List no concern for 'Lefty'

In the mob movie "Casino" he was the guy portrayed by Robert De Niro.

Frank Larry Rosenthal, known locally as "Lefty," was a sports handicapper who became entertainment director at the Stardust hotel-casino in the 1970s before he fell into disfavor with state gaming regulators.

He was deemed a threat to the industry because he had pleaded no contest to a charge of conspiracy to bribe a college basketball player.

But he was also an old friend of the late Anthony Spilotro, the Chicago mob's enforcer in Las Vegas, and was tied to Mafia cash-skimming operations in Strip casinos. Over his protestations, Rosenthal was denied a key-employee license and later added to Nevada's Black Book of individuals banned from casinos.

In a telephone interview with the Sun from his Florida home, Rosenthal, 70, said he hasn't lost any sleep because of his inclusion in the book. Since his inclusion in 1988, he said he has visited Las Vegas casinos incognito at least "a half-dozen times" for business or social occasions without getting caught.

"If I walked into a casino without a little disguise, I would probably be recognized by a lot of people," Rosenthal said. "But the average guy in the book probably wouldn't be recognized."

Calling his inclusion in the book "dirty pool," he referred to the Nevada Gaming Commission, state Gaming Control Board and the board's enforcement division as the "three blind mice."

"I lived in Las Vegas for 14 years and I cannot ever recall the regulators of gaming coming close to due process," Rosenthal said. "The best way to describe it is frontier justice. The Black Book is a branding iron, a tool used by the old-timers."

Rosenthal has claimed that he was placed in the book because he had a hand in the firing of Glenn Neely, a one-time executive at the Hacienda hotel-casino. Rosenthal charged that Neely was a close friend of then-gaming commission chairman Peter Echeverria and that Echeverria wanted to settle the score.

One thing that puzzled Rosenthal was that he had moved from Las Vegas to Boca Raton, Fla., at least eight years before he was included in the Black Book, "which didn't make any sense."

"I never heard a good argument why you need to prevent certain people from walking into a casino," he said. "Black Books belong in Communist China. In a democratic society there is no such thing as a Black Book.

"Is the state of Nevada entitled to regulate the industry? Sure they are. But to say arbitrarily we don't want you walking through the doors is outrageous. Why not put Saddam Hussein in the book? Why not pedophiles?"

He also criticized the hearing process before the commission because "once you're nominated you're in. Forget about the hearing. It's a formality."

The only individuals who should be banned from casinos are those who are caught cheating the resorts, Rosenthal said.

"Let's not just take a wide brush and say, 'He did this, he did that,' " Rosenthal said. "In our form of jurisprudence you cannot just allege. You have to prove it."

Rosenthal said that twice in the 1990s someone from the Gaming Control Board wanted information from him about high-ranking Las Vegas gaming executives. He said he was told that his name would be removed from the book if he cooperated. Rosenthal said he refused the offers.

But former board Chairman Bill Bible denied such allegations, saying that no one from the board would have been authorized to contact Rosenthal.

Rosenthal also charged that some gaming regulators go after certain individuals on behalf of casinos and are then rewarded with high-paying gaming jobs.

He said it would be an economic, mental and physical drain to take on the Black Book, something he is no longer willing to do. Much of his energy these days is focused on his Internet website, where he imparts gambling tips.

"But I will debate anyone on the Black Book," Rosenthal said. "Why should they be allowed to violate anyone's constitutional rights? What is so Puritan about the industry that gives them the right to say, 'You can't walk into any of our properties,' other than frontier justice and dirty pool?"

archive