Al Rothstein

The moneyman behind various criminal enteprises. He was from an Orthodox Jewish family living in the Upper West Side of New York. He was better known by associates as New York’s flamboyant gambler and also as “Mr. Big.”

He is “credited” with fixing the 1919 World Series, bribing eight members of the Chicago White Sox to throw the series to the Cincinnati Reds. In fact, he was called before a Chicago grand Jury in 1920 on the charge, but the case was dismissed without an indictment. But the truth is Rothstein did not fix the Series, but was familiar with the people who fixed the series and made a fortune betting on the right side.

Rothstein worked with Meyer Lansky, another Jewish mafia member.

He was shot at a poker game at the Park Central Hotel in new York on Nov. 4, 1928, dying at Polyclinic Hospital without ever naming the killers. Police begged him to name his killers as he lay dying, but Rothstein, true to his profession, placed his finger on his lips, until his head slumped and he died. Rumors that Rothstein was holding an Ace High flush at the time of his death were untrue. The set of five cards with Rothstein’s blood didn’t even have a pair or even an Ace.

— Ray Hanania