The mob gets star billing in Vegas

Clip and whack, he explained, are synonyms for kill.

Got it?

Charles Feris nodded. The retired meteorologist from Portland, Ore., had watched "Casino" to prepare for the 2 1/2 -hour, $56.25 tour. An Italian who grew up in Chicago, Feris remembers hanging out in gangster-run bars and strip joints.

"We had friends of friends who were connected," said Feris, 70, so he was eager to check out the Mafioso hangouts. "Vegas just seems to be getting in touch with [its] mob past. Who knows, maybe they'll build a themed mob hotel someday."

The bus rumbled east of the Strip, dark inside save a small screen that blinked black-and-white photos. Baltus ran through the spiel -- a mob buff's take on history and culture -- in an accent that turned his hometown into "Chi-caw-go."

The Kennedy assassination: "The Outfit put him in; the Outfit took him out."

The movie "Casino": "100% true."

The bus halted next to a restaurant named Piero’s, whose website describes its onetime clientele as "some of those businessmen in the casino industry with Italian surnames." It was a hangout for Spilotro, who terrified folks with his stare, Baltus said. When Spilotro trained it on foes, they eventually got whacked. With waitresses, he just wanted coffee.

As the bus pulled away, Baltus told the out-of-towners about Rosenthal; Robert De Niro played a character based on the Stardust manager in "Casino." At the Stardust, gangsters purportedly packed cash into suitcases -- in part to avoid paying taxes -- and flew it to mob bosses in Chicago and Kansas City.

"Does everybody know what a skim operation is?" Baltus asked.

"Yes!" someone replied.

About a dozen mob haunts later, the bus came to its last stop: the Flamingo, where the pink neon "F" had fizzled out. The tourists filed into the chilly night as Baltus spun the tale of Siegel, whom Warren Beatty portrayed in the 1991 movie "Bugsy." His hotel's construction costs soared over budget, but his vision was prescient -- the Flamingo was intended as a luxury getaway for Siegel's neighbors, the Los Angeles elite; decades later, Vegas touts itself as an upscale playground.

Siegel "probably would have been the godfather of Las Vegas if he had been here," Baltus said.

The group shuffled past the occasional flamingo lawn ornament to stop at a mounted plaque dedicated to Siegel. Baltus told the sightseers that Siegel had getaway tunnels dug under the hotel.

When the tourists climbed back onto the bus, the video screen said, "Warning: The Next Photo May Upset Some Viewers." They tittered in anticipation. Baltus flashed a photo of Siegel caked in blood, an eye blown out in a grisly demise.

No one winced.

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ashley.powers@latimes.com