Hotel Habana Riviera

The '50s were very profitable for Meyer Lansky and his associates, but he wanted even more.

Like his one-time partner, Bugsy Siegel, Lansky wanted to leave his mark by building his own hotel and casino, the Havana Riviera.

Construction began in December 1956, and it finished just a year later.

Lansky had spared no expense.

Overnight, the US mob had been handed a super simple way to launder its cash and make plenty more on the side.

Havana is soon packed full of betting venues, most of them operated by the National Crime Syndicate, the Havana Riviera, Capri, the Montmartre, the Sans Souci, and Deauville.

According to Eric Deesenhall, who has written a book about Meyer Lansky, quote, "While the Las Vegas casinos were mob controlled, on the heels of the Kefauver congressional hearings on the rackets, they had to operate under American law where the mobsters were considered undesirables.

Most were banned not only from ownership but from even setting foot in casinos.