The Nevada Legislature shifted licensing to the Tax Commission in 1945 because they saw huge growth in gambling in the postwar era (especially with the Flamingo nearing completion) and wanted to cash in on the proceeds. Putting control in the Tax Commission shows what they were thinking. Sure, the Tax Commission put up an impresssive number of "rules and regulations" designed to keep out licence applicants of "unsavory character." The fact that they rejected only five of 1,000 license applicants proves that all they cared about was bringing money into the state and taxing the profits.

Oversight by the Tax Commission was so lax, and so many gangsters took advantage of it, that in 1958, the Legislature took control out of the Tax Commission and put it into a new Gaming Control Board. The new Board gave itself real muscle: the power to license "key employees" of casinos, like the credit manager and the casino manager; and the "Black Book"--a list of people who could be barred from even entering a casino, much less owning or operating a casiono, because of criminal records, association with known criminals, or simply having "unsavory reputations." Among the first people put into the Black Book were Sam Giancana, Murray (the Camel) Humphries, Marshall Caifano and the Civella brothers.