More Poker History

Eternal Razz Table 1985

Garland Walters from Kentucky, Eric Johnson, Seymore Leibowitz, and
Blacky Blackburn. Whenever you'd see an Omaha game with one of them-
the others would always be playing. It was like an eternal razz game;
it was the same game for 10 years from 1985-95.

My Aunt Angie 1980s

Every year I used to take my Aunt Angie to Vegas about ten times and to
Atlantic City ten times. She would give me 25K to gamble with when we
went. My aunt and uncle had a grocery store in downtown Detroit,
Michigan. They sold beer and wine. They worked hard everyday and made
money then bought a few rental properties. My uncle passed away in the
70s. She lived in an all black neighborhood. When the Martin Luther
King was assassinated and the riot broke out in Detriot her house and
store weren't burned because she helped so many people.

My aunt never paid income tax for 30 years. In 1977 when the IRS caught
her, they closed her down and she had to pay a 2 million settlement.
She sold her store and properties and still had a lot of money.

Since she had no kids of her own, she kind of adopted me. I was her
favorite nephew. In the 80s I started taking her to Vegas and Atlantic
City to gamble. I was a gambling degenerate; I wasn't married, didn't
have a family to tie me down so I didn't care about the money. When I
had money I'd usually lose it. My Aunt was giving me money to gamble
with when we went to Vegas. She probably gave me close to one million
dollars over the years.

In 1984 she bought me a brand new 380SL Mercedes for 51K that I drove
to Vegas. My weakness was the mini-baccarat table, I lost a lot of
money playing Bacarrat. I blew 150K in Vegas and I was dead broke. I
figured I'd sell the car win some money and buy it back or get another
car. I wholesaled it for 36K to play. When I went back to Morgantown I
was broke, my aunt bought me a Cadillac. She didn't want to have a
bunch of money when she died, it was her way of giving it tax-free
before she died.

When I'd come home to visit the family and I used to fly to Pittsburg
and then go to Morgantown from there. My aunt was very sick so I came
home and spent to two weeks with her. I decided I'd take a couple days
day off so I met Tommy Shehady at the racetrack in the Meadowlands and
bet horses with Tommy. While I was at the track, my aunt passed away.
She had stashed some money for me that she was going to give to me.
When I went to her home, the 150K she left for me was gone. My cousin
came in and took the money. That trip to the racetrack cost me 150K!

Golden Nugget Marker Scam in 1985

The Golden Nugget was originally built in 1946, making it one of the
oldest casinos in the city. In 1973 Steve Wynn bought a stake in it and
became the youngest casino owner in Las Vegas. It was the foundation
for Wynn's rise to prominence in the casino industry.

[This gave Steve Wynn enough money to participate with Thomas in the
most famous bloodless coup in Las Vegas casino management. Thomas said
The Golden Nugget had one of the most desirable locations on Fremont
Street, but was managed by a group of old-timers who were content to
coast. The stock was undervalued and the managers didn't own much of
it. Wynn and a group of new investors bought enough to get elected to
the board of directors, then documented mismanagement including
employee thefts from the casino. Next, Wynn called on Golden Nugget
President Buck Blaine and threatened to sue if Blaine didn't resign.
"We can do it easy or we can do it hard," Wynn recalled telling Blaine.
And he related, "Bucky, sitting in that office of his, just caved in."
Blaine bailed out with a $30,000-a-year tin parachute labeled a
"consulting fee." By August 1973 Wynn ran the company, and in one year
he increased the pre-tax profits from $1.1 million to $4.2 million. To
a downtown that had become content to live on local business and
spillover from the Strip, Wynn in 1977 added 579 rooms, some of them
the finest Las Vegas then had to offer, and the Nugget was soon making
$12 million a year. By A.D. Hopkins; the Review-Journal]

[The world's largest gold nugget on display, the Hand of Faith, is
displayed in the Golden Nugget lobby. Weighing 27.2 kilograms and 46
centimeters in length, the Hand of Faith was found near the Golden
Triangle in Australia, and put on display at the casino in 1981 amid a
number of other gold nuggets.]

In 1985 Eric Drache managed the Golden Nugget. Jimmy Shehady was his
right hand man and Doyle had some of his team was there too. Bobby
Baldwin took a job with Steve Wynn at the Golden Nugget in 1982. He
fixed up the card room, and became President of the Golden Nugget in
1984. [Steve Wynn, the son of a compulsive gambler who has a keen
appreciation for the bottom line, replaced Dalitz, Benny Binion, and
the muscle of a Spilotro as the Casino King of Vegas. He is the owner
of Mirage Resorts, Inc., whose holdings include the Golden Nugget, the
Mirage, and Treasure Island.]

This was the greatest marker scam that ever happened in Las Vegas. This
was at the crap table in the dice pit. It involved Bill Sheppard who I
met in 1968 at Caesars Palace when he was an accountant. Me, Bill
Sheppard and Tom Hufnagel would play poker at his place. Besides being
a high limit poker player, Bill was also a dice shooter and cheater.

During 84-85 the marker scam Archie Karas and Al Silvers cheated at
Bill's table. They would kill the dice by sliding one dice, which would
be a six, the other dice would freeroll. Al Silvers had a dice table at
his house just like Steve Forte, another dice mechanic. Eric Drache
knew they were killing the dice but because he would get kickbacks he
looked the other way.

Bill Sheppard was the pit supervisor at the Golden Nugget. To do the
scam Sheppard's pit boss Bill Katy and pit clerk Janet (or something
like that) got a cut of the take. This is how the scam worked: Sheppard
would give names and credit lines of people. I'd go to the crap table
ask for a marker and he would come over and give me a name for the
afternoon. So he'd write down $10,000 for say, John Smith. He balanced
the cash out and he'd write payback slips, like somebody paid their
marker with cash. He would know how much cash went into the box so he'd
keep the money. He had 15 people as well as myself doing the same
thing. I'd get 25% of the money I'd make for him. Frenchy LaRue was
another person that cheated with Sheppard.

It started in 1983 and continued until 1985 when we got caught. Since
Frenchy was an alcoholic, he might have leaked out the scam. I think it
was Bill's girlfriend that talked. She porbably was running her mouth
about how much money he was making to one of her friends and word got
back to management.

After the Sheppard's girlfriend leaked the info about the scam out, all
the top people knew about it; Steve Wynn, Bobby Baldwin, and Mark
Shore. The management team called in the gaming commission. The
commission serveilled the pit for 30 days then busted Sheppard and
Katy.

After the bust I went to Harry Bruder, a close friend of Bobby
Baldwin's, who was a drug dealer from NY. I was buying cocaine from
Harry at the time. I said to Harry, "Listen, I need some help. The word
is out about the marker scam and I'm afraid I'll get in trouble." I had
a bunch of money saved and didn't want to risk anything.

Harry Bruder set up a meeting in Bobby Baldwin's office. He said knew
someone on the Gaming Commission that was crooked. He said if I paid
him $50,000, they'd get me out of this. He promised me I'd never go to
court, I'd never be bothered for the money and I'd never be barred from
any poker room that Steve Winn, Eric Drache or Bobby Baldwin ran. He
also gave me written immunity.

The next day I met with the Gaming Commision. While Sheppard was out on
bail, the Gaming Commission wanted his voice implicating him in the
incident. They asked me how long it went and other details about the
other people involved. I set up a meeting with Sheppard at a restaurant
and I had to wear a wire. When I met Bill Sheppard at a restaurant, I
asked him for money and tried to get him to talk. He told me to 'get
lost.' That was it; he didn't even want to talk to me.

The gaming commission to me I wouldn't have to testify, but I did. I
went before the judge and answered one or two questions and that was
it. They made it seem like I blew the whole thing up, like I was the
one who talked. I looked like a stool pigeon.

The deal I got from Steve Winn, Bobby Baldwin and Eric Drache was that
I got immunity, I got to keep the money and I wouldn't be barred from
any of their cardrooms. Later on Eric Drache went back on that
agreement and had me barred from the Mirage.

[Mike Caro: Has any of you had any experience with any member from the
gaming commission that you know about either past or present that has
not been up and up?
John Martino: Well, right after the incident - I had a couple of
instances. I had a different incident with the gaming commission. But
it was - The FBI was doing an undercover FBI sting. I think the name
was Matty Marcus. Some gaming commission officer which I gave, his name
was Gary Cooper. I gave him information to and I also gave him money to
help me out with an incident that I had gotten in trouble with in Las
Vegas and I was very well helped out. I got 100% immunity and also,
that gaming commission officer was prosecuted and fired.
Mike Caro: Ok, you've talked to me about that before, but not on this
tape. You're referring to a marker scam?
John Martino: A marker scam was at the Golden Nugget in 1984 in 83.
Between 1983 and 1985, somewhere in that vicinity. I'm not sure of the
dates, but it is common knowledge. The Cheating Tapes 2003]

Cheating at the Golden Nugget in the 80s

Head of security at the Golden Nugget was Steve Koenig, who was the
eye-in-the-sky. He would scam for certain players. One time Jimmy
Shehady was playing six card rummy head up with Johnny Joseph. They
were playing a $1,000/2,000 game. Jimmy beat him out of 75,000. Jimmy
was playing the light (using a small mirror about the size of a dime
that's glued to your little finger, to see the cards as they were being
dealt) on Joseph. In rummy there's no dealer so whenever Jimmy dealt
he knew the cards.

The only table they could play on was in the middle of the casino. Eric
Drache had two security guards standing behind him so nobody could see
the light (mirror). Bobby Baldwin's name added credibility to the
Golden Nugget. He was highly regarded by the poker players.

["At the Golden Nugget, I was offered any job in the casino that I
wanted," said Robert Chip Burner Turner, "and I chose to be a house
player since I had never been a pit boss and only ran poker clubs in
Alabama. It was probably the best job I ever had. Whenever I wanted to
start a 15-30 game or higher, the house would furnish the money and
give me a 50% freeroll."

"Bill Boyd was one of the nicest people I have ever been associated
with. Later on I honored him with a roast at the Bike, shortly before
his death. It was a payback for all the great things he did for me. I
presented with a plaque for his dedication to poker. It was really
great. The Golden Nugget is where I introduced Omaha, thanks to Bill
and his cooperation with the Gaming Control Board. At that time I had
no idea that games could be patented." Robert Turner 2005 interview]

[One reason they kept Eric as cardroom manager at the Nugget, was
because he could bring all the high-rollers to the craps table. Even
though he was the cardroom manager, he was like a host. One time Eric
was broke and someone called him play at a game in Atlantic City. So
Eric told him he'd come if the guy bought him a plane ticket.

He sent the ticket and Eric immediately called him back. "You sent me a
coach class ticket," Eric said. His friend replied, "What's wrong with
that?"

Eric said, "I need a first class ticket, who am I gonna borrow from in
coach class?" Robert Turner 2005 Interview]

[The Poker Mafia became organized in 1983 at the Golden Nugget. All the
pieces were in place. The mob influence was minimized at Steve Wynn's
casino leaving a power vacuum that the poker Mafia was only too happy
to fill. The nucleus was Jimmy Shehady, Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Eric
Drache, and Jack Binion. With Jimmy Knight as casino manager, Eric
Drache as cardroom manager and Doug Dalton as floorman the parts were
all in place.

Here's how the poker Mafia works; if the poker team (similar to a Mafia
family) found a sucker or "live one" they would simply beat them,
taking their money to divide up after the game or at a later time.
Sometimes the organizer or team leader would simply write down the
profit each team member made on a ledger or notepad (See: Jimmy Shehady
at the Mirage in the 90s).

When the Mafia team beat a good player like a Ted Forrest, they would
be staked to play with the team like a shill or prop player. They could
be a shill or prop player for the house but they would only be able to
win a small hourly rate instead of splitting the profit of a
high-stakes game.

The Mafia teams are groups of highly skilled professions that play to
win, most of the time there is no need to collude but since they play
on the same bankroll it does happen. The "rank cheaters" as Martino
calls them make obvious raises and cap the betting at every
opportunity. The pros know better. It's a subtle game of deception one
that to an outsider appears to be on the square.

Sometimes a player comes into their "country" (their turf, their
casino, and their game) who is a good player but scrupulously honest
like a Mike Caro. He could never be part of the team; instead he either
loses or wins less than he could; the poker Mafia cannot lose. The have
been dealt two aces in the hole and the odds are they will get the
money. Caro, though honest, simply becomes a shill for the poker
establishment in a different way. With their blessing he can peddle his
wares; his poker books, his lectures and his corporate propaganda. You
can't mess with the poker Mafia and survive in the poker business; you
are relegated to the meager subsistence of an independent.

To operate on a high level a mafia team has to have access to and
cooperation with the casino management and foorpeople; after all, they
provided the casino with high-stakes games and revenue. Whether it's
through a dealer, a floorperson, or the cardroom manager setting up the
game; they will get the money- that's how it works.]

Tommy Cris also played at the Golden Nugget. He was a conservative
player who played for the team.The Golden Nugget cardroom closed in
1988 because of the cheating and collusion, and because the large
amount of money Eric Drache owed the Binion's and other high-limit
players.

[Also, Eric and the boys were caught cheating by the NSGCB in the end
of the Golden Nuggets run as the top pokerroom in Vegas. Just about 6
to 8 months before the Mirage was scheduled to open. The Golden Nugget
was closed down because a person who was being cheated in the high
stakes games complained to the NSGCB and brought an agent to the game.
The agent caught the cheating and the person was reimbursed. As a
penalty for being caught, the room was shut down for a few months,
until the Mirage opened. This is why Caesars Palace had all the action
for a few months in the 80's before the Mirage opened. Russ Georgiev]

[When they were caught cheating a very rich guy in the up stairs in the
Golden Nugget, he suspected he was cheated. Actually a dealer told him.
Next time he brought a NSGCB agent and the boys were caught red handed.
The player was reimbursed and the card room was closed down as a
penalty. No publicty was put out, but the biggest card room in Nevada
just closed. Quite a coincidence if the story is phony [it is not]. All
the action moved down to Caesars palace. When the Mirage opened several
months later, the card room and all the same management went over and
Caesars palace poker room was closed as quickly as you can imagine.
Russ Georgiev]

Incident with WSOP Winner Ralph Morton

There was another incident in the mid-80's. Ralph Morton [poker legend
Ralph "The Great White Shark" Morton was 1982 No-Limit Hold 'em
Champion and 1987 WSOP Limit Hold 'em winner] was a high limit player.
Puggy Pearson and Eric Drache went to his home in Yakima. They played a
private three-way game. About the third time they were playing he found
that the cards were marked. They got the cards from Marty Carson.
Morton tried to sue to get his money back and wouldn't pay them the
rest of the money he owed them.

["About a year ago at my uncle's Friday night game an old man showed up
and played for a couple hours and left about 300$ up. Before he left
one of our regular players said, "Hey Dad, you left your (world)
series bracelet at my house last weekend." Later my curiosity got the
best of me and I asked him what his bracelet was for and I was told
that it was for winning a world series of poker event. Later I found
out that this player was Ralph Morton.
After the game my curiosity was still getting the best of me so I did
some searching on the net for more info. I found out he won bracelets
in 1982 and 1987 but the most interesting thing I found was this
http://tinyurl.com/4kqx2 Up until this point I had never heard of Russ
Georgiev or rec.poker but I knew I was going to ask Ralph about it.
At our next poker game I found out how to get a hold of him and later
that week I took him to lunch. He told me about the game he had at his
ranch here in Yakima with Erik Drache and Puggy Pearson and how he
caught them playing with marked cards.
He told me a about a hi limit game he was playing in Vegas with Eric
Drache that he was losing in and when Eric left to use the can he
requested a new deck. When Eric got back he threw a fit about the deck
being changed and wanted to quit. Then Ralph asked Eric if he wanted to
play 50/50 Eric responded with what the hell are you talking about and
Ralph said 50% of the time with your marked deck and 50% of the time
with a normal deck and then Erik told him off and left.
He refused to pay Erik and Puggy the 150k he lost at the 7 stud game he
caught them cheating here in Yakima so he was quickly blacklisted at
most of the casinos in Vegas. On his final trip down there he was
beaten nearly to death with porcelain toilet top and left for dead in
his hotel room. Ralph recovered and has been back to Vegas in the last
few years but mostly plays up here at Legends, Wildhorse and a few of
the small local card rooms." John Storlie April 22, 2005 Post on RGP]

Thor Hansen; Rodney Peate- Hollywood Park 1980's

Thor Hansen from Sweden started playing at the WSOP 18 years ago. He
became friends with Eric Drache. CK Schwartz was also a friend, Thor
mainly played in Hollywood Park. [Thor Hansen was born in Oslo, Norway
in 1947 and now lives with his wife in El Segundo, California. Thor
Hansen began playing poker in the pack room of his family's grocery
store where he used to sit in for his father and brother when he was
only about eight years old. Thor took to poker naturally, with a sharp
mathematical mind that was put to work adding up sale items in the
grocery store during the day. Hansen left school at the tender age of
13 to work in a hotel, but realized that he always made more money
playing poker and pool. Eventually, Thor took on pool professionally in
his 20's but decided he could make more money if he focused on poker.
Thor is a successful high stakes cash-game player and can be found
playing with Larry Flint and Jerry Buss at the Hustler Casino in L.A.

Thor Hansen is an accomplished tournament poker player with career
earnings around $1,000,000 and two WSOP bracelets to his name. Hansen's
two WSOP bracelets came in the events of Seven Card Stud (1988) and Ace
to Five Lowball (2002) with combined winnings totaling $220,600. Some
of Thor Hansen's other achievements in tournament poker include: 2nd
place in the 2000 WSOP Omaha Limit event worth $42,900, 1st place in
the 2004 L.A. Poker Classic Limit Hold 'em event collecting $139,830,
and 1st place in the 2004 Five-Diamond World Poker Classic Seven Card
event taking home $64,018. Recently, Thor Hansen came close to
capturing his third gold bracelet at the 2005 WSOP $1,000 No Limit Hold
'em event taking 3rd place and $55,790 in prize money.]

[Rod Peate, a 57-year-old poker player from Newport Beach, California,
won his first World Series title in 1995 ($127,200 and a 14-karat gold
bracelet) in the $1,500 buy-in limit Seven-Card Stud, High-Low Split
Eight-or-Better competition. Peate was also the runner-up to Tom McEvoy
in the 1983 WSOP No-limit Hold'em Championship event. A poker shift
supervisor for Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood, California, Peate
holds a title from the Diamond Jim Brady tournament and has cashed
numerous times in other major competitions. He played in home poker
games as a kid and became a serious competitor 15 years ago.]

Rod Peate played for Pat Callahan at the Stardust, he got a position as
a floorman at Hollywood Park after that. He put cards in for Gary Gig
Young who had the new tech glasses. Regency also played. Bill worked at
the Regency- Doyle and Chip had floorpeople there.

Was from Seattle, played for Callahan at the Stardust. Yosh played on
the team too. Terry King, was Chips girlfriend in the late 70's, and
Phyllis Caro managed Hollywood Park. Rod Peate got a job at Hollywood
Park as a shift manager. He put cards in for CK Schwartz, and Olejack
and he put cards in for Mike Murray's partner Gary Young.

Bill Riddle- Horseshoe 1980s

Bill Riddle was a floor man who worked at the Horseshoe year round. He
was one of the people they had in management during their games. Sailor
Roberts, Amarillo Slim, Bobby Hoff and Doyle Brunson were in the
Horseshoe corporation. Riddle worked for Shoeshine Nick (Nick Simpson)
in Capazon

1986 Tropicana Skimming Incident

[The $15 million, 34 acre, 300 room, Tropicana opened on April 4, 1957.
Jaffe leased the casino operations out to Phil "Dandy" Kastel, but
Kastel was denied a gaming license because of his past association with
known mob figure Frank Costello. Jaffe then obtained the service of
Louis J. Lederer in charge of the casino. In 1957, mobster Frank
Costello narrowly escaped assassination. A handwritten note was found
in his pocket, noting "gross Casino Win as of 4-26-57 . . . $651,284",
the exact Tropicana take on that date. Because of this, Nevada
authorities ordered Lederer removed from the gaming industry. Houssels
supposedly bought out Jaffe in either 1958 or 1959.

Gustafson bought the Tropicana then sold 51% of the stock to chemical
heiress Mitzi Stauffer Briggs Smith. Gustafson and Smith were forced to
sell their remaining stock by gaming regulators in 1979, after FBI
tapes revealed they had allegedly allowed mobster Joe Agosto, while
serving as the Tropicana's entertainment director, to make management
decisions and divert funds to mobsters in Kansas City.In December of
1979 Ramada Hotels bought the Tropicana for $80 million and added
another 22-story wing.]

[In 1975 Agosto, the owner of a floorshow at the Tropicana, sought the
assistance of N. Civella, C. Civella, and DeLuna to help him
consolidate his interest in the Tropicana casino and to protect him
from outside interference. It was agreed that Agosto should infiltrate
the Tropicana, with Kansas City's support and assistance, for the
purpose of stealing from the Tropicana. DeLuna and the Civellas told
Agosto they would ensure that a loan application by Deil Gustafson on
behalf of the Doumani brothers would be disapproved by the Central
States Pension Fund (CSPF), thus facilitating Agosto's takeover of the
casino. The loan was not granted, and Agosto was able to infiltrate the
Tropicana and acquire great influence in its management and operations.


N. Civella instructed Agosto to keep in touch with DeLuna concerning
his progress and recommended that Thomas be hired to follow up on the
skimming. Thomas was in charge of the crew which stole money at the
Tropicana, and at one point, when other "unauthorized" skimming by the
crew was suspected, wrote a report for N. Civella regarding the
financial status of the Tropicana. Mitzi Briggs, the majority owner of
the corporation that owned the Tropicana, never knew that stealing was
taking place. In April 1978 the skimming began at the Tropicana and
continued until February 1979. This was accomplished by presenting
fraudulent fill slips to the cashier, causing chips to be issued. The
chips would be secretly passed to "patrons," who would then cash them.
Agosto gave the skimmed money to Caruso, who then transported the money
to Kansas City. From June through October of 1978, $ 40,000 a month was
sent to Kansas City. Money was then distributed to the defendants and
two individuals in Chicago, Aiuppa and Cerone. From United States
District Court Appeals case January 16, 1985]

At the Tropicana Hotel in 1986 Jimmy Shehady knew the card room
manager, Barbara Gold. She was a rich heiress, who loved to play razz.
Jimmy set up a game with me, Mike Synberg another card mechanic, and
Barbara. Mike Snyberg was holding the cards out. Mike and I beat
Barbara Gold (Barbara Gold Samuelson) out of 100K.

Vera Richmond was another razz player that we beat out of a lot of
money there. Her father was some rich clothing and jewelry guy. ["When
it came to Vera Richmond, strong-willed is an understatement. She was
the first woman to match wits and bankrolls with the likes of Doyle
Brunson, Johnny Moss, Stu Ungar, Bobby Baldwin and other high-stakes
poker players. Her father was Alfred Neiman of Neiman Marcus and she
owned Vera Designs in Beverly Hills, California. The one overall
general consensus in respect to Vera Richmond's poker play was that the
men hated her. June Field, a personal friend of Vera's recalls, "Vera
had as much money as any of them, as much nerve, and could out cuss any
of them. They could not intimidate Vera!" Vera Richmond was the first
woman to win a World Series of Poker open field event in 1982." A Poker
History Lesson - Part II by Susie Isaacs- Poker Player]

Vera Richmond is the woman that Slim told he would cut his throat if a
woman ever won the WSOP.
[Slim: This is the factual account: It used to be that we took very few
breaks, we played till it was over, but that was before the media got a
hold of it. In about the first two or three hours of the tournament, a
lady named Vera who wasn't a very popular person got hold of this many
checks. Then we took a break and went into the Sombrero Room where the
Associated Press and a bunch of people were yakking with me. So here
comes this big woman, Vera, whose family owned some big ol' cosmetics
company, about 1,500 stores. She busts right in, but that was OK with
me, it didn't matter. "Mr. Slim," she says (she called me Mr. Slim
because she was trying to show me some respect in front of the media),
"what do you think about a lady getting a hold of that many chips?"
"I think it's great," I answer.
"Well, it's a certainty that I'm gonna win this World Series," she
blurts out.
"Vera, if you win the World Series of Poker you can take a dull knife
and cut my throat!" That's exactly what I said -- and I meant it.]

Bobby Baldwin in 1986

Bobby Baldwin put all his wife's jewelry up as collateral at the T-bird
(or Thunderbird) Jewelry Store to a loan shark named Mr. Cohen. Bobby
was a degenerate gambler. He lost millions of dollars to his sports
bookmakers in Oklahoma. This was when Bobby was at the Golden Nugget.
Bobby never picked up his wife's jewelry and he owed the guy some
interest on the loan. Bobby got Cohen a jewelry store concession at the
Mirage and Cohen made a bunch of money. Steve Winn found out about it
and kicked Cohen out.

After Cohen died, his brother ran operation. Todd Durlacher also did
business with them.

Donnie Brasco- Bill Nirdlinger- Tampa Incident in 1986

[Balistrieri, as well as the bosses in Chicago, Kansas City, and
Cleveland really controlled the teamsters and they all conspired to
skim the casino's dry. Balistieri also had a funny connection to the
film Donnie Brasco. The real FBI agent Donnie Brasco was a guy named
Joe Pistone and he had infiltrated the New York mob and tried to do the
same to the Milwaukee boss. He tried to convince him to go in on their
night club operation in Florida, but somehow the beer city don found
out that he was working for the 'Gee' and just pulled out of the deal.
In essence the Milwaukee mob was even smarter than the New York mob.
Joseph Alexandre]

[(The movie) Donnie Brasco is the autobiographical account of real-life
ex-FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone, based on his 1988 book, Donnie Brasco:
My Undercover Life in the Mafia. Pistone spent six years undercover in
the mob during the late seventies under the alias Donnie Brasco,
reaping several hundred convictions as a result of his eventual
testimony. By Jonathan Litt]

Donny Brosco, is a movie about an undercover cop infiltating the mob.
In the movie, the mob sent people to Tampa, Florida. Bill Nirdlinger
was sent by the NY mob to deal crooked blackjack from Ray Carson
cheating shoes in the club that opened in Tampa (club called King's
Court). He was busted just like in the movie. Bill got 5 years
probation. In exchange for the trouble he got into the mob gave Bill a
deliver service that his wife Karen ran.

[Senator Nunn. What kind of club?
Mr. Pistone. A bottle club, it was a night club-and he summoned me by
telephone to come to New York, he said he wanted to speak to me, so I
flew from Tampa to New York City and I went to the club, which at the
time was the Motion Lounge in Brooklyn, on Graham and Wither Street,
and Napolitano sat down in the back room and he told me about the hits,
that they killed the three cap tains and he wanted me to-he gave me the
contract to get Bruno, whom he referred to as "the kid who had
escaped," and he had in- formation that he was down in Miami, so he
sent me down to Miami with another wiseguy by the name of Sally
Paintglass. When we got down to Miami, we hooked up with another
wiseguy out of Miami named Steve Marucco, and he was to aid us in
finding Indelicato. What the FBI was going to do was we were going to
arrest Bruno if we could find him, pull him off the street, because we
knew that he was due to get hit and we were going to arrest him for his
own protection, but we did not find him, the wiseguys never found him
until later, he surfaced a couple of years later.]

[ Mr. Pistone. The way it worked, what we had was we had a gambling
operation going in Tampa, outside of Tampa, a gambling shylock
operation, which was financed by the Bonanno family. We through
Ruggiero and Napolitano, had borrowed money from the Bonanno family and
we were to pay back 2 percent a week on this money that we used to
finance this gambling operation, and all of the proceeds that we made,
we just turned it back into the shylocking operation, so that is how we
utilized the money. From AmericanMafia.com]

[Trafficante was brought to court one last time in 1986. This case was
about his involvement in a club called King's Court that was run by FBI
agents posing as associates of the Bonanno family in New York. One of
these men, Joseph Pistone, a.k.a. Donnie Brasco, went on to write a
book about his trials and tribulations. The agents got the backing of
Bonanno capo Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano to open King's Court,
but they had to get Trafficante's approval because it was in his
territory. Ragano and Trafficante were reunited after many years in
this case. Tampa family- Mario Machi]

[Rastelli expanded the family operations and formed a network of front
businesses that trafficked narcotics, called the "Pizza Connection."
During his tenure, however, undercover FBI agent Joe Pistone, "Donnie
Brasco," whose later testimony led to the conviction of over 120
Bonanno Family members, infiltrated the family. Secrets of the Dead]

Steve Wynn in the Mid 80's

I heard, second hand, that Wynn was doing a bunch of cocaine. He dated
a girl named Tracy who was a blackjack card dealer at the Golden Nugget
in 1984. Later she told stories about Steve Wynn- he would do this high
quality coke by putting it in his eye. That's one reason he had an eye
problem. I also heard from Tracey and Harvey (Jack Zwerner's
stockbroker friend who was a host at the Golden Nugget in the early
80's) this kinky story about Steve. Harvey had a daughter in her 20's,
a beautiful girl that went up to do coke with Steve sometimes. Steve
has a big glass table- he would get under the table and have these
girls *** on the table. He'd like to watch them.

Since I heard this second hand from two different sources, I think it
was probably true.

["I heard about Steve Wynn and the girls shitting on the glass table
from a different source. I'm not sure whether it's true, it's second
hand." Ed Hill 2006 interview]

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