Two big names are behind a new series about the infamous Texas gangster Benny Binion, who later rose to fame in Las Vegas.
DALLAS — The name Benny Binion might be more widely associated with Las Vegas and poker. But the infamous gambler, who died in 1989 at the age of 85, was born and raised in North Texas, where he got his start as a hustler — and where he was also charged with two homicides before his rise as a casino magnate.
Now his story is coming to a new TV series, with two big names behind the project.
Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions is producing an adaptation of the book “Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, the Texas Gangster Who Created Vegas Poker,” according to Deadline. And while it’s not yet clear if Stallone will have an actual role in the series, Deadline reports that Cole Hauser — famous for his role as Rip on “Yellowstone” — will play Binion.
Balboa Productions is working with Hauser’s American Outlaw Entertainment and also MGM Television on the project. A release date and platform have not been announced yet.
Stallone in a statement to Deadline described Binion as “a conduit connecting many worlds, some glamorous, some dangerous, some shady, but all intriguing, while helping to build the foundation for both Las Vegas as we know it and the explosive worldwide popularity of poker.”
“This is a story that will captivate audiences, and it’s a role made for Cole Hauser to play,” Stallone said. “I am proud and excited to partner with Cole to bring this story to life.”
The show will be based on “Blood Aces,” published in 2014 by Doug Swanson, a longtime journalist at The Dallas Morning News.
Texas Monthly also delved deep into Binion’s past in a Gary Cartwright-penned piece in 1991, “Benny and the Boys.” As Cartwright detailed, Binion faced charges for two killings in the 1930s, and received a suspended sentenced of two years for one; the other was ultimately ruled self-defense.
Here’s how Cartwright kicked off the piece:
“They say it was hard for anyone to dislike Benny Binion, unless, of course, Benny had his gun in that person’s ear and was in the process of blowing that person’s brains into West Dallas, which Benny was known to do when displeased. Even then it was nothing personal, just business. The man had thousands of friends, a fair number of enemies, and the good sense to tell the difference.”
It’s not yet known if “Blood Aces” will film in North Texas, but it certainly won’t be unfamiliar territory for Hauser. Numerous scenes from “Yellowstone” were filmed in and around Fort Worth, and Hauser is also filming a new “Yellowstone” spinoff in the Ferris area, south of Dallas.
Hauser’s previous work here was on Taylor Sheridan-produced projects, and Stallone currently stars in Sheridan’s “Tulsa King.”