How does Moe Greene death benifit Michael's getting his hands on the casino? Michael wanted to buy Greene Out. Now that 'somebody' had put a bullett through his eye rendering him deceased, wouldn't a transfer of ownerhsip be even more difficult to achieve, considering the bureaucracy involved, estate laws etc? Taking ownership of a multi-million dollar businesses is not like taking control of a tree-house, i.e. it is more complicated than chasing the present occupiers away. Does the book give any ideas?

Moe operated the casino under the protection of several families, and ostensibly with the approval of Hyman Roth. He was a stone in Michael's shoe, and to make sure there would be no trouble in his movining into the casinos, he needed Moe out of the way. There was no way Moe was going quietly in the night, and he would have probably gone so far as to accuse Michael of Killing Barzini.

Well, since this is after all The Corleone Family, things like estate laws and other bureaucracies would take a very minor (if any) role in acquiring ownership of Greene's hotel. Moe's killing probaby ties in more to whomever was backing him and the fact that by refusing to sell, he was now an enemy of Michael's.

Our pal Turnbull is probably the man to turn to for more accurate technical detail as to the whole 'Nevada' thing.

And he somehow has the skill to make it an incredibly easy read!!

Turnbull....????

Apple

Moe Greene signed his own death certificate when he slapped Fredo around in public.

In the book Greene was killed before Barzini was.

Thanks, Apple! Short answer: it was easy to obtain or change a gaming license in Nevada at that time. Longer answer follows. A little background:
At the time of Moe's assassination (1955), the gaming industry in Nevada was under the aegis of the Tax Commission. Regulation was lax: all the Legislature was interested in was taxing profits. They welcomed gangsters because they were bringing money into the state. Even those with previous convictions for Prohibition-era booze offenses or violation of gambling laws in other states, were welcome in Nevada--as long as they were building. The Tax Commission's attitude toward them was, "They were convicted of offenses that aren't offenses now in Nevada." If one owner or licensee disappeared ("through natural causes or otherwise," as Johnny Ola might have said ), the Tax Commission would bend over backward to recognize a new licensee--as long as he/she continued to keep the casino generating cash--or better yet, built another one (or paid off the Tax Commissioners).
Moe is based on Bugsy Siegel, builder of the Flamingo Hotel and Casino. Within an hour of Siegel's assassination (via a bullet through his eye), the Flamingo was claimed by two big-time, Mobbed-up gambling operators: Little Moe Sedway from New York, and Gus Greenbaum of Phoenix. Probably the nominal licensee was Del Webb, but it made no matter to the Tax Commission: they had confidence that Sedway and Greenbaum would keep the casino going--and generating cash. In fact, while Siegel had blundered, the two new guys made money hand over fist.

In the case of GF, Michael could easily have moved Moe out of the casino by force and put Fredo or someone else in charge. The Tax Commission probably wouldn't have made a fuss. But I believe he chose to wait in order to continue deceiving Barzini, Moe's major backer, into thinking that he (Michael) was weak--all in preparation for The Great Massacre of 1955.

Follow-up to the above: After the televised Senate Kefauver hearings (1950-51) and McClellan hearings (1957) exposed to millions of viewers that organized crime was behind gambling in Nevada, the legislature felt it had to act to protect the state's image. In 1958, they took control of gambling out of the Tax Commission and put it into a new Gaming Commission. They gave the new commission two big fangs: the power to license "key employees" of casinos; and the "Black Book," a list of people who could be banned from even entering a casino (much less owning or operating one) because of criminal backgrounds and associations. That's the rule that Ace and Nicky ran afoul of in the movie "Casino." It's also why Michael had his problem with Senator Geary in GFII: That scene took place late in 1958, when gambling was under the new commission.

In a deleted scene in GF II, Al Neri does exactly that on Michael's behalf (with Hyman Roth's approval) to Meyer Klingman, "owner" of the Tropigala.

Neri literally walks in, tells Klingman he's not the owner anymore, smacks him around a little bit, and chases him out of the joint.