Spilotro, a longtime friend of Rosenthal’s, moved to Vegas about the same time, but his penchant for violence and his inability to sit back and wait on the casino gravy train – he moonlighted in extortion, loan-sharking and as head of a burglary ring – made him dangerous. Rosenthal moved to Las Vegas in 1968 to start over in the casino business. Charges included bribing college athletes, but he was never convicted. Rosenthal grew up in Chicago, became a nationally prominent handicapper when barely out of his teens and eventually ran afoul of the law in Florida and North Carolina. Scorsese’s movie fictionalizes the story, changing the names, but Pileggi’s book is nonfiction, telling the rise and fall of a genius betting man. “Neither side has a lock on the truth,” he says. I can’t change quotes.”īut Pileggi agrees that Rosenthal has a point, that evidence linking the gambler-turned-casino-manager to the Mafia is inconclusive. It is the FBI that says Lefty was in the hand of the outfit. Everything is quoted, and there are no blind quotes. “I don’t say he represented the Mafia,” Pileggi says.
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