The mobsters were known to have controlled the money-counting at the most famous casinos in their day, including the Dunes, Sands, Desert Inn and Stardust - all of which have already disappeared from the Strip. Gambling profits were skimmed to send back home to pay for their gangs' illegal enterprises involving illegal betting, drugs, prostitution, murders and everything else. When The Riviera opened in 1955, organized crime outfits from across the country had already sunk their teeth into the casinos in a takeover that had started the decade before. Nobody's ever going to be paid that amount of money,' Green told CBS affiliate KLAS. It opened with Liberace in the showroom getting $50,000 a week which people thought was just outlandish.
'It was sharp, mob-connected guys who got it back on its feet.