In "Running Scared," an unauthorized bio of Steve Wynn, John L. Smith writes that Wynn's father was a big-time bingo operator in the East, as well as a heavy gambler who went often to Vegas and took the kid Steve with him. When Wynn Sr. died, Smith says, Steve paid off his debts to a guy who was connected with the Detroit mob. This made a nice impression, and he was allegedly invited to invest with the mob in buying the Frontier Hotel. When the Gaming Commission learned of Mob's participation, they annulled their investment and prosecuted them. But Wynn was permitted to keep his investment (he sold it at a profit). It was his first step in becoming, for a time, the biggest gaming mogul in Vegas.