Post by Zoo Master on May 21, 2010 16:31:30 GMT -5
www.club-gamble.com/stories/Small-Change-outline.html
Small Change
This is the story of three street wise guys from Brooklyn. The I.Q. of all three are above average if not downright on the high side, they are very different in nature, family background, and their approach to life. The one thing that bonds them together is their mutual love and fascination for the world of gambling and the easy buck.
The Main Characters
Butch -Butch is a third generation Scandinavian WASP, son of a hard working, beer drinking, quick-tempered banker. He's been a street person since the age of 7, started bowling at ten, and gambling at the age of 13. Butch's earliest dreams were to live off of gambling, that was his main goal in life. He had a good imagination and lots of ideas, but he also understood himself, he was not very aggressive in turning these ideas (daydreams) into reality. He prided himself in being a good mediator and having the ability to bring people together, that's how he was also able to con them, if needed, in his own quiet little way. He was the center off his own circle because his ego, or lack of it, it didn't get in the way and become confrontational between his friends and partners, who all had massive ego's. That's also what allowed him to win most off his bowling matches, he stayed at a level slightly beneath his true ability, never tried to make a big name for himself by bowling the best around, which he was more than capable of.
Paul - Paul is truly a very unique, fascinating, color full, intelligent, street smart, extremely aggressive, good looking, smooth talking ladies man. He's third generation Sicilian, Brooklyn born and breed, and that's only part of his problem. He's never considered himself Italian, or a Brooklynite. Outside of gambling, he always spent most of his time in Manhattan, (NYC), which he considers his true origin. He never had the famous Brooklyn accent or mannerisms. Paul's father was a very hard working, quick-tempered and successful; take no shit type of a guy. Paul had most of those same qualities; you can only imagine some of the father, son, confrontations. He was the only son with two slightly older, hard headed, good-looking sisters. Paul always had a pipeline to money, but it always went fast, wasn't enough, and had to be replenished quickly. In actuality, he was, and still is, a great businessman, his problem was, after he gets the idea, figures out how to bankroll it, makes it happen, turns a dream into reality, he gets bored and has to move on to something else. Gambling was always a challenge to him, and there's so many different forms of gambling that it was able to hold his attention and interest at different times throughout his life
Doug - Doug is a third generation Christian of Arabic descent. He comes from a very wealthy family who had many interests in different businesses. He lived with his mom and step dad, who he never got along with. At age 16 his parents decided to buy an estate and move to a very expensive area in New Jersey. Doug refused to move with them and became a true Brooklyn street kid. He had always been a great athlete, bull shitter, card cheating, and fast talking con artist. Doug is the type of guy that would be picking his best friends pocket while hugging him. He was not a confrontational person even though he could more than handle himself if need be. When he got caught or accused of some misdeed, he would just look hurt and try to lye his way out of it by swearing it wasn't so. Doug was really a very good athlete at any sport he played; I mean real good, pro potential. He's the type of guy that has all the right moves, and if anything, even talks a better game than he has, and that's really saying something when your as good as he was. It wasn't any different with gambling, weather it was, cards, craps, the horses, sports betting, or flipping coins, he had it all, and was real flashy on top of it, and loved to stick it to ya. His biggest problem was he became a compulsive gambler and didn't even no or admit to it, outside of that, his big hang-up was Butch being a better bowler than himself; he wanted all that to change, and worked very hard towards that end result.
Secondary Characters
Cubby (the bookie) Cubby was always preaching on how we should keep the money in our own community, don't loose it at the track, or any other place outside of our own everyday lives. He also preached about keeping our credit good so we can always stay in action.
Victor Bertini (Paul's Cousin, he thought he graduated from Oxford, a one in a million character)
Larry Hersh, the 4th banana and wanna-bee crew member (Doug originally brought Larry into our circle as an easy touch, but he wasn't)
The Three Stooges - (Paul's uncles, lets just write a complete book about them)
Bernie Bananas - (Scholar, accountant, nerd, BOWLING HUSTLER)
Herbie The Pig - (pretty tough short stocky Jew from Brooklyn, funny and likeable, also can be a very scary dangerous person, snorted like a pig while he talked, was found dead on the docks in his mid thirties)
Al Rosen - (real nice guy, a real sucker, Bernie and our crew ruined his life)
Mac & Stoop - (Bowling Legends, Damon Runyon type characters, brought all the big time action to our home lanes, Ave M Bowl, listened to their stories for hours on many different occasions)
Jack Weinstein - (heir to the Mays dept store fortune, Jack was the biggest mark of all ever to walk into our web)
Clyde - (a short heavyset porky the pig look-alike, a hanger on and real character)
Miltie - (Paul's compulsive gambling CPA. He stole his clients money to pay off the shy's and get into action at the track with.)
Howie - (a flashy typical Brooklyn Jew, a life insurance salesman, a compulsive gambler, and a total dirt bag)
Vinnie - (fairly big time shylock from the neighborhood, real bad temper and could really handle himself, good looking, fancy dresser, had big contacts, and a real bad attitude)
Mike & Mattie - (Toughest street guys in Brooklyn, ran the Coney Island biker gangs)
Carl - (a backer and friend of Paul's, tough as nails, another real character)
Boris, Kosher & Company - (master mechanics "card & dice cheats" the best in the country, they took and busted out our very lucrative weekly card and craps game)
Howie "The Fish" Noble - (Owner of Ave M Bowl, he financed the original action being brought into his house.)
Josie - (mid forties, petite with platinum blond hair & designer glasses, owned the lunch
counter at Windsor Lanes, taught her two sons how to hustle and be con artists (the youngest one is now in a Texas jail, the older one was executed gangland style. She also had her own stable of teenage action bowlers in the late fifties and early sixties.
Mikie Cash - (sold 50% of his business to 11 different people within a two year period, he needed the cash to stay in action with. He had one guy on the payroll that just went to OTB each race to bet for him)
Bill Daley - (The biggest action bowler backer of them all)
Gene Shinny Pants
The Beeper
Iggy Russo
Charlie the counter man at Ave M
It's the year 2001, a reunion of sorts is about to take place in a small casino hotel in Reno, the participants are Butch, Paul, and Doug. The reason for the reunion is the 20th anniversary of them busting out on all the casinos in Atlantic City, and that was only the tip of the iceberg.
The Big Scam (short outline)
After years of gambling, running card games, pulling scams, and being involved in legitimate businesses (it was mainly Paul with the legit businesses) our best money making gig, our weekly card and dice game was busted out by a crew of professional mechanics (cheats), we decided to get even. At a relatively young age butch was taught by Cubby that to be successful you had to stay in action, when the cash is flowing anything can happen, when there is no cash flow nothing happens. To stay in action you must have and maintain good credit, (street credit, shylocks) and if possible, good legitimate credit. He said that he always showed phony income and paid taxes just for that reason. Butch understood and followed his advise, he had excellent, (if not very large personal credit), and a good street reputation. Paul maintained pretty good credit because of his interest in business and his families money. Doug was a lost case, seems like he was always ducking someone.
Butch had been approached by someone he knew that was running a scam in Atlantic City, the deal was they would bankroll him, set him up through their inside connections in the casinos, and have people betting opposite him while gambling at the tables, this was to establish his credit without taking the chance of loosing. And for all this, they wanted 50% of the final take, when it came time to bust out. It was a fair deal but Butch said thanks, but no thanks. He didn't want to be involved with these people, and besides, he decided right on the spot to do it himself with his own crew.
Before we get involved in on what happened when Butch, Paul and Doug, decided to make the score of their life, not only from Atlantic City, but also every credit card company, loan company, bank, bookie, and shylock they could they could put their hands on, lets go back to the beginning, how their relationships all began..
It was a cold winter's night, Paul was at the food counter at Ave M bowl, he was holding court and bragging about how he had hustled this kid James out of all the money he had just made from shoveling snow all day. As he was talking, James's older brother Ritchie, who was Paul's age, walked straight over to Paul, got in his face and said you and me, outside. As Paul started walking towards the door, one of the guys said to Paul, your not going out there with him are ya, ya know he's complete nut job, Paul just shrugged and said, I can't back down. That's been Paul's credo all his life. As Paul and Ritchie were getting it on, you could here this guy Butch in the background trying to book the fight, saying he'd cover all the action on Ritchie, he had no takers. Paul was a pretty good street fighter, you'd think he'd be worried about getting his good looks all messed up, but he wasn't, or if he was, he never showed it, he never backed off to anyone before or since that fight. Ritchie gave him a terrible beating, culminating with Ritchie scrapping Paul's face along the sidewalk in the snow and ice. Even though he was a bloody mess, Paul still wouldn't give up. Butch finally had to drag his best friend Ritchie, off of Paul before he killed him. Butch had so such respect for the way Paul handled himself that night that it became the cement in bonding their life long friendship and partnerships. Richie was killed his late thirties just outside of Dallas Texas, he was on his way back to Brooklyn after a 20 year absence to live and go into business with Butch. He had spent most of his recent years owning and running Dallas's largest call girl operation, until the mob squeezed him out, he then went on the road, stealing rare and expensive prints from museums and university library's throughout the Country.
Paul met Doug by getting hustled by him in a game of ping pong, Paul was like the best ping pong player in the local area, a match was set up by someone who knew the both of them, it was held at Paul's house, Doug destroyed him. To get even, Paul challenged Doug to a softball-hitting contest against his partner Butch, who could really hit the ball. The match was set to be held at the Ave P Park, Doug destroyed him. This was the beginning of a three way gambling partnership that would last for many years to come.
We had about 5 years full of constant action, ups & downs, and lots of good times, filled with loads of action bowling, when we first met, Doug had never bowled, so it didn't bother him that Butch of course was better. Within one year's time, Doug went from a novice to a full blown legitimate 200 plus action bowler. And did he ever bowl action, he couldn't get enough of it, if he wasn't at the track, a card or craps game, he was at the bowling lanes, at least 8 hours a day seven days a week, he didn't care if it was a legitimate match game or a dollar a man pot game with the kids, he just needed the action. He always said he would one day become better than Butch, that's one of the reasons he was actually very broken up when Butch declared that he was getting married, and was giving up bowling and gambling, how could Doug ever surpass Butch if he stopped bowling. Butch did end up getting married, he had the greatest and yet worst experiences of his bowling life on the final weekend before the marriage. (see the story of that final weekend) Doug actually quit bowling a short time after Butch gave it up; I guess his biggest challenge to the game no longer existed.
Last Weekend Before Butch's Big Mistake:
It's 1966 and one of the toughest matches I ever bowled was against Richie Grossman, who would be found a few years later in the trunk of his car in Gravesend Brooklyn with a bullet in the head. It was a Friday night, A week before I would make the biggest mistake of my life, getting married, I left my future wife about midnight and walked the 5 blocks to the bowling alley. The night before, my crew, consisting of Paul, Doug, and Larry, had made a mid size hit of about eight hundred bucks, that was suppose to be our kitty for tonight's action. Paul wanted me to bowl Richie , Doug and Larry felt he was to strong because I hadn't been bowling that much of late, and Richie was a workhorse. Paul immediately split the kitty up and told Doug and Larry to go get f**ked, he turned to me and said bowl him, you'll eat him alive.
It turns out it was my best night ever; my first three games were 290, 289 and 246. The first 15 games I averaged about 240 and we were up about eight thousand, by far the most money we were ever up. Richie went broke, I paid for the lines, the match was over or so I thought, I was feeling great, couldn't wait to get out of there and split the money with Paul, in walks Sal the plumber. Richie talks him into backing him and here I am, back on the alleys with him again. It's now about 5:30 in the morning, all the people that were betting on me had gone home, we were covering Richie for about fifteen hundred a game all by ourselves. By nine thirty Richie completely wore me out, I quit winning 300 hundred dollars, Richie was pissed that I quit because he was still down thousands that the outside betters had left with earlier.
The next night I was at Leader lanes at about 1 am, I was still exhausted from the night before and swore I wouldn't bowl. My partner Doug begged me to bowl doubles with him. Relentlessly I gave in and bet only ten dollars out of disgust of what happened the night before, we went on to beating 4 different doubles teams, never lost a game all night, cleaned out the house, I never increased my bet past ten dollars, many thousands had been won, I made 170 dollars. I walked out the front door with my bowling ball in hand to the middle of Coney Island Avenue, made my approach, delivered the ball towards the sewer, which became my head pin, that was the last time I threw a bowling ball for quite some time. The following Saturday I got married and didn't even walk into a bowling alley for the next several years... butch
The next five or so years consisted of:
Butch getting married, the honeymoon was over, before the honeymoon was over.
Butch going to work for the US Post Office
Butch going to work for the brokerage house Bache & Company, he becomes a supervisor.
Butch going to work for the brokerage firm Reynolds, he becomes an assistant manager.
Butch leaving Wall Street and buying his own NYC medallion cab, he had to get back to the streets.
Paul getting involved with starting a few different business on his own
Paul going partners with Larry in a bagel and dairy market on Long Island. This lead into a gigantic feud between the two, culminating with Larry bringing in mafia hoods to represent him in the split up of their business, what a joke that was, and did it ever backfire in Larry's face.
When Paul finally got over that very bad bitter experience, he settled down with a lady and everything finally seemed to be going in the right direction, but he was a little bored.
Doug shocked us all, after only a few months of staying in the local bowling scene, he picks up, moves to Jersy and becomes his step dads partner in a Aamco transmission business.
He takes to his new business like a fish to water, he cons everyone that comes in to his shop into thinking they need a new transmission.
He buys his step father out and now owns the whole business himself. He also miraculously establishes credit for himself.
He also becomes a very big gambler, the trotters and sports betting, the money from the transmission shop is flowing.
Larry, after his fiasco with Paul gets Butch to put him in the cab business with him
One night Butch and Larry were in their neighborhood bar talking about the old days, that sparked the start of a new direction in all their lives
Butch's Big Hustle: 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 to the lanes, 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.
Instead of going to the bar every night we started to check out these different action houses, stayed quietly in the background, and just observed what was going on. Most of the players were different from the last time I was involved. To some extent the action was even bigger than when I was in it, but there wasn't as much of it, another big change was how careful everyone seemed to be about whom they bowled, they all kept looking for an edge. I was driving with Larry to Green Acres on a Monday night, this time I brought my own bowling ball and shoes; I kept them from years ago. Larry said I should get back in shape and bowl some of these guys. I agreed, but not the way he meant it. I told him my plan was for us to act like big money pigeons, I told him I wanted to bowl the backers, Barry Bernstein, and then Bill Daly with Mac betting on him. Larry said it'll never happen, some one would know me from the past and kill the deal, besides, where would I get the type of bankroll needed to bowl these guys with.. I told Larry to leave it up to me, I could con them, and the cash would come from Dougie, who was doing very well with a Aamco transmission business that he owned, Doug robbed all his customers blind.
It was some years since I saw Doug, but I new if I told him I had a pigeon he'd come running. The first thing we did that night was bundle up all our singles from the cab business with some big bills on the top and bottom. I managed to start up a conversation with Barry, mentioned that I use to be a fairly good bowler years ago but can't seem to recapture it. I figured this way I was covered incase any one told him about me. I also mentioned that I owned a cab company. I then started bowling against Larry a few alleys away and started flashing the bankroll after each game to pay off Larry for the game I just lost to him. That was the hardest part, being bad enough to actually loose to Larry.
This went on a few days a week for the next 2 months, I formed a nice relationship with Barry, a few times he asked to join in with us and make it a 3 way pot game. I declined, I told him I've seen him bowl and I wasn't back in shape yet. Barry was a low 170s bowler; I was already shooting 190s or better in other houses when I practiced for real. By locking him out I was setting him up for the big kill, then I figured the money I beat him for would be used against Bill Daly, with hopefully Mac betting on Bill, If all went right, I could make a few years pay. I already was forming a relationship with the both of them, whom both disliked Barry. I mentioned how Barry was trying to hustle me, and that if I could just get a little better I would bowl him, don't forget, Bill was a much better bowler than Barry. I kept coming off as a has been, with lots of fresh money.
Through out this period they saw Larry beat me for what seemed to be a small fortune, he would kid around with me and ask how much fresh money my cabs brought in for him that night, he acted very obnoxious. It got to a point where they all wanted a piece of me instead of just Larry getting it all. He actually would wink at them, as though to say, this is my private fish. I called my friend Doug in New Jersey, told him what was going on, and just as I had hoped he said to set it up, money was no problem.
That night at Green Acres I managed to barely beat Larry for the first time and started talking like a big shot to Barry, I said it's finally coming back, that I'm ready for him head to head. I think he thought I was nuts. Larry kept on saying that I shouldn't even consider bowling Barry, as planned, I got mad at Larry, told him to get f**ked, and in the heat of anger told Barry to name the day. To my surprise, Barry said the only place he would bowl me was at Times Square Lanes in Manhattan, 42nd St & B'way. That really threw me for a loop, I couldn't figure it. Turns out that's the general area where his business is, and that's actually his home lanes. I was never in Times Square Lanes let alone bowl there, I said no problem. The match was set for that Wednesday night.
I met Doug and his brother in front of a coffee shop near the bowling alley, Larry didn't come because he and Douglas weren't on talking terms, I gave him a piece of the pie anyway. Doug's older brother came with him, had arms like tree trunks and a permit to carry. The bowling alley was right around the corner from the famous Ames poolroom, where the Hustler with Jackie Gleason was shot. Times Square lanes was below street level, as we entered, we saw quite a few people waiting for us, we were amongst the few white people there, I was beginning to wonder if this was a mistake, maybe Barry knew I was hustling him. He greeted us and asked where Larry was; I said I was still pissed at him. I introduced Doug and his brother, who accidentally on purpose, let his piece be seen. We started practicing, after about 10 balls each; we were ready to start the match. I asked Barry what he wanted to bowl for, to my astonishment, he only put down $200, At this point Douglas stood up, faced the crowd of about 25 people, took out a tremendous wade of money, all $100s, and boldly announced, I'm covering the house, put it up gentlemen.
At that moment I felt sky high, it was a long time since I felt like this last. I went on to beat Barry 7 straight games, after purposely loosing the second game. The hardest part was keeping it close. Barry kept going into the empty office of the bowling alley and getting more cash, liked he owned the place, maybe he did. We took him and the crowd for $9000 cash; the last game was a $2500 marker. I was paid the following week at Green Acres; Barry told me he'd never bowl me again. I told him that if I get better I'd like to bowl Bill Daly next, I think he knows what happened, he said to me, let me know when you set up the match, I like to bet on you, and then he winked at me. It took another month to set up a match with Bill Daly. Douglas was broke from the trotters; I got in touch with Paul, who made arrangements with his bookie Cubbie to back me. The match was set for Kuskies on a Thursday night at 1:30 am.
That night to prepare mentally for what I hoped to be the biggest money night of my life, I left my house the regular time for work, instead I went to the Manhattan Beach hotel and checked in. Went to my room, took a shower, asked for a wake up call at 9:30, laid in bed nude with just the sheet on me, I wanted to totally soak up the moment, daydream about beating Bill and Mac for about 50 big ones, all of a sudden the phone rings, It was my wake up call, I had dosed off. I met Paul and Cubby, we went to a steak joint on the way to Kuskies. Cubby kept asking me if I was sure I could beat this guy, Paul had told him it was a shoe in, which was not true, Bill Daly was a good bowler. Cubby wanted to know how much to bet, I told him to start off at 2 grand a game, he choked, but said OK. Paul said he would do the betting. I told him, Bill would just say to name it, just tell him the amount, no bluff plays. We get to the alleys, picked a pair, and started practicing. Just like I hoped, Mac was there. I'm hitting the lanes real well in practice, Paul does what I told him not to, he asks Bill Daly, what do you wanna bowl for. Bill Daly immediately shoots back, 5 grand, Mac chirps in from the background I'll take 5 more on Bill, to save face for Paul I had to say, I only wanted to start for two. I win the first game, tie the second game, win the 3rd and 4th, Bill comes over to me and has the balls to say, my lowest game is 214, and I haven't won a game yet. He said I had one of 2 choices. Change lanes or bowl Jeff Kidder on these lanes. I said no to both, he said if I didn't pick one of the two, I would never get the chance again to get into his pocket. I told him to get f**ked, and put my ball away. We ended up winning $10,000, I never bowled him again.
As I was walking out Barry Bernstein was walking in, he really got pissed off when he found out about the match and I didn't call him. He said it wasn't the money, it was the chance to rub it in Bills face, that he really disliked him. It was mixed feelings on the way home, the money was good, but we felt cheated. Once again, Larry wasn't there, because of course he and Paul didn't talk anymore... butch
Paul & Butch stay together:
Butch used his share of the money to straighten out some old debts and buy some stuff for his family. Paul used his share to start Leonard Paper, Butch went to work for him and in short time Paul made him a full partner. Butch still had the cab, but didn't really work it anymore. The next few years was spent building the paper supply business while financing it by going to the track, (Paul was an excellent handicapper) plus all the deals that were pulled at the track. We also ran a weekly poker game which started out with the three stooges, Victor, and a few other locals. Once we busted them out, (we also played in our own game, plus cut it), we were fortunate enough to get a lot of the Greek Diner owners to play in our game, now the money was really flowing. After running the game out of about five different joints we finally rented a swanky apartment in Brighten beach right on the water, what could be better. We were there a couple of months and then the rough fell in
We Get Taken:
I'm a partner with Paul in a Company called Leonard Paper, we supply mainly wholesale bagel bakeries with the bags they need to deliver the bagels in. The first thing we did was building ourselves a nice office in this old run down building on McDonald Ave. We hired a driver and warehouse man, there wasn't enough money being made to pay them, so we went to the track everyday and ran a poker game on Friday nights to support the business, which made us feel legitimate.
We actually did pretty well at the track, once we stopped following the touts and inside information. When we were getting word from the jockeys, trainers etc, we were constantly running like chickens without heads to Monmouth, Garden State, Penn National, even the Trotters. It rarely worked out, but was a lot of fun. We did much better having Paul do the handicapping hinself. Paul was actually a very good handicapper and I was the systems guy handling the betting. We would stay in the Man Of War room; in those days it was a fancy restaurant. Our bookie at the track was Miltie, he would stop by before each race and take our action, no cash up front. We were betting about a grand a race. If we won he'd pay us at the end of the day, if we lost, we didn't have to pay until the next time we saw him, he also picked up our check each day and gave us club house passes.
The card game was a real winner for us, we'd spent about 200 catering it, paid a hundred for the use of some ones apartment for the night, and cut on the average about 1500 hundred for about 12 hours of work. The real money came when we sat in because the game because of a shortage of players. Our main customers were the Greek Diner owners, they had lots of cash and loved to bluff, it made for big pots. We had one fish I had brought into the game, Howie, an insurance agent, A Jew from Staten Island, 5ft 8in, about 150 lbs and wore lots of gold, had a mustache, and always wore sunglasses, he thought he was the swiftest, coolest, brightest, con job on the face of the earth, a total creep and scum bag, he was easy pickings, lost every week and couldn't figure out why, he kept coming back for more. One night we had some heavy hitter mafia types from down town Brooklyn, one of them pulled a gun on Howie and accused him of dealing seconds, Paul saved his ass that night and smoothed everything over, they never came back to the game. Howie denied everything, said they were nuts, we believed him, we were wrong. Paul got even with Howie a year later when the game broke up. Howie got Paul a five thousand dollar loan through connections he had, the loan was approved without being checked out. Paul was suppose to kick back fifteen hundred, a grand for Howie and five hundred for the inside man, instead of giving Howie the money when he came to the warehouse to collect it, Paul pulled down the big iron gate and gave Howie a beating. He still had the balls to ask for his cut, Paul hit him again.
One day while eating at a seafood restaurant on Nostrand Ave, the owner of the place, Gus, asked if we wanted some fresh blood for the game, he played with us every week and almost always lost. He said he had some pigeons that were customers of his and looking for action, we said fine. Turns out they were all professional card cheats, (mechanics). The first two who came into the game that weekend was Borus and Kosher, Borus was one of, if not the best card and dice mechanic in the country, Kosher was very good also, but still in training, the following week they brought in two catchers, a woman and man in there sixties, the woman dressed very expensively and was suppose to own a jewelry business, the man with the cowboy hat was suppose to be a rich Texan. They got paid a salary for being fed the winning hands, that's why they're called catchers.
A few weeks later crazy Ed started to play in the game, Ed was an ex special forces maniac that owned 2 stores. One day his Ave X store was held up while he was there, he crabbed his gun and went running after them, commandeered a passing car and made the women driver chase after the other car racing down Ave. X while he was shooting at it. When he first came to our game, he tried to put his gun on the table; we had to explain that wasn't allowed.
After the third week we started getting suspicious, there were just to many pots with multiple good hands, the same people seemed to win all the really big pots. These two old folks were winning unusually high amounts of money each week. Borus was a real character, he started off with a full bottle of liquor in front of him and slowly got very drunk, or so he wanted us to believe. The liquor was for real, but he still did his thing, he was extremely intelligent, tall, thin, a full head of hair, bulging eyes, very large hands, a tremendous asset for his trade. His one big problem was that he was so good at what he did; he would always throw hints at what was happening as a challenge to catch him. This made his partners very nervous. A lot of people in the trade wouldn't work with him for that reason; the consensus was that he was nuts.
One-day years later I saw him at the Taj in A.C., he parlayed 2 hard eights, the original bet was 400 into 40 thousand, I made eighteen hundred, two one hundred bets, I didn't parlay my second bet.
Back to my game, as much as we watched very closely we couldn't spot what was happening, he was just that good with cards. One night after the card game was over, the usual crap game began on the floor against a foam pillow. As usual Borus was throwing hard ways at will. I watched real closely when Boris had the dice, what I spotted was that he really wasn't shaking them up in his hand, and when he threw them they never touched each other as they rolled off the foam pillow. I took a shot, I called Kosher into the bathroom and simply said, we know what's going on, end the crap game and let's talk. The response I got totally floored me, he looked me square in the eyes and said, ya got us.
After everybody left, Borus and Kosher stayed behind and told all. For the next three hours, Borus showed us how good he was with a deck of cards and dice, he could go both ways, stack the deck as he picked it up, the most amazing thing I ever saw, he set up 3 pat hands in a matter of seconds. He also showed us how he just switched the whole deck when he cut the cards. The new deck called a cooler had already been pre set up when he went to the bathroom. With dice it was the same thing, he could switch them for a loaded pair at will, or what really amazed me was the way he could manipulate legit dice, like I saw him do years later at the Taj. He also told us that Howie was dealing seconds and still loosing, they never called him on it, no reason to. They said he that Howie also brought loaded dice into the game. That's why Paul took care of him the way he did. We broke up the game after that, Borus went on to completely breaking crazy Ed, he lost both stores, lost his house, lost his wife who he beat on a regular basis, and became a truck driver. I haven't seen Borus since the Taj in 89... butch
The best is yet to come:
After we broke up the game, it was the smart thing to do, we had to give up this great apartment on the water, and just settle for the track and our business. It wasn't enough, by this time Atlantic City already had legal gambling, a few casinos were already up and running with more on the way. We decided to get in touch with Doug and set up a master plan to take Atlantic City, along with every bookie, shylock and credit card company we could put our hands on. We figured if we were real smart and milked this the right way, betting both sides of the table, a can't loose situation that looks good for the free comps and credit lines, we could have a lot of fun and get free suites, limos, food, booze, and the best shows for about a year or two. The end result would be the big score and then all of us would go our own. We didn't have to do the books and shy's, but for some strange reason, we just wanted to, we wanted to get even.
Let The Games Begin:
After the first two visits to A.C. by the trio, everything had gone fine, but the controversy and difference in opinions were already setting in. Both Doug and Butch found it very boring spending hours each day betting opposite sides. Doug wanted to take some sizeable mini shots every once in awhile. Butch thought he could implement a very conservative betting system that he had been working on for the last few years, and actually make some money for them. Paul wanted to stick to the original plan and spend all his free time looking for women tourists. Stay tuned to see who won out, and what happened, the good, the bad, and the truly ugly parts of this journey.
Small Change
This is the story of three street wise guys from Brooklyn. The I.Q. of all three are above average if not downright on the high side, they are very different in nature, family background, and their approach to life. The one thing that bonds them together is their mutual love and fascination for the world of gambling and the easy buck.
The Main Characters
Butch -Butch is a third generation Scandinavian WASP, son of a hard working, beer drinking, quick-tempered banker. He's been a street person since the age of 7, started bowling at ten, and gambling at the age of 13. Butch's earliest dreams were to live off of gambling, that was his main goal in life. He had a good imagination and lots of ideas, but he also understood himself, he was not very aggressive in turning these ideas (daydreams) into reality. He prided himself in being a good mediator and having the ability to bring people together, that's how he was also able to con them, if needed, in his own quiet little way. He was the center off his own circle because his ego, or lack of it, it didn't get in the way and become confrontational between his friends and partners, who all had massive ego's. That's also what allowed him to win most off his bowling matches, he stayed at a level slightly beneath his true ability, never tried to make a big name for himself by bowling the best around, which he was more than capable of.
Paul - Paul is truly a very unique, fascinating, color full, intelligent, street smart, extremely aggressive, good looking, smooth talking ladies man. He's third generation Sicilian, Brooklyn born and breed, and that's only part of his problem. He's never considered himself Italian, or a Brooklynite. Outside of gambling, he always spent most of his time in Manhattan, (NYC), which he considers his true origin. He never had the famous Brooklyn accent or mannerisms. Paul's father was a very hard working, quick-tempered and successful; take no shit type of a guy. Paul had most of those same qualities; you can only imagine some of the father, son, confrontations. He was the only son with two slightly older, hard headed, good-looking sisters. Paul always had a pipeline to money, but it always went fast, wasn't enough, and had to be replenished quickly. In actuality, he was, and still is, a great businessman, his problem was, after he gets the idea, figures out how to bankroll it, makes it happen, turns a dream into reality, he gets bored and has to move on to something else. Gambling was always a challenge to him, and there's so many different forms of gambling that it was able to hold his attention and interest at different times throughout his life
Doug - Doug is a third generation Christian of Arabic descent. He comes from a very wealthy family who had many interests in different businesses. He lived with his mom and step dad, who he never got along with. At age 16 his parents decided to buy an estate and move to a very expensive area in New Jersey. Doug refused to move with them and became a true Brooklyn street kid. He had always been a great athlete, bull shitter, card cheating, and fast talking con artist. Doug is the type of guy that would be picking his best friends pocket while hugging him. He was not a confrontational person even though he could more than handle himself if need be. When he got caught or accused of some misdeed, he would just look hurt and try to lye his way out of it by swearing it wasn't so. Doug was really a very good athlete at any sport he played; I mean real good, pro potential. He's the type of guy that has all the right moves, and if anything, even talks a better game than he has, and that's really saying something when your as good as he was. It wasn't any different with gambling, weather it was, cards, craps, the horses, sports betting, or flipping coins, he had it all, and was real flashy on top of it, and loved to stick it to ya. His biggest problem was he became a compulsive gambler and didn't even no or admit to it, outside of that, his big hang-up was Butch being a better bowler than himself; he wanted all that to change, and worked very hard towards that end result.
Secondary Characters
Cubby (the bookie) Cubby was always preaching on how we should keep the money in our own community, don't loose it at the track, or any other place outside of our own everyday lives. He also preached about keeping our credit good so we can always stay in action.
Victor Bertini (Paul's Cousin, he thought he graduated from Oxford, a one in a million character)
Larry Hersh, the 4th banana and wanna-bee crew member (Doug originally brought Larry into our circle as an easy touch, but he wasn't)
The Three Stooges - (Paul's uncles, lets just write a complete book about them)
Bernie Bananas - (Scholar, accountant, nerd, BOWLING HUSTLER)
Herbie The Pig - (pretty tough short stocky Jew from Brooklyn, funny and likeable, also can be a very scary dangerous person, snorted like a pig while he talked, was found dead on the docks in his mid thirties)
Al Rosen - (real nice guy, a real sucker, Bernie and our crew ruined his life)
Mac & Stoop - (Bowling Legends, Damon Runyon type characters, brought all the big time action to our home lanes, Ave M Bowl, listened to their stories for hours on many different occasions)
Jack Weinstein - (heir to the Mays dept store fortune, Jack was the biggest mark of all ever to walk into our web)
Clyde - (a short heavyset porky the pig look-alike, a hanger on and real character)
Miltie - (Paul's compulsive gambling CPA. He stole his clients money to pay off the shy's and get into action at the track with.)
Howie - (a flashy typical Brooklyn Jew, a life insurance salesman, a compulsive gambler, and a total dirt bag)
Vinnie - (fairly big time shylock from the neighborhood, real bad temper and could really handle himself, good looking, fancy dresser, had big contacts, and a real bad attitude)
Mike & Mattie - (Toughest street guys in Brooklyn, ran the Coney Island biker gangs)
Carl - (a backer and friend of Paul's, tough as nails, another real character)
Boris, Kosher & Company - (master mechanics "card & dice cheats" the best in the country, they took and busted out our very lucrative weekly card and craps game)
Howie "The Fish" Noble - (Owner of Ave M Bowl, he financed the original action being brought into his house.)
Josie - (mid forties, petite with platinum blond hair & designer glasses, owned the lunch
counter at Windsor Lanes, taught her two sons how to hustle and be con artists (the youngest one is now in a Texas jail, the older one was executed gangland style. She also had her own stable of teenage action bowlers in the late fifties and early sixties.
Mikie Cash - (sold 50% of his business to 11 different people within a two year period, he needed the cash to stay in action with. He had one guy on the payroll that just went to OTB each race to bet for him)
Bill Daley - (The biggest action bowler backer of them all)
Gene Shinny Pants
The Beeper
Iggy Russo
Charlie the counter man at Ave M
It's the year 2001, a reunion of sorts is about to take place in a small casino hotel in Reno, the participants are Butch, Paul, and Doug. The reason for the reunion is the 20th anniversary of them busting out on all the casinos in Atlantic City, and that was only the tip of the iceberg.
The Big Scam (short outline)
After years of gambling, running card games, pulling scams, and being involved in legitimate businesses (it was mainly Paul with the legit businesses) our best money making gig, our weekly card and dice game was busted out by a crew of professional mechanics (cheats), we decided to get even. At a relatively young age butch was taught by Cubby that to be successful you had to stay in action, when the cash is flowing anything can happen, when there is no cash flow nothing happens. To stay in action you must have and maintain good credit, (street credit, shylocks) and if possible, good legitimate credit. He said that he always showed phony income and paid taxes just for that reason. Butch understood and followed his advise, he had excellent, (if not very large personal credit), and a good street reputation. Paul maintained pretty good credit because of his interest in business and his families money. Doug was a lost case, seems like he was always ducking someone.
Butch had been approached by someone he knew that was running a scam in Atlantic City, the deal was they would bankroll him, set him up through their inside connections in the casinos, and have people betting opposite him while gambling at the tables, this was to establish his credit without taking the chance of loosing. And for all this, they wanted 50% of the final take, when it came time to bust out. It was a fair deal but Butch said thanks, but no thanks. He didn't want to be involved with these people, and besides, he decided right on the spot to do it himself with his own crew.
Before we get involved in on what happened when Butch, Paul and Doug, decided to make the score of their life, not only from Atlantic City, but also every credit card company, loan company, bank, bookie, and shylock they could they could put their hands on, lets go back to the beginning, how their relationships all began..
It was a cold winter's night, Paul was at the food counter at Ave M bowl, he was holding court and bragging about how he had hustled this kid James out of all the money he had just made from shoveling snow all day. As he was talking, James's older brother Ritchie, who was Paul's age, walked straight over to Paul, got in his face and said you and me, outside. As Paul started walking towards the door, one of the guys said to Paul, your not going out there with him are ya, ya know he's complete nut job, Paul just shrugged and said, I can't back down. That's been Paul's credo all his life. As Paul and Ritchie were getting it on, you could here this guy Butch in the background trying to book the fight, saying he'd cover all the action on Ritchie, he had no takers. Paul was a pretty good street fighter, you'd think he'd be worried about getting his good looks all messed up, but he wasn't, or if he was, he never showed it, he never backed off to anyone before or since that fight. Ritchie gave him a terrible beating, culminating with Ritchie scrapping Paul's face along the sidewalk in the snow and ice. Even though he was a bloody mess, Paul still wouldn't give up. Butch finally had to drag his best friend Ritchie, off of Paul before he killed him. Butch had so such respect for the way Paul handled himself that night that it became the cement in bonding their life long friendship and partnerships. Richie was killed his late thirties just outside of Dallas Texas, he was on his way back to Brooklyn after a 20 year absence to live and go into business with Butch. He had spent most of his recent years owning and running Dallas's largest call girl operation, until the mob squeezed him out, he then went on the road, stealing rare and expensive prints from museums and university library's throughout the Country.
Paul met Doug by getting hustled by him in a game of ping pong, Paul was like the best ping pong player in the local area, a match was set up by someone who knew the both of them, it was held at Paul's house, Doug destroyed him. To get even, Paul challenged Doug to a softball-hitting contest against his partner Butch, who could really hit the ball. The match was set to be held at the Ave P Park, Doug destroyed him. This was the beginning of a three way gambling partnership that would last for many years to come.
We had about 5 years full of constant action, ups & downs, and lots of good times, filled with loads of action bowling, when we first met, Doug had never bowled, so it didn't bother him that Butch of course was better. Within one year's time, Doug went from a novice to a full blown legitimate 200 plus action bowler. And did he ever bowl action, he couldn't get enough of it, if he wasn't at the track, a card or craps game, he was at the bowling lanes, at least 8 hours a day seven days a week, he didn't care if it was a legitimate match game or a dollar a man pot game with the kids, he just needed the action. He always said he would one day become better than Butch, that's one of the reasons he was actually very broken up when Butch declared that he was getting married, and was giving up bowling and gambling, how could Doug ever surpass Butch if he stopped bowling. Butch did end up getting married, he had the greatest and yet worst experiences of his bowling life on the final weekend before the marriage. (see the story of that final weekend) Doug actually quit bowling a short time after Butch gave it up; I guess his biggest challenge to the game no longer existed.
Last Weekend Before Butch's Big Mistake:
It's 1966 and one of the toughest matches I ever bowled was against Richie Grossman, who would be found a few years later in the trunk of his car in Gravesend Brooklyn with a bullet in the head. It was a Friday night, A week before I would make the biggest mistake of my life, getting married, I left my future wife about midnight and walked the 5 blocks to the bowling alley. The night before, my crew, consisting of Paul, Doug, and Larry, had made a mid size hit of about eight hundred bucks, that was suppose to be our kitty for tonight's action. Paul wanted me to bowl Richie , Doug and Larry felt he was to strong because I hadn't been bowling that much of late, and Richie was a workhorse. Paul immediately split the kitty up and told Doug and Larry to go get f**ked, he turned to me and said bowl him, you'll eat him alive.
It turns out it was my best night ever; my first three games were 290, 289 and 246. The first 15 games I averaged about 240 and we were up about eight thousand, by far the most money we were ever up. Richie went broke, I paid for the lines, the match was over or so I thought, I was feeling great, couldn't wait to get out of there and split the money with Paul, in walks Sal the plumber. Richie talks him into backing him and here I am, back on the alleys with him again. It's now about 5:30 in the morning, all the people that were betting on me had gone home, we were covering Richie for about fifteen hundred a game all by ourselves. By nine thirty Richie completely wore me out, I quit winning 300 hundred dollars, Richie was pissed that I quit because he was still down thousands that the outside betters had left with earlier.
The next night I was at Leader lanes at about 1 am, I was still exhausted from the night before and swore I wouldn't bowl. My partner Doug begged me to bowl doubles with him. Relentlessly I gave in and bet only ten dollars out of disgust of what happened the night before, we went on to beating 4 different doubles teams, never lost a game all night, cleaned out the house, I never increased my bet past ten dollars, many thousands had been won, I made 170 dollars. I walked out the front door with my bowling ball in hand to the middle of Coney Island Avenue, made my approach, delivered the ball towards the sewer, which became my head pin, that was the last time I threw a bowling ball for quite some time. The following Saturday I got married and didn't even walk into a bowling alley for the next several years... butch
The next five or so years consisted of:
Butch getting married, the honeymoon was over, before the honeymoon was over.
Butch going to work for the US Post Office
Butch going to work for the brokerage house Bache & Company, he becomes a supervisor.
Butch going to work for the brokerage firm Reynolds, he becomes an assistant manager.
Butch leaving Wall Street and buying his own NYC medallion cab, he had to get back to the streets.
Paul getting involved with starting a few different business on his own
Paul going partners with Larry in a bagel and dairy market on Long Island. This lead into a gigantic feud between the two, culminating with Larry bringing in mafia hoods to represent him in the split up of their business, what a joke that was, and did it ever backfire in Larry's face.
When Paul finally got over that very bad bitter experience, he settled down with a lady and everything finally seemed to be going in the right direction, but he was a little bored.
Doug shocked us all, after only a few months of staying in the local bowling scene, he picks up, moves to Jersy and becomes his step dads partner in a Aamco transmission business.
He takes to his new business like a fish to water, he cons everyone that comes in to his shop into thinking they need a new transmission.
He buys his step father out and now owns the whole business himself. He also miraculously establishes credit for himself.
He also becomes a very big gambler, the trotters and sports betting, the money from the transmission shop is flowing.
Larry, after his fiasco with Paul gets Butch to put him in the cab business with him
One night Butch and Larry were in their neighborhood bar talking about the old days, that sparked the start of a new direction in all their lives
Butch's Big Hustle: 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 to the lanes, 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.
Instead of going to the bar every night we started to check out these different action houses, stayed quietly in the background, and just observed what was going on. Most of the players were different from the last time I was involved. To some extent the action was even bigger than when I was in it, but there wasn't as much of it, another big change was how careful everyone seemed to be about whom they bowled, they all kept looking for an edge. I was driving with Larry to Green Acres on a Monday night, this time I brought my own bowling ball and shoes; I kept them from years ago. Larry said I should get back in shape and bowl some of these guys. I agreed, but not the way he meant it. I told him my plan was for us to act like big money pigeons, I told him I wanted to bowl the backers, Barry Bernstein, and then Bill Daly with Mac betting on him. Larry said it'll never happen, some one would know me from the past and kill the deal, besides, where would I get the type of bankroll needed to bowl these guys with.. I told Larry to leave it up to me, I could con them, and the cash would come from Dougie, who was doing very well with a Aamco transmission business that he owned, Doug robbed all his customers blind.
It was some years since I saw Doug, but I new if I told him I had a pigeon he'd come running. The first thing we did that night was bundle up all our singles from the cab business with some big bills on the top and bottom. I managed to start up a conversation with Barry, mentioned that I use to be a fairly good bowler years ago but can't seem to recapture it. I figured this way I was covered incase any one told him about me. I also mentioned that I owned a cab company. I then started bowling against Larry a few alleys away and started flashing the bankroll after each game to pay off Larry for the game I just lost to him. That was the hardest part, being bad enough to actually loose to Larry.
This went on a few days a week for the next 2 months, I formed a nice relationship with Barry, a few times he asked to join in with us and make it a 3 way pot game. I declined, I told him I've seen him bowl and I wasn't back in shape yet. Barry was a low 170s bowler; I was already shooting 190s or better in other houses when I practiced for real. By locking him out I was setting him up for the big kill, then I figured the money I beat him for would be used against Bill Daly, with hopefully Mac betting on Bill, If all went right, I could make a few years pay. I already was forming a relationship with the both of them, whom both disliked Barry. I mentioned how Barry was trying to hustle me, and that if I could just get a little better I would bowl him, don't forget, Bill was a much better bowler than Barry. I kept coming off as a has been, with lots of fresh money.
Through out this period they saw Larry beat me for what seemed to be a small fortune, he would kid around with me and ask how much fresh money my cabs brought in for him that night, he acted very obnoxious. It got to a point where they all wanted a piece of me instead of just Larry getting it all. He actually would wink at them, as though to say, this is my private fish. I called my friend Doug in New Jersey, told him what was going on, and just as I had hoped he said to set it up, money was no problem.
That night at Green Acres I managed to barely beat Larry for the first time and started talking like a big shot to Barry, I said it's finally coming back, that I'm ready for him head to head. I think he thought I was nuts. Larry kept on saying that I shouldn't even consider bowling Barry, as planned, I got mad at Larry, told him to get f**ked, and in the heat of anger told Barry to name the day. To my surprise, Barry said the only place he would bowl me was at Times Square Lanes in Manhattan, 42nd St & B'way. That really threw me for a loop, I couldn't figure it. Turns out that's the general area where his business is, and that's actually his home lanes. I was never in Times Square Lanes let alone bowl there, I said no problem. The match was set for that Wednesday night.
I met Doug and his brother in front of a coffee shop near the bowling alley, Larry didn't come because he and Douglas weren't on talking terms, I gave him a piece of the pie anyway. Doug's older brother came with him, had arms like tree trunks and a permit to carry. The bowling alley was right around the corner from the famous Ames poolroom, where the Hustler with Jackie Gleason was shot. Times Square lanes was below street level, as we entered, we saw quite a few people waiting for us, we were amongst the few white people there, I was beginning to wonder if this was a mistake, maybe Barry knew I was hustling him. He greeted us and asked where Larry was; I said I was still pissed at him. I introduced Doug and his brother, who accidentally on purpose, let his piece be seen. We started practicing, after about 10 balls each; we were ready to start the match. I asked Barry what he wanted to bowl for, to my astonishment, he only put down $200, At this point Douglas stood up, faced the crowd of about 25 people, took out a tremendous wade of money, all $100s, and boldly announced, I'm covering the house, put it up gentlemen.
At that moment I felt sky high, it was a long time since I felt like this last. I went on to beat Barry 7 straight games, after purposely loosing the second game. The hardest part was keeping it close. Barry kept going into the empty office of the bowling alley and getting more cash, liked he owned the place, maybe he did. We took him and the crowd for $9000 cash; the last game was a $2500 marker. I was paid the following week at Green Acres; Barry told me he'd never bowl me again. I told him that if I get better I'd like to bowl Bill Daly next, I think he knows what happened, he said to me, let me know when you set up the match, I like to bet on you, and then he winked at me. It took another month to set up a match with Bill Daly. Douglas was broke from the trotters; I got in touch with Paul, who made arrangements with his bookie Cubbie to back me. The match was set for Kuskies on a Thursday night at 1:30 am.
That night to prepare mentally for what I hoped to be the biggest money night of my life, I left my house the regular time for work, instead I went to the Manhattan Beach hotel and checked in. Went to my room, took a shower, asked for a wake up call at 9:30, laid in bed nude with just the sheet on me, I wanted to totally soak up the moment, daydream about beating Bill and Mac for about 50 big ones, all of a sudden the phone rings, It was my wake up call, I had dosed off. I met Paul and Cubby, we went to a steak joint on the way to Kuskies. Cubby kept asking me if I was sure I could beat this guy, Paul had told him it was a shoe in, which was not true, Bill Daly was a good bowler. Cubby wanted to know how much to bet, I told him to start off at 2 grand a game, he choked, but said OK. Paul said he would do the betting. I told him, Bill would just say to name it, just tell him the amount, no bluff plays. We get to the alleys, picked a pair, and started practicing. Just like I hoped, Mac was there. I'm hitting the lanes real well in practice, Paul does what I told him not to, he asks Bill Daly, what do you wanna bowl for. Bill Daly immediately shoots back, 5 grand, Mac chirps in from the background I'll take 5 more on Bill, to save face for Paul I had to say, I only wanted to start for two. I win the first game, tie the second game, win the 3rd and 4th, Bill comes over to me and has the balls to say, my lowest game is 214, and I haven't won a game yet. He said I had one of 2 choices. Change lanes or bowl Jeff Kidder on these lanes. I said no to both, he said if I didn't pick one of the two, I would never get the chance again to get into his pocket. I told him to get f**ked, and put my ball away. We ended up winning $10,000, I never bowled him again.
As I was walking out Barry Bernstein was walking in, he really got pissed off when he found out about the match and I didn't call him. He said it wasn't the money, it was the chance to rub it in Bills face, that he really disliked him. It was mixed feelings on the way home, the money was good, but we felt cheated. Once again, Larry wasn't there, because of course he and Paul didn't talk anymore... butch
Paul & Butch stay together:
Butch used his share of the money to straighten out some old debts and buy some stuff for his family. Paul used his share to start Leonard Paper, Butch went to work for him and in short time Paul made him a full partner. Butch still had the cab, but didn't really work it anymore. The next few years was spent building the paper supply business while financing it by going to the track, (Paul was an excellent handicapper) plus all the deals that were pulled at the track. We also ran a weekly poker game which started out with the three stooges, Victor, and a few other locals. Once we busted them out, (we also played in our own game, plus cut it), we were fortunate enough to get a lot of the Greek Diner owners to play in our game, now the money was really flowing. After running the game out of about five different joints we finally rented a swanky apartment in Brighten beach right on the water, what could be better. We were there a couple of months and then the rough fell in
We Get Taken:
I'm a partner with Paul in a Company called Leonard Paper, we supply mainly wholesale bagel bakeries with the bags they need to deliver the bagels in. The first thing we did was building ourselves a nice office in this old run down building on McDonald Ave. We hired a driver and warehouse man, there wasn't enough money being made to pay them, so we went to the track everyday and ran a poker game on Friday nights to support the business, which made us feel legitimate.
We actually did pretty well at the track, once we stopped following the touts and inside information. When we were getting word from the jockeys, trainers etc, we were constantly running like chickens without heads to Monmouth, Garden State, Penn National, even the Trotters. It rarely worked out, but was a lot of fun. We did much better having Paul do the handicapping hinself. Paul was actually a very good handicapper and I was the systems guy handling the betting. We would stay in the Man Of War room; in those days it was a fancy restaurant. Our bookie at the track was Miltie, he would stop by before each race and take our action, no cash up front. We were betting about a grand a race. If we won he'd pay us at the end of the day, if we lost, we didn't have to pay until the next time we saw him, he also picked up our check each day and gave us club house passes.
The card game was a real winner for us, we'd spent about 200 catering it, paid a hundred for the use of some ones apartment for the night, and cut on the average about 1500 hundred for about 12 hours of work. The real money came when we sat in because the game because of a shortage of players. Our main customers were the Greek Diner owners, they had lots of cash and loved to bluff, it made for big pots. We had one fish I had brought into the game, Howie, an insurance agent, A Jew from Staten Island, 5ft 8in, about 150 lbs and wore lots of gold, had a mustache, and always wore sunglasses, he thought he was the swiftest, coolest, brightest, con job on the face of the earth, a total creep and scum bag, he was easy pickings, lost every week and couldn't figure out why, he kept coming back for more. One night we had some heavy hitter mafia types from down town Brooklyn, one of them pulled a gun on Howie and accused him of dealing seconds, Paul saved his ass that night and smoothed everything over, they never came back to the game. Howie denied everything, said they were nuts, we believed him, we were wrong. Paul got even with Howie a year later when the game broke up. Howie got Paul a five thousand dollar loan through connections he had, the loan was approved without being checked out. Paul was suppose to kick back fifteen hundred, a grand for Howie and five hundred for the inside man, instead of giving Howie the money when he came to the warehouse to collect it, Paul pulled down the big iron gate and gave Howie a beating. He still had the balls to ask for his cut, Paul hit him again.
One day while eating at a seafood restaurant on Nostrand Ave, the owner of the place, Gus, asked if we wanted some fresh blood for the game, he played with us every week and almost always lost. He said he had some pigeons that were customers of his and looking for action, we said fine. Turns out they were all professional card cheats, (mechanics). The first two who came into the game that weekend was Borus and Kosher, Borus was one of, if not the best card and dice mechanic in the country, Kosher was very good also, but still in training, the following week they brought in two catchers, a woman and man in there sixties, the woman dressed very expensively and was suppose to own a jewelry business, the man with the cowboy hat was suppose to be a rich Texan. They got paid a salary for being fed the winning hands, that's why they're called catchers.
A few weeks later crazy Ed started to play in the game, Ed was an ex special forces maniac that owned 2 stores. One day his Ave X store was held up while he was there, he crabbed his gun and went running after them, commandeered a passing car and made the women driver chase after the other car racing down Ave. X while he was shooting at it. When he first came to our game, he tried to put his gun on the table; we had to explain that wasn't allowed.
After the third week we started getting suspicious, there were just to many pots with multiple good hands, the same people seemed to win all the really big pots. These two old folks were winning unusually high amounts of money each week. Borus was a real character, he started off with a full bottle of liquor in front of him and slowly got very drunk, or so he wanted us to believe. The liquor was for real, but he still did his thing, he was extremely intelligent, tall, thin, a full head of hair, bulging eyes, very large hands, a tremendous asset for his trade. His one big problem was that he was so good at what he did; he would always throw hints at what was happening as a challenge to catch him. This made his partners very nervous. A lot of people in the trade wouldn't work with him for that reason; the consensus was that he was nuts.
One-day years later I saw him at the Taj in A.C., he parlayed 2 hard eights, the original bet was 400 into 40 thousand, I made eighteen hundred, two one hundred bets, I didn't parlay my second bet.
Back to my game, as much as we watched very closely we couldn't spot what was happening, he was just that good with cards. One night after the card game was over, the usual crap game began on the floor against a foam pillow. As usual Borus was throwing hard ways at will. I watched real closely when Boris had the dice, what I spotted was that he really wasn't shaking them up in his hand, and when he threw them they never touched each other as they rolled off the foam pillow. I took a shot, I called Kosher into the bathroom and simply said, we know what's going on, end the crap game and let's talk. The response I got totally floored me, he looked me square in the eyes and said, ya got us.
After everybody left, Borus and Kosher stayed behind and told all. For the next three hours, Borus showed us how good he was with a deck of cards and dice, he could go both ways, stack the deck as he picked it up, the most amazing thing I ever saw, he set up 3 pat hands in a matter of seconds. He also showed us how he just switched the whole deck when he cut the cards. The new deck called a cooler had already been pre set up when he went to the bathroom. With dice it was the same thing, he could switch them for a loaded pair at will, or what really amazed me was the way he could manipulate legit dice, like I saw him do years later at the Taj. He also told us that Howie was dealing seconds and still loosing, they never called him on it, no reason to. They said he that Howie also brought loaded dice into the game. That's why Paul took care of him the way he did. We broke up the game after that, Borus went on to completely breaking crazy Ed, he lost both stores, lost his house, lost his wife who he beat on a regular basis, and became a truck driver. I haven't seen Borus since the Taj in 89... butch
The best is yet to come:
After we broke up the game, it was the smart thing to do, we had to give up this great apartment on the water, and just settle for the track and our business. It wasn't enough, by this time Atlantic City already had legal gambling, a few casinos were already up and running with more on the way. We decided to get in touch with Doug and set up a master plan to take Atlantic City, along with every bookie, shylock and credit card company we could put our hands on. We figured if we were real smart and milked this the right way, betting both sides of the table, a can't loose situation that looks good for the free comps and credit lines, we could have a lot of fun and get free suites, limos, food, booze, and the best shows for about a year or two. The end result would be the big score and then all of us would go our own. We didn't have to do the books and shy's, but for some strange reason, we just wanted to, we wanted to get even.
Let The Games Begin:
After the first two visits to A.C. by the trio, everything had gone fine, but the controversy and difference in opinions were already setting in. Both Doug and Butch found it very boring spending hours each day betting opposite sides. Doug wanted to take some sizeable mini shots every once in awhile. Butch thought he could implement a very conservative betting system that he had been working on for the last few years, and actually make some money for them. Paul wanted to stick to the original plan and spend all his free time looking for women tourists. Stay tuned to see who won out, and what happened, the good, the bad, and the truly ugly parts of this journey.