Two of the hotel-casinos he operated, the Stardust and the Fremont hotel, are still in business And at the age of 32, he received a $62.75 million loan. When Glick agreed to that deal, Balistrieri sought the help of Kansas City, Chicago and Cleveland mob bosses to acquire a Teamsters pension fund loan for Glick. In exchange, Glick would agree to allow Balistrieri's sons, Joseph and John Joseph the option of buying his corporation for just $25,000. Glick then met privately with Balistrieri, and they decided Glick would buy the Stardust and Fremont casinos by purchasing control of the Recrion Corporation - which later became the Argent Corporation. So he met with top leaders of the Milwaukee, Kansas City crime families, and realized he knew the son of Milwaukee mob boss Frank Balistrieri from college. In 1972, he used a $2.3 million loan from the Saratoga Land Development Company to acquire a major, and later controlling share in the Hacienda hotel-casino, and obtained a Nevada casino license, according to the Mob Museum.īut he had his sights set higher - wanting to also purchase the Stardust hotel-casino in 1974. He was honorably discharged in 1969 and moved to San Diego, where he joined the American Housing Guild of San Diego and the Saratoga Land Development Company.Īccording to Glick's 702 word obituary - which makes no mention of his mob ties - Glick went on to form his own company, pioneering development on the south end of the Las Vegas strip. In 1967, he joined the military as first lieutenant in the Military Police Branch, but eventually transferred to Special Ops, where he served as a captain in Vietnam, learning to speak the language to aid in military research and rescue operations.įor his service, he was awarded the Bronze Star, three Combat Air Medals and the Vietnamese Medal of Honor. from Case-Western Reserve School of Law, admitted into both the California and Pennsylvania bars. Glick was born in Pittsburgh on Apand earned his J.D. Robert de Niro, meanwhile, played Sam 'Ace' Rothstein, based on Rosenthal. The scam was dramatized in the 1995 film 'Casino,' in which Kevin Pollak played casino owner Philip Green, whose character was modeled on Glick. Glick claimed he did not know about the mob ties, and avoided a criminal conviction in return for serving as a witness against more than a dozen mobsters. Glick was even awarded a Las Vegas 'man of the year award' after ascending to the top of Sin City society in a seemingly legitimate way.īut Glick's reputation was shattered after it was revealed his second-in-command, Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal, was secretly skimming $7 million from the slot machines and passing the proceeds onto American crime families. The only mogul with a Las Vegas casino portfolio bigger than Glick at the time was reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. Glick, a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native, rose to prominence in the 1970s as he took ownership of the Stardust, Hacienda, Fremont and Mariana hotel-casinos. Glick, the CEO of the Argent Corporation, which owned four casinos on the Vegas Strip in its heyday, announced he died of cancer on August 2. Glick, who once owned four casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, has died of cancer at the age of 79Ī former casino owner once praised by Las Vegas business leaders for his clean finances - before it was revealed that he was actually a front man for the mob - has died of cancer aged 79.
CASINO TYCOON MOVIE
The scam was dramatized in the 1995 cult movie 'Casino', which saw a character based on Glick appear onscreen.Glick has denied knowing about the scam, and served as an FBI informant to take down the mob bosses he worked with.But it was later revealed employees for his company were embezzling millions of dollars for mob bosses throughout the country.Glick was so well-thought of in Sin City that he was once even named Las Vegas's 'man of the year'.He rose to prominence as the 'golden boy' of the Vegas strip due to his military career and clean business practices.Glick, who once owned four casinos on the Vegas Strip, died of cancer at the age of 79 earlier this month Notorious Las Vegas casino tycoon and mob front man Allen Glick dies of cancer aged 79: Former Sin City golden boy snitched on cronies after he was exposed, avoided prison - and even inspired cult movie Casino