[This is the third of a three-part series exploring Phish's past excursions in Las Vegas, courtesy of user @paulj Paul Jakus, Executive Director of the Phish Studies Association.]

The major constraint on the mid-20^th century growth of Las Vegas was lack of adequate capital: “legitimate” national banks and investors had refused loans to an industry built on gambling, booze, and sex. Crime syndicates, flush with cash and having fewer moral qualms, stepped into the breach. If Mob money were suitably laundered to disguise its source, a “clean” front man could obtain a Nevada gaming license.

Unfortunately, the high interest rates charged on Mob loans sometimes meant skimming casino profits to pay them off. The State of Nevada did not look kindly on its lost tax revenues and often shut down guilty hotel-casinos until new owners could be found. For example, the Aladdin Hotel was shuttered no fewer than four times in the 1970s and 80s.

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