There was a flawed belief that Hughes was capable of pushing the mob out as his handlers were fish out of water in the gambling industry. This was culture shock and as one of his aids once said, “None of us knew snake eyes from box cars.” In addition, Hughes wasn’t in any condition to take on the unique challenge as his mental and physical health were rapidly degenerating. Hughes was suffering from dementia that resulted from syphilis. He developed a deeply paranoid fear of germs from obsessive compulsive disorder. As a result, he never left his hotel room during his four years in Las Vegas. He also never showered or used the toilet; instead, he stored his urine and feces in jars. Hughes was so reclusive that he rarely allowed visitors to …show more content…
In this case, it was drastically excessive. A 10% tax may not sound like much, but the 10% tax applied to the gross total wagers or the handle. In other words, a 10% tax on the gross total wagers amounts to a total tax of roughly twice the casino’s profits! As a result of the federal excise taxes, local knockoff bookmaking businesses or “turf clubs” were created. The turf clubs hardly paid any taxes by writing betting tickets for much smaller amounts than the actual wagers. For instance, Jimmy Vaccaro, a long time Vegas insider and the former Director of the Race and Sports Book at the Mirage, explained that the turf clubs had handshake agreements with their established customers. If someone wanted to bet a $1,000, the clerk simply wrote a betting ticket for only $10 to minimize the taxes. Under those circumstances, Lefty Rosenthal convinced the Nevada Gaming Commission to allow casinos to include sportsbooks on the premises. In turn, Nevada gaming authorities lobbied for the federal excise tax to be reduced to 2% in 1974. They followed up and the taxes were reduced to 0.25% in 1983. In the end, the government collected much more tax revenue by making this