A:
Yes, Becky Behnen, when she took over Binion's Horseshoe more than a decade ago, sold off the hundred $10,000 bills in the original million-dollar display.
The new owner of Binion's, Terry Caudill (who also owns the Four Queens across Fremont Street), has put up a new display of a million dollars. It's displayed in an acrylic pyramid atop a poker table in the center of the casino and consists of $270,000 in $100 bills, $688,000 in $20 bills, and $42,000 in $1 bills. The cash is viewable from 10 am to 10 pm daily; during off hours it’s locked under a stainless-steel shell.
A Binion’s spokesman said that restoring the original display of one-hundred $10,000 bills would have cost $16 million or more (recently, one of the original $10,000 bills was selling on the eBay for $160,000).
Update 12 September 2008
Originally, this answer concluded as follows: "In the days of the original Horseshoe million, you could get your photo taken with the cash for free, but not this time around. To get a photo, you have to have a players club card registering $25 in slot or video poker play, plus you have to pay $20 for the photo print."
However, as was drawn to our attention by a number of readers both of QoD and the
Las Vegas Advisor newsletter, we had misread the press release relating to the new million-dollar display and the protocol for obtaining a photograph with it. Below is Anthony Curtis' revised take on the subject:
"Getting your photo taken with the display isn't quite as easy as it was with the original, but it could be slightly more profitable. Though we haven't tested it, the wording is 'Guests who join Club Binion's receive $25 in slot play or table-game non-negotiable chips for just $20 plus a free photo with the $1 million.' By the letter of this release, you can get a photo for joining the players club and paying $20 for $25 in casino play. Since we don't yet know the nature of the table-game play (i.e., single-play or play-till-you-lose), the safest route is to choose the free slot play. You'll have to run the $25 through once, which means an expected loss of less than $2 (varying according to what slot or video poker machine you choose), which means an expected profit of about $3. Of course, you could easily lose (or win more) money on the play."
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