Publication date:
07 July 2013Length of book:
288 pagesPublisher
Lyons PressISBN-13: 9780762780723
Las Vegas, 1970s—a golden age of Glitter Gulch corruption. Dennis Gomes--the youngest division chief in Gaming Control Board history--whipped a ragtag group of auditors into hardened, gun-slinging investigators, and shattered clichés about milquetoast accountant cops. Coming within a hair’s breadth of death more than once, Gomes capped off his tenure with the famous bust of the Stardust skim, portrayed in the book and movie Casino. In Hit Me!, there’s action to fill a dozen Scorsese films—midnight raids, heart-rending showgirl romances, and deadly double-crosses. And the cast of characters reads like a roll call of gangster lore. But no matter how much evidence Gomes uncovered, or how many witnesses and informants were bloodied, Gomes was swept aside by a political system that was dirty to its core. It took nearly three decades, but in 2007, Gomes made a date with destiny at The Family Secrets Trial--the justice system finally taking out a “hit” on the mob. In a Chicago courtroom on July 30, 2007, Gomes--a key prosecutorial witness--finally settled all scores.
Dennis Gomes, who passed away in February 2012, will be posthumously inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame in Las Vegas in October 2012.
Dennis Gomes, who passed away in February 2012, will be posthumously inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame in Las Vegas in October 2012.
As head of the audit division of the Nevada Gaming Control Board in the 1970s, Dennis Gomes pursued Mafia connections to Las Vegas’s gambling industry. The 1995 Martin
Scorsese film Casino . . . drew on Mr. Gromes’s investigation into how Las Vegas mobsters had embezzled more than $20 million from the Stardust Casino.” —New York Times
Scorsese film Casino . . . drew on Mr. Gromes’s investigation into how Las Vegas mobsters had embezzled more than $20 million from the Stardust Casino.” —New York Times
“Gomes . . . became Nevada’s top casino corruption investigator in the 1970s. He later went
to work for the casinos, he told the New York Times in 1995, ‘because I knew the business
from the inside out, and, believe it or not, I liked a lot of the people who were in it.’”
—Washington Post
to work for the casinos, he told the New York Times in 1995, ‘because I knew the business
from the inside out, and, believe it or not, I liked a lot of the people who were in it.’”
—Washington Post
“Dennis Gomes went from investigating crime among casino managers to joining the
industry’s ranks, becoming . . . a turnaround specialist for troubled gambling venues. . . . He later described himself as a ‘gung-ho, idealistic crime buster.’” —Wall Street Journal
industry’s ranks, becoming . . . a turnaround specialist for troubled gambling venues. . . . He later described himself as a ‘gung-ho, idealistic crime buster.’” —Wall Street Journal
“Dennis Gomes will always be remembered as a true ‘only-in-Las Vegas’-type character. . . .
He was recruited from the business world to be an agent and division chief at the state
Gaming Control Board. It was in that role that he and his team raided mob-controlled Las Vegas casinos.” —Las Vegas Sun
He was recruited from the business world to be an agent and division chief at the state
Gaming Control Board. It was in that role that he and his team raided mob-controlled Las Vegas casinos.” —Las Vegas Sun
“Dennis Gomes . . . began his gaming career as the youngest-ever chief of the Audit Division for the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and he ended it as the co-owner of Resorts Casino and Hotel in Atlantic City, NJ—grabbing headlines from start to finish. As a gaming regulator Gomes uncovered the Stardust skim, the largest casino skim in gaming history. After this bust, Gomes decided to clean up the gaming industry from the inside.”
—from The Gaming Hall of Fame’s profile of Dennis Gomes, 2012 Inductee
—from The Gaming Hall of Fame’s profile of Dennis Gomes, 2012 Inductee