Re: Caro & Sklansky


Jack King wrote:
Talk to me in a year or two after you've read the same post for the
10th time. Kiss ass.

Jack

Imagine, being read 10 times and counting:). And they tell me to get a
life.

Russ Georgiev

www.pokermafia.com


pokerchimp wrote:
Why, I happen to enjoy his posts. I think he has an interesting
historical perspective. I lived in Vegas in the 1980's and dealt to a lot
of these players. Keep posting Russ
On Aug 30 2006 1:41 AM, Mac wrote:

It's 2006 Russ. Get a life today.

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RussGeorgiev@xxxxxxx wrote:
Mike Caro and David Sklansky


I first appeared in Gardena and Vegas in 1968. I was already a great
player
and cheater catcher. I was 21. I came from Seattle, Washington where
they
had stopped the tolerance policies they had maintained for years. Card
rooms
were tolerated there and I had lived in them since I was 17 and
acquired
phony ID.


When I arrived in Gardena, I had a bankroll of about $25,000. I went
through
it within a month, due to getting into games where I didn't know the
players
and playing horses. However, I knew I was "the one". With a bankroll of

$200, I started playing $1-$2. I rented a place for $20 a week. The
motel
was decent and I played for 16 hours a day. A month after playing
$1-$2, I
built my bankroll to enough to go to $2-$4. In those days I had all the

discipline in the world. I was a total workhorse. A month after that I
had
tripled my BR again and was in the $3-$6. All this time, I was watching
and
listening. I had lost $25,000 earlier, due to inexperience and not
knowing
the terrain. And I was cheated or scammed, which ever you like. I knew
I
was.


A month later I had again more than tripled my money and moved to the
$3-$6.
Here I played and destroyed the games, all honestly. I was now
beginning to
get noticed and was tipping the floor men and boardmen. Soon I moved
into
$5-$10 and annihilated the games. A month went by and I moved up again.
I
was now at the $10 and $20 limit, lowball, as the draw games were too
small.
Here I acquired my first partner in Gardena. His name was Maury Cohen.
We
were both young and we had both been playing for several months in the
same
games day after day. He was the only competition I had in the games. He
was
also a younger guy. I think about 25.


Maury and I played every day, day after day, never booking a loser. In
fact,
I will tell you one of the most incredible stories you may ever hear.
Maury
was a very good lowball player. He was also a very lucky lowball
player. In
those days the card rooms closed at 4 or 5 pm. and reopened at 9am. In
the
days Maury and I played partners, Maury never had a losing day. If he
was
loser 3 buy ins with 5 minutes left before closing, Maury would pick up
a
pat wheel against a 6-4 with multiple way action. This was how lucky he
was.
He was also very good.


After the card rooms would close, many would want to continue playing.
We
would go and play somewhere. It was Bar B Q city. Our bankrolls got
larger. Within 6 months of coming to LA, I had played everyone in LA
heads
up. Minimum buy in $10,000. I played them all honestly, even though
many
tried to cheat. None of them won. I beat the best LA had to offer.


I went to Vegas. Here I was back to playing the games I was raised on.
Pot
limit, No limit, 7 card stud, razz and what ever else. I was also into
scamming. The main guys in Vegas at this time were Sarge Ferris and
"Shoeshine" Nick, who also had come from Gardena. Chip, Eric, Bobby,
Danny
and the rest had not yet reached Vegas.


Doyle was there, so were Puggy and Slim. There were many of these guys.
But
the big guys at this time were Sarge and Shoeshine. The rest were penny
ante
compared to them. Soon I was playing with the "so called legends" haha.
I
had just destroyed LA and was now coming to take on Vegas.


However, Vegas had a different format. They had center dealers. And in
the
big games, many center dealers were card mechanics. This is all on the
GCA CHEATING TAPES.


Soon I was playing with these guys. Guess what, all I learned was they
were
just like the rest, except they had a "gold plating". We were all
cheats. I
hadn't started out this way, but I never ran into anyone who would give
you
a fair chance. However, I was more than capable. Young and egotistical,
I
knew I, "was the best".


Soon I was playing the guys. Cold decks came in and I went to the rest
rooms, just as the cards reached me, I said "deal me out", thus ruining
the
cold decks. Vegas was a tough place to play honestly or even play.


However, my reputation grew. Soon I was called and I brought "young
teams"
of scammers to Vegas to beat the big boys. I did a very good job. In my

opinion, Puggy Pearson was the best of the lot. If they couldn't cheat
me,
they couldn't win. They didn't cheat me, and they didn't win. However,
I
cheated them. This will be told in another story.


At this time in Gardena, since I was playing everyday, I noticed the
players. Mike Caro was one of them. At this stage in his career, I was
a 100
and he was a 1. He played draw poker at this time. Average limit was
about
$5-$10. It was hard to miss him as he had a look about him, kind of
like
David Sklansky, hippie. Mike Caro was just a small time player at this
time,
but I noticed all the regulars.


We go forward about 7 years. I was now one of the most seasoned
"veterans".
I was the overall best. Scammer, Player, and cheater catcher. And I had
the
bankroll to back up anything.


About 1970 I had run into Ray Zee in Lake Tahoe on my way to Seattle
for
Christmas. Ray had earned a reputation as I had. This would be the
first of
many meetings. Ray would cheat casino poker with dealers flashing him
the flop, turn and river. Ray would sit in the corner seat and certain
dealers would flash the cards to Ray.
Later, he'd move onto Oregon and cheat poker and blackjack games. Ray
Zee and I traveled
much of the same territory in those days, the Pacific Northwest.


To shorten the story, I was very well known at this time and had
received the
road name of Seattle Russ in Portland Oregon. I was virtually a
lawnmower in
all games I went to. I had broken up with my wife in 1970 and she had
broken
my heart. I went north for a while to recuperate.


I was in Seattle and the Northwest for a few years where I won
everything
including the kitchen sink. Back to Gardena and Vegas. Here I was
really
back home. My former friends in management had all gained higher
positions,
including the most lucrative casino, the Horseshoe in Gardena.


However, let me tell you one thing. the limits in Gardena were small
compared to Vegas. Until the 70's the highest you could play was $20
limit.
very big at that time especially when there was no limit to the raises.
A
dozen raises or more wasn't uncommon in those days.


About 1976 they raised the limit to $60 -$120 if I recall, or maybe
$100-$200. The games in Vegas were much larger. I was everywhere,
watching
and listening, trying to make a dollar.


At about the early seventies, David Sklansky came to my attention. At
that
time he and Mike Caro had a similar hippie look. They were still very
low on
the poker food chain at that time. However I had to notice them as they
were
in the casinos every day.


Now David I would see in the Rainbow club, playing draw poker. He
played
about $15-$30 or $20-$40. he didn't play much lowball if any, and he
didn't
play very high in Gardena. Now here comes Vegas. The main rooms in
those
days were the Dunes, Stardust and even the Sahara. Here David was
always
playing $75-$150, or $150-$300 stud or razz, with all the cheats that I
had
encountered years earlier. An old Gardena player, who happened to be a
card
mechanic, on duty at the Dunes for a weekly rate of $1500 had told me
to
not play. This is a well known card mechanic that I won't mention since
he
is retired and about 80 years old. He was also a loyal friend. He was
one of
the guys that first told me about the "camera in the Dunes".


Now being a scammer, I was always in Vegas at least 2 days a week.
Whenever
I saw David Sklansky in Vegas, he was playing $75-$150 or higher.
Whenever I
saw him in Gardena, he was always playing $15-$20 draw poker in honest
games. I was already a veteran and knew most of the cheats. Most played
in their
own backyard, but I was a rebel. I was also young. What would you say
the
odds of David sklansky always playing $75-$150 and higher stud in
Vegas, and
only playing $15-$30 draw in Gardena. Playing at least 10 times lower
and in
honest games as opposed to games that contained 75% cheats in Vegas.


Seeing this for several years really stunk. In Vegas David played at
least
$75-$150, usually higher. In Gardena, David played $15-$30. Make your
own
assumptions. In those days, not many cheats left their yard. I was
special,
since I was young. When Tony Spilatro entered the scene, I decided it
was in
my best interest to stay out of the games, since I do not take orders
well.
Besides, I had the best casino in LA, and I had the management.


Now back to Mike Caro. Mike mentions he always played the biggest or
near
the biggest games. This is true in one respect, and a lie in another.
Mike
usually played at the Rainbow Club in the biggest draw game. His main
adversaries at that time were Bob Matsavara and David "the Arm", who
always
cheated him in those games also. However, the games were 8 handed and
Mike
overcame several of these guys and did beat these games honestly.
However,
the biggest games in the Rainbow at this time couldn't have been higher
than
$40-$80, if that. And it was draw, thus making it far smaller than
lowball.


The biggest games in draw poker were at the Horseshoe. This was a
pretty
honest game by any standards. The games was $100-$200 raise blind draw
poker, anything opens. Mike was rarely if ever seen in these games.
When he
ventured from the Rainbow Club it was to play lowball against all the
cheats
and scammers. I was the leader. The head or whatever you care to call
me. I
was also anonymous. My role was the rich kid who would raise whenever
anyone
picked up a pat 6 or better. I was in control of the management. I made

payouts to about everyone. In fact, it made the front pages of the LA
TIMES
in articles dated Dec 5,6, 7, 1982. I was mentioned by name as well as
the
people who cheated Mike Caro.


In fact, a manager of the Rainbow Club, where Mike Caro was a regular,
was
quoted as saying "if we barred the cheaters and scammers, we would have
to
close down". This is very close to the quote. He was fired the next
day, I
think.


Until the early 80's Mike Caro and David Sklansky were very small fish.
You
may consider me a small fish, but you couldn't be further from the
truth.
For would a "small fish" have the power to get all these "icons" you
consider in poker, to answer my posts. All you have to do is to look to
see
who answers my posts. David Sklansky has basically negotiated for a
retraction from me, which I would not give. Your "who's who" in poker
has
done everything to discredit me. However, I am better know in the "top
circles" than these guys. You just don't know. This is not ignorance,
it is
just lack of knowledge. For you have to remember, cheats and scammers
were
brought up to want anonymity. Money was what they wanted. Since they
want
publicity, I have decided to give them publicity.


What are the odds that David Sklansky would play $15-$30 draw in
Gardena for
years and when in Vegas would play at least $75-$150 stud or razz with
the
cheats I came to Vegas to beat. Plus, he played in Tony "the ant"
Spilatro's
days. I watched all this as I was there. I know everyone personally,
even
Doyle [though he may have forgotten], whom I have had few words with.
The
rest are my peers and I wish they would open their mouths on RGP as
Doyle
did. Because I have shut everyone up, with one basic thing, LOGIC. They

simply can't answer the questions with the credibility like I can.


Russ Georgiev

www.pokermafia.com

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  • Re: Caro & Sklansky
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  • Caro & Sklansky
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  • Re: Caro & Sklansky
    ... I first appeared in Gardena and Vegas in 1968. ... When I arrived in Gardena, I had a bankroll of about $25,000. ... $200, I started playing $1-$2. ... Here I played and destroyed the games, ...
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