Bonus: Stories from the Steer

Explicit content warning

08/17/21 • 11 min

A bonus episode for Season 2 of Mobbed Up. Jeff German, Review-Journal investigative reporter and host for Season 2, interviews longtime Golden Steer waiter Venko Nikolov about his memories of mob hitman Frank Cullotta at the iconic Las Vegas steakhouse.

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Aladdin‘s curse | S2E8

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On the evening of April 27, 1998, there was an almost festive atmosphere on the Las Vegas Strip. Television news helicopters were hovering and an estimated 20,000 onlookers gathered on the streets. At 7:30 p.m. the financially unstable Aladdin Hotel tumbled down in a coordinated implosion. Some say it was cursed since its days of pillaging under hidden mob control. With all of its troubles, the resort played a key role in the history of Las Vegas. It ignited the campaign to push the mob off the Strip, paved the way for corporate America to take over, and transformed Nevada’s gaming process into the world's gold standard.

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Bonus: Season 2 Epilogue

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Longtime gaming executive and consultant Ed Nigro was in the middle of the battle between Wayne Newton and Johnny Carson to buy the Aladdin Hotel after the mob was kicked out.

Nigro was appointed to manage the Aladdin until it could be sold to reputable buyers, and then partnered with Carson in his bid to take over the Aladdin.

In this season-ending forum at The Mob Museum, Nigro joins Season 2 host Jeff German and former Gov. Robert List in a discussion about the Aladdin’s troubles under the control of the mob and how the state and the courts dealt with it.

Nigro also provides a revealing look behind the scenes of the high-stakes battle between Carson and Newton.