Post by butch on Jan 18, 2002 19:34:09 GMT -5
Butch's Big Hustle: 1976
I had worked on Wall Street for a few years and rose through the ranks quickly, I became the manager of the margin dept at Bache and then Reynolds & Company. I was very unhappy working for someone so I quit and purchased a NYC Taxi Cab medallion, much to the disagreement of my wife, who loved the idea of being the bosses wife at the office parties, what a put down it was to say my husbands a cab driver.
I decided to work nights, which at least put me back in my environment. My workday began every night at 6 PM after the rush hour; I would stop at about 12 (short hours) and go to where it all started, the bar on Ovington Ave. The bowling alley part no longer existed, the poolroom was expanded, but I was there for the card games that went on right at the bar. I would meet my partner Larry who also went to work on wall St and then purchased a cab with me. We both supplemented our night's pay from the card games each night; the other players just weren't in our class. It was like taking candy from babies; besides, they were all drunk on top of it.
One night we were having a drink and just talking, I think we wiped every body out. Larry was saying we should start getting some exercise, why not go bowling. At first I said no, but then he talked me into it, It was a Tuesday night about 2 in the morning and we soon found out that none of the local lanes were open 24 hours any more. I actually got a sick feeling in my stomach; I was 30 years old and felt as though my era had slipped by me.
We decided to take a gamble and drive out to Long Island to see if Green Acres Bowl was open. On the way out we started to reminisce about all the years of action we were involved in and could it be possible that it doesn't exist any more, I felt that was impossible, it was always there. It took about 40 minutes to get there, as we approached the shopping center, I found myself almost praying that it would be open. A great relief came across me when I saw the outside lights on. As we walked into the alleys my eyes were searching everywhere at once, Green acres was a very large establishment. Would there be any action, would there be anyone I new. All of a sudden I spotted something going on way down at the end of the right side of the bowling alley. I found my heart actually racing as we walked down there, sure as shit! It was a match game. I felt a great feeling of relief go through my body, it was only one game, but that really seemed to mean something to me.
I didn't know anyone that was there, they were descend bowlers, bowling for a few hundred a game, with about 8 people betting on the side. One guy was covering all the action for this one bowler called the beeper, he was called the Beeper because he didn't talk, he beeped. The person backing him was named Barry Bernstein, a middle aged Jewish man who owned a successful business in the garment center, and loved to gamble. After watching a few games, I did what I hadn't done since I was 11 years old. I rented a pair of house shoes and started bowling with a house ball. I bowled a few games with Larry, we both bowled pretty bad, which was nothing new to Larry; he never was much of a bowler.
The match game was over and every one was just sitting around shooting the shit. From where I was sitting with Larry it wasn't hard to over hear them, it gave me a little insight into what was going on in the area. Thursday nights, the action was at Kuskies in Lynbrook Long Island after the Classic league, a rich trucking company owner by the name of Mac, was the big money backer there, Mac was in his mid sixties. Saturday night the action was at Raceway lanes in Yonkers, a 2-floor movie house, converted into a bowling alley. The big names came from all over for the weekend action. Friday night was Whitestone lanes in Queens. The biggest action around was being backed by Bill Daly, A thin guy about 5ft 10, in his mid 20s. Bill was a 190s bowler himself, but only went head to head with someone when he had a big advantage. He figured people were willing to take a shot at his long money. His #1 horse was a 16year old by the name of Jeff Kidder; Jeff had ice water in running through his veins, and was maybe the best action bowler I ever saw. Where Bill Daly's money came from, nobody knew, he went into the Army broke, when he came out and started backing Jeff and Cliffie Bergman, he covered all bets, no matter what the amount was. It was fun watching Jeff bowling against some of Macs horses from Kuskies, Mac sponsored quite a few top pro bowlers on the PBA tour. When some of his guys were in town, Jeff would bowl them, usually coming out on top.
End Of Part One, see below for part 2
I had worked on Wall Street for a few years and rose through the ranks quickly, I became the manager of the margin dept at Bache and then Reynolds & Company. I was very unhappy working for someone so I quit and purchased a NYC Taxi Cab medallion, much to the disagreement of my wife, who loved the idea of being the bosses wife at the office parties, what a put down it was to say my husbands a cab driver.
I decided to work nights, which at least put me back in my environment. My workday began every night at 6 PM after the rush hour; I would stop at about 12 (short hours) and go to where it all started, the bar on Ovington Ave. The bowling alley part no longer existed, the poolroom was expanded, but I was there for the card games that went on right at the bar. I would meet my partner Larry who also went to work on wall St and then purchased a cab with me. We both supplemented our night's pay from the card games each night; the other players just weren't in our class. It was like taking candy from babies; besides, they were all drunk on top of it.
One night we were having a drink and just talking, I think we wiped every body out. Larry was saying we should start getting some exercise, why not go bowling. At first I said no, but then he talked me into it, It was a Tuesday night about 2 in the morning and we soon found out that none of the local lanes were open 24 hours any more. I actually got a sick feeling in my stomach; I was 30 years old and felt as though my era had slipped by me.
We decided to take a gamble and drive out to Long Island to see if Green Acres Bowl was open. On the way out we started to reminisce about all the years of action we were involved in and could it be possible that it doesn't exist any more, I felt that was impossible, it was always there. It took about 40 minutes to get there, as we approached the shopping center, I found myself almost praying that it would be open. A great relief came across me when I saw the outside lights on. As we walked into the alleys my eyes were searching everywhere at once, Green acres was a very large establishment. Would there be any action, would there be anyone I new. All of a sudden I spotted something going on way down at the end of the right side of the bowling alley. I found my heart actually racing as we walked down there, sure as shit! It was a match game. I felt a great feeling of relief go through my body, it was only one game, but that really seemed to mean something to me.
I didn't know anyone that was there, they were descend bowlers, bowling for a few hundred a game, with about 8 people betting on the side. One guy was covering all the action for this one bowler called the beeper, he was called the Beeper because he didn't talk, he beeped. The person backing him was named Barry Bernstein, a middle aged Jewish man who owned a successful business in the garment center, and loved to gamble. After watching a few games, I did what I hadn't done since I was 11 years old. I rented a pair of house shoes and started bowling with a house ball. I bowled a few games with Larry, we both bowled pretty bad, which was nothing new to Larry; he never was much of a bowler.
The match game was over and every one was just sitting around shooting the shit. From where I was sitting with Larry it wasn't hard to over hear them, it gave me a little insight into what was going on in the area. Thursday nights, the action was at Kuskies in Lynbrook Long Island after the Classic league, a rich trucking company owner by the name of Mac, was the big money backer there, Mac was in his mid sixties. Saturday night the action was at Raceway lanes in Yonkers, a 2-floor movie house, converted into a bowling alley. The big names came from all over for the weekend action. Friday night was Whitestone lanes in Queens. The biggest action around was being backed by Bill Daly, A thin guy about 5ft 10, in his mid 20s. Bill was a 190s bowler himself, but only went head to head with someone when he had a big advantage. He figured people were willing to take a shot at his long money. His #1 horse was a 16year old by the name of Jeff Kidder; Jeff had ice water in running through his veins, and was maybe the best action bowler I ever saw. Where Bill Daly's money came from, nobody knew, he went into the Army broke, when he came out and started backing Jeff and Cliffie Bergman, he covered all bets, no matter what the amount was. It was fun watching Jeff bowling against some of Macs horses from Kuskies, Mac sponsored quite a few top pro bowlers on the PBA tour. When some of his guys were in town, Jeff would bowl them, usually coming out on top.
End Of Part One, see below for part 2