Hundreds say goodbye to Binion

Jace Radke

Wednesday, Sept. 23, 1998 | 11:39 a.m.

A pair of boots, a cowboy hat, spurs and a lariat may be associated with the old West, but they were also a part of Ted Binion.

The tools of a cowboy were displayed on Binion's coffin as the man whom friends described as part cowboy, part historian and part Renaissance man was remembered Tuesday at his funeral Mass at Christ the King Catholic Church.

"I can truthfully say that Ted Binion was the most unforgettable character I ever knew," said Harry Claiborne, longtime family attorney and friend. "The Father (Bill Kenny) said that Ted marched to a different drummer than the rest of us, but I would add that Ted was about a mile and a half ahead of the drummer."

Between 700 and 800 friends and family attended the afternoon Mass. Among those present were Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones; Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas; former Rep. Jim Bilbray, D-Nev.; former Las Vegas Mayor Ron Lurie; and attorney John Moran Jr.

Other prominent Las Vegans at the funeral included Bob Stupak, the former chairman of the Stratosphere hotel-casino; Bobby Baldwin, president of the soon-to-open Bellagio hotel-casino; Michael Gaughan of Coast Resorts; and Jackie Gaughan, owner of the Plaza hotel-casino.

After the services Stupak commented on his friend.

"He was a good friend and a good guy," Stupak said. "I'm going to miss him."

Kenny, who presided over the Mass, welcomed all the guests and said that it was fitting that so many had come.

"This shows that Ted was a most affable person and that he was a friend to so many people of all different backgrounds," said Kenny, who had known Binion since they were children.

The ceremony opened with the playing of The Doors song "The End," after which the crowd sang hymns and prayed, and Claiborne and Kenny spoke of Binion.

Claiborne described the Ted Binion that he knew, sharing his memories of his friend.

"He was a great conversationalist and had one of the highest intellects of anyone I've ever known," Claiborne said. "He had a big heart and a compassion for others. There were hundreds and hundreds of cases of him reaching out to help people, and some he barely knew."

Claiborne also said Binion was entitled to his gaming license that had been revoked in March in part because of ties to organized-crime figures.

"He was cheated of that license, and getting it back became an obsession to him," Claiborne said. "The gaming board frowned upon a friendship of his, and I told him it would hurt his chances for the license if he continued this association.

"He looked at me in awe when I said that, and told me that his friend was an old man with no friends and that he couldn't turn him away from his door if he came to see him."

The friend in question was Herbie Blitzstein, once a top lieutenant of slain Chicago mob kingpin Anthony Spilotro. Blitzstein was killed gangland-style on Jan. 7 1997.

Binion, who was found dead Thursday at his Las Vegas home beside an empty bottle of Xanax, a prescription sedative, was 55 when he died.

"He (Binion) had faults like all of us have faults, but on the balance Ted Binion's good points far outweighed the bad," Claiborne said.