According to Bee Sedway, Moe Sedway's wife, it was Meyer Lansky who first brought forth the idea of Las Vegas. They had never heard of the town before Lansky brought it up. He kept insisting that they go check it out, but it wasn't until Siegel got in trouble in New York that the wheels started rolling. By that time, you had already had Wilkerson's Pre Flamingo and El Rancho. No one really invented Vegas. Vegas would've happened one way or the other.