’s wives. It’s bad for business.

My family is old time Las Vegas... The story behind Casino is shockingly true. What I would like add that Mr. Joe Pesci portrayal as Tony Spilotro should have earned him an Academy Award! Without doubt, he was the most chilling gangster in any film, anytime, thanks largely in part to Mr. Scorsese, the director.

Vegas in the early 80's was the best, the Mob took care of you with great comps, cheap meals, free rooms etc. These days it's an over priced DISNEYLAND!

I remember in the movies the Joe Pesci character seriously beat up the character played by Frank Vincent (Raging Bull, Goodfellas). Then in this movie "Casino" the Vincent character gets to beat up Pesci. RIP Frank Vincent.

Joe Pesci died twice playing two different characters casino and Goodfellas and both were hot-headed quick-tempered

Franky Collata didn't whack Tony because he was in custody at the time The black book didn't have Al Capone in it because it didn't exist when he was alive. It had 14 names in it with Tony being number 15 And the cornfield was in Indiana but that's only where they were buried after being whacked in a basement nearby. The bodies were recovered the next week

I used to go to the Stardust in the 1970s. One time from across the casino I saw Spilotro (realized who it was years later) at a poker table playing, probably, 30-60 Razz. He had, apparently, just lost a big pot. He was furious and standing up and screaming obscenities at the top of his lungs. Nobody, not management, not security, nobody said a word to him.

Worked the Casino business from 93-23. Missed the mob era by a generation. This much I can say, I loved what was left of it. In 93 their was still that feel of old Vegas in many areas of it particularly Downtown. I left last year because honestly the public has become a classless bunch and even in the highest end of hotels management is spineless and let’s anyone do whatever they want.

Note that Spilotro's lawyer was Oscar Goodman.. later to become mayor of Vegas - and in the movie, Goodman plays himself, escorting Pesci to court. Tons of cool trivia like this in the movie.

Joe did such a great impression of Tony, the old time dealers working the floor, thought it was actually Tony walking around, scared the crap out of them. 🤣

I’ve lived here in Vegas for 40 plus years and watched all this unfold in real-time . It still ticks me off that Rothstein’s lawyer became our Mayor and now his wife is our Mayor and Glamourized for what they did .

As someone whose family is from Vegas. I can tell you it was definitely different before the Corporation got involved. For one in the 60’s Men and Women got dressed up to go gamble. 70’s and 80’s greats food at basically give away prices. Crime was almost unheard of around the Casinos.

I spent many days in Vegas, back in the '70s. We wore a suit and tie, had respect for others and had some great times, knowing it was run by the Mob didn't have any real effect on our lives. Those days changed in the '80s, and it became a "Family friendly" destination and went south in a hurry. Now, classless, drunk slobs running wild on Fremont street, the Strip filled with tourists wearing torn jeans and flip flops ! It's called "Progress". Not for me ! At least I have the memories. 😞

One of those rare breed of films that you cannot, ever, hope to watch enough 👍 (The outtakes are worth seeing - especially Rickles giving DeNiro shit for reading from cue cards 😂)

In the 80's I was good friends with Nickys niece...I took her to prom. I met the family, they were nice , all very short in stature. She taught me a phrase oneday, "blood is thicker than water"...at the time I didn't understand really what she meant. Good memories.

The movie actually made him look a lot better than he actually was.

It's actually amazing how much attention to detail was in this movie, on the Spilotro/Santoro character in particular. Several scenes in the movie were lifted straight from news footage of Spilotro from the era, in particular when he's walking out of the courthouse with his lawyer and the media surrounding him. Shot for shot it's almost identical. And to top it all off, his lawyer in the film is the ACTUAL lawyer who represented Spilotro in real life -- and then went on to be mayor of Las Vegas. Another fun fact is state senator Harrison Roberts played by Dick Smothers, who was bribed by Ace and went up to the room with the showgirl, and then later grilled him at the gaming board hearing, was actually Harry Reid, who went on to be one of the most powerful Democrat senators in the country. That scene in at the hearing was also almost entirely lifted from news footage of the era as well.

We met and old Blackjack dealer that worked Vegas during the mob days. He said "It was so much better. Every employee knew the customer's name, service was first class, and famous artists would play the floor stage until wee hours of the morning."

My mom was walking with Anthony down the street on the way to school as they did every day. They came across a guy who Anthony thought was sweet on his girl. Without hesitation Anthony grabbed him and stuck his head in the door jam of the car he was getting in and started slamming the door on his head. His brother Pat was my dentist.

Decades ago in Vegas and saw a bride running to her wedding wearing a white dress and NASCAR jacket. The ending of Casino was spot on.

Allow me to clarify something. One aspect of RU-vid that bothers me is how quickly people can misinterpret what you say. On my channel, I discuss movie characters (MOVIES Consigliere) and connect them to real-life events this is one of the concepts of my channel. For instance, when I talked about Al Capone, I referenced a famous quote from the movie spoken by Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), which added a touch of humor to my discussion. However, since my video was primarily focused on Nicky Santoro, I didn't delve too deeply into Al Capone's background. To ensure the accuracy of my information, I always source my information from reliable sources, such as thejobmuseum.org, which I also included in the description of my video. I take pride in being one of the few creators who take the time to provide sources in their video descriptions. I must admit that I made a mistake in the video when I referred to the book "Honor" as "Horror." It was an honest mistake that could happen to anyone. I even added the book's cover to my video to show that I had researched and prepared for my content. It's unfortunate that some people have chosen to focus on this minor error rather than the overall message of my video. In summary, I strive to create quality content for my viewers, and I hope that this explanation clarifies any misunderstandings that may have arisen.

The way Spilotro is portrayed by Pesci was actually wildly inaccurate. According to Frank Cullotta, who was Tony’s literal right-hand man since his teen years, Scorsese made Pesci’s character out to be “too Hollywood” - that’s his own words. That doesn’t change the fact that he played a great mobster, but the actual Tony was nothing like an unhinged maniac smacking people with phones, etc.

I grew up in the NW burbs of Chicago .I know all these areas .My late Father knew the brothers . Its weird to hear my fathers stories and realize how true all the wild things he used to talk about

Not sure what kind of inflation calculator they’re using to say $100k in the 20’s is worth over $1 billion in 2016.

Only been to the town back in 1976. It was winter. Storm came in from California, snowed so much several casino roofs collapsed. February I think.

I met Tony's brother Pat, in 2007. He was older and a dentist. Had nothing to do with mob shit. Nice guy. My boss new him, and he came to his business in Franklin Park,Illinois while I was working one day.

Yup back in the day vegas had class when people would actually dress up to go down to the casino or a night on the town now they wear flip flops and a dirty Tshirt.

I thought he got the green light because he was fooling around with the “Golden boy, Ace’s wife” It was mentioned in the movie the bosses didn’t like that!

Funniest moment when Blue comes out off his car and is held at gunpoint by police. Thinking that Blue had a gun, opened fire but realized later it's was only a hero sandwich wrapped in foil. The cop's reaction was priceless

I heard and read that Joe Pesci is so good at playing mobsters because when Joe was youngster in New Jersey, he knew and heard about mobsters in his neighborhood.

100k in 1920 isn't worth 1 billion in 2016. Who did your inflation math? It's more like 1.5 million.

I couldn’t help but admire your understanding and view of Vegas itself. I was 25 when the Tangiers what brought down in 1995. As a kid I can remember my aunts and uncles talk about Vegas in a way that made it sound romantic. A place where you could head off for the weekend dress up, eat well and see a great show, relax and be pampered. Personally I’ve never viewed Vegas in the same light. To me Vegas was and is the stop and sleep for the night before heading off to Zion, Bryce, the Grand Canyon or many other scenic places in Utah. I’m a firm believer of capitalism and am well aware that tourist dollars can definitely help a city but like in life nothing is free. My hometown, I feel, has become a shell of its former self because of similar reasons. Maybe Vegas is a victim of its own success? 🙏🇺🇸✌🏽

Everyone in that cornfield scene should've gotten a Oscar talk about intense and real but although Nicky was a bad guy yah couldn't but feel pity for him and his bro but remember karma and that bit about living by the sword.

I grew up with guys like these around but of another culture. My mom later told me of their brutality, only after I was in my 30's and then she answered a lot of questions of things that she didn't know I had seen. These "men in suits" would come visit with one family friend at our home, who was very respected and at times would have my mom hold envelopes for a while, all when my dad was at work. A hundred dollar bill isn't unusual NOW...but in the 60's it was, especially in stacks inside an envelope. All these people are passed now but I now know why my dad kept moving us farther away from the city I grew up in.

Nice trailer. I work the Stardust during the time of this movie as a dealer. The fat hordes of new family tourists as you call them was started by the Stardust management it's self when they built an interstrusture to accommodate RVs, Mobile homes and more for the low income mob (tourists).

1:05 al capone wasn't in the mafia, he hated sicillians for a start.

It's a fact that Italians love theater and hyperbole. I remember during basic training this one NYC goombah was threatening everybody. Now he was a big muscular guy. But this one farmboy from Indiana secretly a black belt in karate whipped the fuck out of the goombah. Our MTI squad figured goombah had it coming and simply sent him to sickcall. Farmboy was left alone. This taught me, a fresh out of highschool Navajo, that the big powerful mafia were only as powerful as the cowardly cityfolk will allow them. I later learned the farmboy became warrant officer who became a helicopter pilot on the brand-new AH64 attack helicopter. Goombah got humbled, grew up and earned honor. He became a cop for NYC. As for myself, I ended up working for the precious state of Arizona and retired from the state's highway department.

When I was a kid my great uncle owned a dodge dealership on the south side of Chicago. He also liked to talk about being a part owner of the Sands casino in Vegas. I didn't know until years later that the Chicago mob had Chicago business owners as "on paper only" owners of Vegas casinos. Most likely he was one of these Chicago businessmen. But as a naive kid I thought it was pretty cool.

Lefty rosenthal was a fbi informant code named Achilles and his car was blown up in 1982 which was 4 years before the murder on spilotro. Lefty rosenthal after his car bombing attempt in 1982 never set foot in chicago or vegas for the rest of his life. Is the narrator actually serious about this video or are we all on candid camera?

I'm not the reader I used to be, but I swear the book related to this movie included a crazy murder that should've been in the movie. Somebody from Chicago knew too much, etc so they decided to whack him. They called and verified he was home alone, but it was a residential area so they took some of the gunpowder out of the bullets. They end up shooting the guy, but it doesn't kill him and the 2 hitmen are grabbing knives, lamps, and whatever in the garage. The guy evidently put up a tremendous fight, but finally gave up and said something like "Get it over with before my family gets home"

I remember going to Vegas in 78...one did not go to the casino in jeans and T shirt. Some of them would outright stop you at the door back then. Went back in 2012...it's people of Walmart with gambling now. While the end of the mob rule in Vegas is a good thing, the end of sophistication is not. But, that's just how the USA is now. Millions of oxygen thieves willing the bet the rent on a chance of something for nothing.

The Outfit had Rosenthal running more than one casino. The biggest skim came from the StarDust. And I like your content but you butcher the guys names in episodes and get details so wrong, making me feel you didn't do enough homework on these guys. Frank Cullotta had a youtube show before he died called Coffee with Cullotta and he had zero to do with the M&M murders except ask them to meet him then let Spilotro borrow his car.

Wonder why they downplay their violence, to make the movie's more watchable possibly. They did the same with Jimmy and Tommy in Goodfellas. W hen you read the book, they are both ultra violent, way worse than the movie and particularly Jimmy.

I was there from the 70's through the early 90's ... and I agree 100000% with you! It was one helluva high classed place. I can rant for hours on the differences, but I won't. Lets' just say it was way better to live there then, than it is now! Also, one of the major reasons I left. 'Nuff said.

The best film I can think of to accompany Casino, in terms of offering a contrasting view, would be Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The story takes place during the mob's heightened grip on the desert city and Hunter's view on everything is something quite interesting.

$100,000 in 1920 isn’t $1,000,000,000 now…wtf?

Wish we had time machines, would go back to the mid 70's, my brother in law used to tell me about how you could get a full 2 inch cut of prime rib for like 6 bucks with all the trimmings and sides, this is was in Reno, last time I was in Reno saw a prime rib dinner for 9.95 freaking thing was sliced so thin it was pathetic, ended up ordering the real meal which was about 1 1/2 inch cut, but it was 40 bucks. Never got the experience the good ole days of great cheap food.

Outstanding video!!! And so many people thru interviews have said they miss the old Vegas not this Disney Vegas!

Who else saw Jay Leno behind Nicky on the thumbnail?

Wasn't Ace an informer in real life ?

The RICO laws did more to silence the Mafia more than anything else, surprised you made no mention of it.

Your description at the end; absolutely drenched in fantastic vocabulary. Phenomenal. A diatribe for the ages.

I would hope that when you guys do these videos about the different mobsters learn how to say their last names correctly

Did I hear this right? $100K in the 1920’s was not equivalent to $1B today?

@ 8:52 I've seen Interviews with the real gangsters. Tony and his bro where beaten and shot somewhere in Illinois or New York I believe. It was just a basement and they were dumped somewhere else. That scene in the film is INTENSE though!!

Mob lawyer Oscar Goodman playing himself in the movie was the coolest thing ever....He later became Las Vegas Mayor. Followed by Oscar's wife subsequently becoming mayor.

Seems like a breakdown of casino, not the guy

I've been told that Vegas was a much better place to visit when the mob was in control, they took care of people better.. also the American mob is very much still alive.

That $100,000 number is wrong buddy

Joe Pesci Was Definitely 100% Connected Nobody Can Act 🎬 like That, Pesci Was Made for Acting the Gangster 💯🤣👌🏻👍🏻✌🏻

I grew up in the Kansas city area portrayed in this movie back when this stuff was going on, the River Quay, car bombs during the day and buildings and bars would explode at night and neighbors were found in the trunks of their own cars at the airport, I gotta say though the food was off the chain!

Tony's younger Brother was on an Episode of Magnum PI before they were killed.

Joe Pechi did a great job playing him and Casino is a great movie

Lived in Vegas in `82......that life is only glamorous from the outside

You should do some Bronx Tale videos

$100,000 in 1930 was worth roughly $1.7 million today. Did you mean that they made around $100,000,000 in profit? That would be about 1.7 billion.

The funny thing is Joe Pesci's portrayal of Spilatro is spot on as both he and Spilatro were the same height and build. But Pesci's role as Tommy DeSimone wasn't accurate in the sense the Tommy was over 6 foot and large build. Nevertheless both performances were great.

The book is actually named 'CASINO LOVE AND HONOR IN LAS VEGAS. The casino was named 'The Stardust'. The name Tangiers is fictional but based on the Stardust casino.

My favorite top mobsters: Jimmy Coonan. Jimmy the gent Burke. James whitey Bulger. Joe mad dog Sullivan. Nino Gaggi. Little Nicky Scarfo. Carlos Marchello. Tony the ant Spilotro. Carlo Gambino. Al Capone.

He tried to drown a kid at the public pool when he was 12. Bad seed doesn't even begin to describe it.

Damn as if so happens I’m wearing my Casino crew polo from the movie. We did the film transfers and when I saw the head in a vice I was like what the faaaa??!

Nicky didn't take a backseat to Ace in fact it's depicted in the movie several times that Nicky was sent by Gaggi to keep an eye on Ace which makes him highly ranked in the organization

Can you imaging your bodyguard being 5’2? Lol. I get it. Different times but today guys like Spilotro wouldn’t be taken seriously. Using a gun doesn’t make you a tough guy and without one you’re just another loud mouth with short man’s complex. Throw in Culatta and all his BS stories and it’s easy to see why people are so enthralled by this.

I don't think 100k was a billion dollars even in 1920 lol. Could be wrong.

I watched Casino again recently. That baseball bat scene at the end is still a tough watch.

100,000 thousand a year is not 1 billion in today's money-- 100 million a year is 1 billion in today's money.

There's Mob movies, and then there's Mob movies; and then there's CASINO.

Santora was rumored to be gay and once the St Louis boss found out......

I knew a bunch of the Northside Crew in Chicago. I met an associate and worked for Hal Smith doing collections for a couple years. Hal was a wonderful giant of a man who was also the most successful bookie in the Northwest burbs of Chicago. When the cops found Hal in the trunk of his Caddy at Arlington Park then I went and did the same type work for another Northsider. Look, I am in my 60's now, and I spent a total of 17 years in the joint. I am going to tell you something about these guys, mostly the Chicago Outfit because it's all I knew, they are pure trash who would fucking kill you for nothing. I once told one of the "made" individuals that I would give him the next Rolex watch I got ahold of .... but the next one I got went to another buyer because he paid a lot and he was important to me. About a week later I got another one and took it to the first individual. A couple years later I was in Joliet. The police came to see me (Feds) and wanted me to sign up. I was doing 20 months and I laughed at them. They played me a recording of the above watch beneficiary telling another person that he had someone looking for me to take me out. It was eye-opening for sure. I was never again threatened, but I am telling you that these men, those men, were pure scum.

Perfect analysis of this childhood gangster movie of mine.

Who is the narrator really complain about Las Vegas, becoming ‘commercialised! after the mob got driven out? I mean nothing says 'non-commercial' like good old-fashioned organized crime, right? Who wouldn't miss those quaint days of extortion, loan sharking, and illegal gambling.

It was much better then, than what it has turned into now.

Casino is my favorite for the Vegas setting.

This video had a lot of humor in it. I like it .

Expensive suits and gowns do not make you classy. Class comes from within. The old Vegas was run by killers, liars and cheats who dressed well because of what they stole. That has nothing to do with class.

Novel??? "Love and Horror"? He did journalism. He had interviews. The author documented what he could specifically from what Rosenthal could remember. If it were a novel, it'd be completely fictitious. You mean it was a BOOK. And the subtitle is "Love and Honor". Who made the mistake here? The narrator or the writer(s)?

You lost me when you said $100K is the same as $1B . Might want to double check your math on that one.

Joe Pesci should of played or play Little Nicky Scarfo, right size right voice and definitely a hot headed character he always play.

Al Capone was never in the black book, it was made for the first time AFTER his death. ☠️ 💀

ANTHONY was my neighbor for a month then went to Vegas. He yelled at my son in 1980 for going on his lawn. Didn't know about him then. He had littlemanitid. Had horn necklace ; cross. Black silk robe. Just ask Vince. He was about 6or 7

And don’t participate in adultery

I've lived in Las Vegas since 1986. This town is not the same without the mob.

At 4:25 when Pesci is running up on the red head in the kitchen. He puts his left arm on the opposite side of her head while pulling the trigger. I never noticed how insanely stupid that looked. He could have put a bullet through his arm also. With an exceptional director like Scorsese at the helm you'd think 🤔 he would've noticed that. Besides that I enjoyed hearing Nicky's origins.

People forget about in the movie the lawyer with the glasses and beard behind Tony in those court room and walking out of it in the courtroom. That was the real life mob lawyer Oscar Goodman. He represented Tony and he did a really good job as a defense mob lawyer. Kept Tony out of prison and from criminal convictions. Oscar would later become the mayor of Las Vegas and his wife would then become mayor as well in 2011 and STILL is mayor of Las Vegas.

Tony Spilatro irl. My dad worked for him in the 80's after he left the Flamingo.

Wait...what? $100k in 1930 translates to $1 billion in 2016? Yeah...no.

Vegas was very different then I agree it was classy and you were taken care of everyone felt like a king except if you lost all your money. The vallets in the restrooms had everything. The mafia as its portrayed here came to an end because of 2 things. The Rico act and technology period. Like everything else customer service is declining. The casinos in California have grown no need to drive to Vegas and people don't. The proof prime Nevada is a ghost town. They tried to make it Disneyland to bring in revenue the operating costs went up and the freebies started to disappear. The classy atmosphere declined and spring break and partying at the pool took over. When you hear people talk about going to vegas is it to party or gamble. Part of the old Vegas remains but you have to find it. Be careful it's not as safe as it was when the mob ran it. I'd rather hear Tony yelling in casinos than being asked for money everywhere you walk and worry about being robbed.

A hundred thousand dollars back then is only 1.5 million dollars nowadays not a billion LOL

I was a kid growing up in Vegas when all this was going on I've lived here pretty much my entire life. My best friend at the time was LT his nickname little Tony Spilotro we are on the same softball team and only lived a couple blocks from each other of course I knew big Tony Spilotro but I was a kid he was a very nice guy to kids he loved kids it was a great place to grow up back in the day they knew how to take care of people back then reroute gambling that by your family dinner give you free show tickets anything to keep you in the casino now you're a number not the same