Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas, Nevada is the main setting for Running Scared: the Life and Treacherous Times of Las Vegas Casino King Steve Wynn by John L. Smith. The author discusses Las Vegas from its earliest days as a small area in the Mojave Desert where gamblers traversed to try their hand at legalized gambling. In the beginning, the city was small and not very successful. Smith refers to Las Vegas as being about a state of mind rather than a physical location. Las Vegas went from being a speck on a map to The Entertainment Capital of the World as well as one of the most populated cities in the US.

Las Vegas began to come into its own in the late 1940 and early 1950s. Less than upstanding characters like Bugsy Siegel and his associates saw the potential in the city and began to build hotels...