It’s nice to have some fresh content on the forums especially if it has to do with poker. Thank you and keep posting please. Very enjoyable.
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Thank you, Craig. I will certainly try.
Stay safe, David
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Hi Craig. did you read that the “Grab the Cannoli’s” was not in the original script. He made it up on the spot.
Like the famous “You Talking to me” in Taxi. The director was just setting the camera angle up and told Robert De Niro to
ad-lib for a while, so he did, and the rest is history.
The same with Joe Pesci in Goodfellows. The part where Joe said, “You think I’m Funny? How am I funny”? None of that was in the script. It is funny looking at all of the actors at the table. They had no idea where this was going. Was he really mad?
You could see it in their expressions. Fortunately, Ray Liotta quickly figured out where he was going and came back beautifully. Professionals at work.
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Being a professional with an eye for detail maybe you left this as “something for everyone…even for those who notice spelling…:
“The two Poker Players who comlpetely changed how to win playing Poker in Las Vegas””:
I gotta say that you are one of the most interesting people on this forum…almost out of place. If you ever see me in a ring or other game, please drop in and say hi; My chips won’t be easy to get however.
Cheers!
Polytarp
Wow, I don’t know what to say.
Thank you. That was a truly gracious thing for you to say.
Most people have absolutely no idea what it was really like living in Las Vegas when the mob was in charge.
I have waited until now to tell a few stores about those days, because I figure most of the participants are dead by now.
Some stories will die with me out of respect for the few members of Tony’s crew that I really liked.
I am sure you have heard the phrase,
“It’s nothing personal, just business.”
In Vegas you accepted that and tried very, very hard not to become in debt of any kind to any member of the mob.
No major crimes of any kind were allowed in Vegas without the knowledge and permission of Tony. There was a member of Tony’s crew with the nickname of “Sarge”, real name Freddy Ferris. He kept cash lock boxes in all the major casinos in Las Vegas. He was the in between man. If someone needed financing for an illegal operation or just needed a cash loan,
Sarge would get the ok and hand over the money.
One day about, about 1980, the FBI showed up with some John Doe warrants, and raided all of his cash boxes Sarge had stashed around town. It came to several hundred thousand dollars. I was working the day that Sarge got the news.
Talk about scared. White face, glassy eyed, no expression.
He really thought that he was going to be wacked for this.
As it turned out, he went to court to get the money back, claiming that it was casino winnings and he won the case. He did have to pay income tax on the winnings, but he died quietly in bed a few years later. I must have read his obituary twenty times, smiling ever time. It said what a great guy and true humanitarian he was. All people had to do was walk up and ask him for money, and he would give it to them. And it was true. The article just did not mention the 10% weekly vig that was the going rate from the mob at the time.
Still, I liked Sarge. He never caused any trouble at the tables.
He was not muscle, more like an accountant.
Anyway, thanks again, that was very kind of you to say.
Stay safe,
David
Polytarp,
In the article you mentioned, as you know, I was talking about Chip Reese and Danny Robinson.
It is really hard to describe the change they made in the way poker is played today.
Keep in mind that when they hit town, almost all games were played as limit poker. You almost never saw no limit played outside of a poker tournament. At that time poker was wait, wait, wait, strike. But these two, they took blasting caps to that style of play. It was so amazing to watch them completely change the way poker is played even up to today. Mind you, you need complete and utter confidence in your play.
If they came into a hand, it was never a call, always a raise.
If they stayed in a hand they got in the last bet or raise every hand they played on every card, unless they had a reason to fold.
Talk about putting the fear of God into the other p[layers. Every time they entered a hand you could see the pain on the other players faces. If the other players folded anywhere during the hand, Chip or Danny won. If it got to the end of the hand and the other players did not get enough help, they could not call, and Chip or Danny won. At the end of the hand and the cards were turned up on the table, Chip or Danny usually won. They made a deal with the house. Only one of them would play at a table at the same time. But they would rotate about every ten hours and play the same seat with the same chips on the table. They had played a lot of winning poker back east and came to Vegas to see how they would stack up against the best. Well, starting on day one, they were the best.
The other big hitters in the poker world took years to change their own style of play to come within striking distance of these two. Between them, they literally made millions of dollars in poker winnings. Chip was cool and calm, always polite.
Danny was a talker. He never stopped, and it was almost never about poker, he just liked to talk.
This was one of those moments in time when everything changed. Like when the airplane was introduced to WW1.
Or when wooden battleships changed to ironclads.
Or when they got tired of dropping firebombs on Japan and went nuclear. I consider myself lucky to be there when they hit town, because I was dealing at the highest limit card room in Vegas and saw it all as it took place.
Stay safe,
David
But still the “ families “ live on they worked for and so do their children. 
I saw Chip Reese, Brunson (senior), Ivey (who was having his calves massaged by a young woman) and a few others in the back room during the November Diamond Tournament at the Bellagio a long while ago. There was also a poker magazine that featured Reese that I had for a while. Regarding mob stuff, my wife and I were in Atlantic City and she got to know one woman who (at one point in their conversation) shouted out MOB WIVES RULE! The husband was verrrrrrrry uncomfortable but was pleasant enough so we shook hands and talked a bit. I already knew what he was about since I noticed a few payoffs here and there. (Part of my history involves a foreign military service and during the mid nineties during a ceasefire in Belfast (as a civilian) my wife got to appreciate an attention to detail regarding people.) My wife represented an organization of chiefs of police at the time and I think she gave her card to the woman…lololol…We were invited to stay at their mansion in Jersey but declined.
Regarding gambling, I liked the guy portrayed in Board Walk Empire who was an architect of sorts. To anyone who does gamble, Epsteins book (2nd Ed.) and certain books on psychological warfare and micro expression detection may help, however, certain things cant be taught. And like a parachutist with a single chute, even when you have an aptitude you have to contend with the unexpected…luckily, some of us do get to retire and appreciate (not so much to enjoy) old age!
I guess you have to have known them and their families.
They were proud of the business their family was in.
like a badge of honor, just like in Goodfellows
As long as I don’t mention who shot whom, they enjoy reading about it. Not a problem.
Remember those things that I said that I will not talk about?
Add those to the list.
There was a hitman who lived in a double wide trailer just outside of Vegas miles away from any other buildings on the way to Mount Charlston, the local ski resort.
He was not part of the mob.
He was used for special occasions all over the US.
It turned out that he liked to play cribbage, so I used to stop by now and again and we would play for hours at a time.
Sorry, no names.
Stay safe,
David
You never name names and never talk about the family business. These threads and posts are on the internet for all to read not just on Replay. You don’t hear me talking about “ buisiness “ no matter how long ago it happened.
Omerta!
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il tuo
Do not mean to be awwww weird here. I am half Italian and half Jewish; my dad is Italian and had 15 brothers n sisters and half were (are) in law enforcement and the other half in awwwww “Italian business.” My dad was a cop and then fireman BUT he let all of his family come use our hunting cabin and the things i saw and herd…My dad told me to NEVER mention anything and i would be safe and i am old now but still did not tell one story i herd lol.
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AGAIN, agree. 10000000%
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Thank you Bill and your post was spot on 
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bill8888
As you can tell from my posts, I kind of disagree.
You seem to have experienced more of a similar relationship like mine them most people.
It is not the subject matter that might not be appreciated.
That, they enjoy hearing about. It is the particulars that can be used against the living that might find me at the bottom of Lake Meade.
I have not mentioned any particulars on any single person that is still alive, and I won’t. Some of them were/are my friends.
Anyone wanting to play cribbage, I’ve got just the guy for you.
Stay safe,
David
You know why the “family business” is never talked about by the Mafia? Because it consist of the murder, extortion, illegal drugs, human trafficking and much more.
Well here is a toast to you.
Cent’anni
David thanks for sharing your experience in Vegas. It’s molto bene. Sorry for crashing your thread. I don’t want to be dormire con i pesci.
Late friend was a drummer and got caught up with the mob, was able to retire and set up a drum store till he retired and then played in a Christian band part time till his passing. was a very nice fellow and didn’t say much about his experiences.
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Dos-rios
I spent almost 10 years working and constantly being around Tony Spilotro’s men in Vegas. Just about everywhere I went I saw and talked to them, if only just to say “Hi”.
These were the hard-core members, along with a lot of others.
I also got to know other employees that worked at Mob run casinos who owed their jobs and livelihood to these mob members, just like me. Also friends of mine, although I did specialize in people who ran the showrooms. That’s how I got my free tickets to the best shows all over town for many years… (Although I did have to tip for the best seats up front)
I am sure you have a good reason for your belief, just as I have good reasons for mine. I lived it. It was a part of Vegas that you either accepted or rejected. I moved to Vegas from Virginia at the age of 25 knowing absolutely no one in the city.
As an ardent poker player, I wanted to deal to the best poker players in the world. I got what I wanted, constantly being around the mob was something that I had to accept if I wanted to fulfill my dream
Sorry, the family is about all that they talk about, just mostly in code.
They just never discuss details with those outside the family. You don’t hear them talk about it because they don’t want to go to jail. In reality, they are not ashamed of what they do.
You have heard the expression,
“Nothing personal, just business”
That’s all it meant to them, nothing less, nothing more.
That lifestyle perspective differs with how close you got to it.
Please, never believe that they were ashamed of what they did everyday of their lives. It was just a way of making a living to them.
Stay safe,
David