WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:09.359 Good afternoon. 2 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:12.039 You're listening to Gambling with an Edge. 3 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:16.280 Now Here are your hosts, Bob Dancer and Richard Munchkin. 4 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:19.719 Good afternoon, Welcome to Gambling with an Edge. I'm Bob 5 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:25.039 Dancer and I'm Richard Munchkin. Today our guest is Jake Jacob, 6 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:30.000 who is Richard's older brother, talking about his first autobiography 7 00:00:30.199 --> 00:00:35.479 called Have Bets, Will Travel. Jake Jacob's welcome the Gambling 8 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:38.399 with an Edge. Hi, it's nice to be here, and 9 00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:43.399 actually it's technically wrong. I wrote the autobiography of Jake 10 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:44.920 when I was six years old. 11 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:49.799 Okay, before we talk about your second autobiography, how'd you 12 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:51.359 get started gamblings? 13 00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:57.079 Well, I played games for money, but I wouldn't really 14 00:00:57.200 --> 00:01:02.679 call that gambling. You know, probably everybody in America has 15 00:01:03.240 --> 00:01:06.079 played poker for at least pennies at some point, so 16 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:11.400 you know, I'll distinguish gambling from playing, you know, for 17 00:01:11.480 --> 00:01:15.879 a living. And I got started because munch called me 18 00:01:15.959 --> 00:01:18.439 up one night and he said, are you interested in 19 00:01:18.519 --> 00:01:22.239 moving to Las Vegas and learning to count cards? Because 20 00:01:22.280 --> 00:01:25.280 if you are, I know a team that is looking 21 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:28.359 for players, and they're taking on people with no experience. 22 00:01:28.439 --> 00:01:31.640 And I said oh yeah. It was winter in Chicago 23 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:35.439 and I was more than ready to move to Las Vegas, 24 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:38.000 I'll bet so. Uh. 25 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:43.680 Just to add to that story, I told him read 26 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:47.920 this book and look at this chart, and you know, 27 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:52.519 learn these index numbers for you know, when the when 28 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:55.840 the count is over zero, you you stand on sixteen 29 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:59.359 against a ten, you know, things like that. And he 30 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:05.040 got there and you know, I said, so you did that, 31 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:06.959 and he's like, yep, yep, I did that and I 32 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:09.479 learned it and I've got the numbers. And I was like, 33 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:12.680 all right, well so you know, tell me, tell me 34 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:16.319 the index numbers. And he's like, uh, you hit seventeen 35 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:18.759 against a deuce at minus twenty four. 36 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:19.520 But. 37 00:02:21.479 --> 00:02:22.039 You don't need. 38 00:02:25.719 --> 00:02:28.319 So yeah, it just learned all the numbers. 39 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:31.240 A funny thing that, you know, relating to that though, 40 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:36.319 when writing the book, I was telling a story, you know, 41 00:02:36.439 --> 00:02:40.400 I mentioned that most like jack hands are just not 42 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:44.159 very interesting. You know, you're you're okay, you here, or 43 00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:46.599 your stand your double bullum, it's all the same thing 44 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:51.240 over and over again. But I had a really really 45 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:55.120 unusual play come up. I had a pair of threes 46 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:02.439 against a seven, and it was right not to split 47 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:07.199 and so I hit, and I caught a ten, and 48 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:09.639 of course if it was right not to split, it 49 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:12.159 was also right not to hit. So I now stood 50 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:14.879 on sixteen against the seven. The dealer turned over nine 51 00:03:14.919 --> 00:03:17.840 and busted. And this actually happened to me twice a 52 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:20.439 year apart. So I had the identical hand in the 53 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:25.560 identical parlay twice. But I was talking too munchkin, I think, 54 00:03:25.639 --> 00:03:27.599 and I said something about it, and he said, well, 55 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:31.520 you know, there's no number you know, for not splitting 56 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:34.240 three's when the count gets high. And I said, oh, yeah, 57 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:36.479 I'm sure there is. And I looked in long and 58 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:39.199 it's not in long. So I had to go out 59 00:03:39.240 --> 00:03:43.319 and buy a copy of Julian Braun's book, the book 60 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:47.599 that I learned from. And in Julian Braun's book, if 61 00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:53.759 you're playing four decks, dealer stands on soft seventeen, which 62 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:56.159 is what I would have been playing back in nineteen 63 00:03:56.199 --> 00:03:59.240 eighty two, there is an index number. And you know, 64 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:04.000 so you do stand freeze against a seven if the 65 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:06.719 colb is greater than plus. 66 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:10.400 Twelve, not stan you hit hit I mean yeah, yeah, 67 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:11.520 I mean not not split. 68 00:04:11.719 --> 00:04:17.519 Yeah. And of all the blackjack players out there, what percentage. 69 00:04:17.560 --> 00:04:18.959 Do you think know that number? 70 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:22.040 Even the ones who. 71 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:24.959 Know the number, probably none of them have ever had 72 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:26.079 the play happen. 73 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:28.439 Right, you know, right? I mean the only the only 74 00:04:28.439 --> 00:04:31.399 guy I ever met that knew the number was the 75 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:37.199 man who ran my first team, Arthur Goldberg. I remember 76 00:04:37.319 --> 00:04:40.639 once we had some conversation about that number being unusual. 77 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:42.800 So he must have also hit Bronze book. 78 00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:45.399 Well it wasn't even in Peter Griffin. 79 00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:49.160 Probably was, but Peter, yeah, yeah, I think we have 80 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:51.319 to dig for it. I think, actually, no, you know what, 81 00:04:51.399 --> 00:04:53.879 it probably wasn't because I don't know if Peter had 82 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:56.920 index numbers for the high low in his book. I 83 00:04:56.920 --> 00:04:57.480 don't think he'd. 84 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:02.079 But now there are there's a ton of stories in 85 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:06.120 this book. I hope you like stories. Now, listeners to 86 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:09.519 this show will recognize many of the characters in the story, 87 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:14.040 and since Munchkin is a regular character in some of 88 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:17.839 these stories, you've heard Munchkins versions of the same story 89 00:05:18.000 --> 00:05:21.439 on the air. Now we also learned the name of 90 00:05:21.480 --> 00:05:26.480 about thirty bar girls of the nineteen eighties work in Korea, 91 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:31.439 Hong Kong, or other Asian locales. I am struggling to 92 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:34.240 find why I want to know the name of thirty 93 00:05:34.279 --> 00:05:37.720 bar girls from the eighties in Asia. Do you have 94 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:40.639 any good answer to that? Oh? 95 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:47.040 Yeah, I mean the I think that with most blackjack books, 96 00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:52.000 or most gambling books, people you know, say, Okay, you know, 97 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:54.920 I went to the I went to the table, and 98 00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:00.600 I did this, and so it's really about the actual 99 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:03.759 act of gambling, and there's certainly a lot of that 100 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:10.120 in my book. But I did things in the book. Oh, 101 00:06:10.199 --> 00:06:12.399 I did things in my life which I put in 102 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:18.519 the book, which happened. I think only because I was 103 00:06:18.600 --> 00:06:22.160 a gambler. I was just telling somebody the other day, 104 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:26.000 I said, you know, in the book, I talk about 105 00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:31.680 walking down a pitch black alley in Korea following a pimp. 106 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:35.040 I've got one hundred thousand dollars in my pocket. I've 107 00:06:35.079 --> 00:06:37.399 only been in the country for a week. I don't 108 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:40.600 speak Korean. I'm looking for a stranger who I've been 109 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:43.519 told does not speak English, who might be able to 110 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:46.639 help me change money. And you know, I'm thinking, boy, 111 00:06:46.680 --> 00:06:51.560 I hope this turns out. Okay, Now, what can go wrong? Yeah, Now, 112 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:54.399 that's the kind of thing that you know, if I said, well, 113 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:57.160 I did that because I was a gambler. People would 114 00:06:57.199 --> 00:06:59.920 say that makes sense, But I also, you know, once 115 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:03.319 walked down a dark alley in Cola Lumpo looking for 116 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:07.399 the world's best noodles. And that also happened because I 117 00:07:07.480 --> 00:07:10.199 was a gambler and wouldn't have happened if I wasn't. 118 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:13.759 And you know, the bar girls, it was part of 119 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:18.240 the scene. I mean, you know the girls that you mentioned, 120 00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:21.079 you know I was dating, They weren't all bar girls. 121 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:23.560 You know. The first one that I mentioned, I think 122 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:27.319 is a Rah. And you know what attracted me to 123 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:30.199 her is that she could count up to ten of 124 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:34.839 the forty eighth minus one, you know, using the Korean 125 00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:38.480 system of numbers, and not many people you know, know 126 00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:41.600 the names of you know, really really large numbers. And 127 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:43.680 I you know, I said, now this is this is 128 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:45.839 a woman after my own heart. So that's how we 129 00:07:45.879 --> 00:07:46.600 started dating. 130 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:50.360 Wow, I could see just imagine the interview process on that. 131 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:55.560 So I'm old enough to remember the Western that ran 132 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:59.360 for six seasons starting in nineteen fifty seven called Have Gun, 133 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:03.040 Will Travel? Was that show the inspiration for the title 134 00:08:03.079 --> 00:08:03.560 of your book? 135 00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:07.000 It was? Yeah, yeah, you could call me the Paladin 136 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:07.560 of gambling. 137 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:12.000 Do you see your Do you see analogs between you 138 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:14.439 and Richard Boone's character. 139 00:08:15.079 --> 00:08:18.120 No, not really. I just I like the title. I 140 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:20.480 you know, I struggled with a good title, and I 141 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:23.000 decided that that one resonated. 142 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:27.120 I was drawn more toward Maverick. He was the one 143 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:30.560 who was a gambler in those older and he always 144 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:34.000 had a thousand dollars bill pinned on the inside of 145 00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:35.960 his jacket just in case. 146 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:39.159 Yeah, you know, that's what this country needs, is a 147 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:40.639 good thousand dollars bill. 148 00:08:41.440 --> 00:08:46.480 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Korea had them. 149 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:50.120 I mean they were they were checks, but yeah, yeah, 150 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:53.840 but yo, Singapore negotia checks. 151 00:08:54.039 --> 00:08:59.120 Yeah, Singapore not only has thousand dollars bills, but they 152 00:08:59.159 --> 00:09:01.559 have ten thousand dollar bills how and they used to 153 00:09:01.559 --> 00:09:06.879 be in circulation, but they I believe they still exist, 154 00:09:07.080 --> 00:09:11.399 but the government really tried to take them out of circulation, 155 00:09:11.799 --> 00:09:15.320 and about ten years ago or so it became a very, 156 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:19.000 very big deal. I remember my favorite money changer freaked 157 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:21.159 out when I brought one to him and he said, 158 00:09:21.159 --> 00:09:22.519 where did you get that? And I said, I think 159 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:23.919 I got that from you. Actually. 160 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:28.440 Now, this book covers the start of your gambling career 161 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:31.840 basically through the end of the eighties. 162 00:09:32.840 --> 00:09:36.480 Through nineteen ninety two, the spring of nineteen ninety two. Now, 163 00:09:36.519 --> 00:09:41.039 you didn't stop gambling at that time, and I'm confident 164 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:44.840 you have many stories from later years. I am working 165 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:49.960 on a sequel. And you know again, when I started out, 166 00:09:50.039 --> 00:09:51.759 I thought, well, I'm going to write, you know, about 167 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:58.399 my gambling career from soup to nuts. And I I 168 00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:01.279 started writing it, and I said, you know, oh, this 169 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:05.200 would be an awfully, awfully long book if I covered 170 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:09.759 everything that happened over the past forty some years. And 171 00:10:09.879 --> 00:10:12.159 so I tried to narrow it. So I didn't even 172 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:15.320 include all of my blackjack play. I just I thought 173 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:19.919 that I had covered, you know, the most interesting portions 174 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:23.080 of it. I talk a little bit about playing backamt 175 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:27.639 but not you know, not a lot I'd mentioned. I think, 176 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:30.039 you know, horse racing would be in my future. But 177 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:33.200 so I'm now working on a book that will look 178 00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:35.240 only at horse racing. 179 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:38.840 Was that in Hong Kong or other places as well? 180 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:42.720 Well? It's actually in. It will be in three parts. 181 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:46.440 The first part I worked for a guy before I 182 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:49.039 ever got into gambling. I worked at a cab company 183 00:10:49.559 --> 00:10:54.159 and my boss was a degenerate gambler, and he lost 184 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:58.279 over half a million dollars betting on horses, which was 185 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:01.159 a bigger problem than it sounds me because he didn't 186 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:02.679 have a half a million dollars, so we had to 187 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:06.120 steal it from Western Union. So, you know, a pretty 188 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:11.559 interesting situation, and I had kind of a ringside seat 189 00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:15.919 for the whole thing. But that's that's a short section. 190 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:20.759 In nineteen the fall of nineteen ninety seven, my old 191 00:11:20.759 --> 00:11:25.039 friend Bill Benner got a hold of me and I 192 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:27.679 knew from visits to Hong Kong in the eighties in 193 00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:32.720 the nineties, and also you know, playing blackjack with the 194 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:36.000 team Bill was involved with in Atlantic City. I knew 195 00:11:36.039 --> 00:11:38.799 that he, you know, was over there betting on horses. 196 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:42.559 I had actually watched Alan Woods betting on horses on 197 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:45.840 racing days because I used to stay at his apartment 198 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:50.919 and Bill. They had had problems and Bill called up. 199 00:11:51.639 --> 00:11:53.360 I wanted to know if I wanted to come over 200 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:55.679 and run bets for him, So I went over there 201 00:11:55.720 --> 00:11:59.000 in January of nineteen ninety eight, right after the tie 202 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:03.240 open Backham return, and then you know, worked for him 203 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:06.200 off and on for about five years. I had a 204 00:12:06.279 --> 00:12:09.000 key to an apartment in Hong Kong that belonged to 205 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:13.080 the the operation, and so I used to when I 206 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:17.240 was on my way tour from somewhere like Thailand, I'd, 207 00:12:17.320 --> 00:12:20.000 you know, call up and say it is anybody using 208 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:22.120 the apartment? The answer was always no, and then I, 209 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:24.840 you know, I'd come and stay in the apartment. I'd say, hey, 210 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:27.039 if you need, you know, you needed anybody to work a 211 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:32.559 couple of weekends. But then I that had, you know, 212 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:35.360 petered out. I mean, he kind of moved his operation. 213 00:12:36.279 --> 00:12:38.799 He was still betting on Hong Kong racing, but he 214 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:42.840 wasn't using outside people to come in and bet. And 215 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:46.639 I was here in Tucson, I just finished writing my 216 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:50.360 mystery novel. I got a call from one of the 217 00:12:50.360 --> 00:12:52.799 guys that I knew from both Atlantic City and from 218 00:12:53.200 --> 00:12:55.960 from Hong Kong, and he said, do you want to 219 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:01.480 come over to Japan. It's a temporary job, just three months, 220 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:05.320 possibly six. You could come over and everything could fall 221 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:08.159 apart right away. So you'll be guaranteed one month's pay 222 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:10.879 even if you get here and have to turn around 223 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:14.759 and go back. But otherwise, you know, your travel expenses 224 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:18.960 are paid for, your housing is paid for, and you know, 225 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:22.080 you get a monthly salary, a pretty good one. So 226 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:24.759 are you interested? And I said, you know, heck yeah. 227 00:13:25.480 --> 00:13:29.799 And I went over there and they, you know, it 228 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:31.679 looked like they were going to use me then after 229 00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:34.399 the new year for another three months. And by that 230 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:37.840 point I thought, okay, you know, I'm kind of in 231 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:40.600 on the ground floor here, so how can I make 232 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:45.840 myself indispensable? And it was sixteen years before I came 233 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:48.919 back to Tucson. I mean, I came back for visits, 234 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:52.519 but I lived overseas from the time I went over 235 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:56.519 in the fall of two thousand and four until the 236 00:13:56.639 --> 00:13:57.919 fall of twenty twenty. 237 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:03.799 So I want to because the book is long and big, 238 00:14:04.200 --> 00:14:08.360 and as Bob said, many many stories. But you mentioned 239 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:14.039 playing in Atlantic City for Bill, and there are just 240 00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:19.200 two stories that I'd like you to tell, you know, 241 00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:25.600 so the first the first is about needing batteries for 242 00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:29.840 the computer. Yeah, okay, And we should preface that by 243 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:34.320 saying you guys were using legally using computers in the casino. 244 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:39.159 Yeah, that's right, the computers. I think we're legal into 245 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:41.759 the early twenty first century. I read some of you, 246 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:45.320 James Grostein playing with them, you know, about two thousand 247 00:14:45.320 --> 00:14:47.440 and two, just because that was. 248 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:51.799 That was in California. We played right up all New 249 00:14:51.879 --> 00:14:55.240 Year's Eve up until the midnight when the law changed. 250 00:14:55.279 --> 00:14:57.840 So yeah, I don't know, and you know, and actually 251 00:14:57.879 --> 00:15:01.759 I almost got involved in testifying before the New Jersey 252 00:15:02.039 --> 00:15:04.399 Senate subcommittee. I went to a hearing of theirs, but 253 00:15:04.440 --> 00:15:09.159 I didn't have to have to talk. But yeah, the 254 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:12.720 computers were still legal. So we're we're playing with computers. 255 00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:15.639 And if you've ever played with computers, you know that 256 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:19.080 it's a pain in the neck keeping them up and running. 257 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:23.840 They're constantly breaking down. There's all sorts of equipment issues. 258 00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:26.840 And one of the issues they go through batteries. And 259 00:15:26.919 --> 00:15:30.159 the batteries were you know, D batteries, they were big batteries. 260 00:15:31.080 --> 00:15:35.039 So the guy that was in charge of maintaining everything 261 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:39.080 was Richard Doherty, who was a legendary player. He is 262 00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:44.080 the second most arrested player in Atlantic idiot, and he 263 00:15:44.200 --> 00:15:45.600 was the guy who was, you know, giving all the 264 00:15:45.600 --> 00:15:48.279 odd jobs, and he took care of the equipment, you know, 265 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:52.799 quite well. But anyway, he needed batteries. He said, come on, 266 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:55.360 you want to go get batteries. And Atlantic City is 267 00:15:55.399 --> 00:16:01.960 this long sleazy boardwalk with fortune tellers and saltwater taffy 268 00:16:02.480 --> 00:16:04.679 and dollar stores. And we went into one of these 269 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:10.080 dollar stores. The owner was a fat guy with a 270 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:14.440 cigar clenched between his teeth, and his cashier was named Mona, 271 00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:16.519 and she had, you know, the big hair, and she's 272 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:21.279 snapping her gum. And we walk in there and Richard says, 273 00:16:21.320 --> 00:16:24.399 you got any D batteries. The guy says, yeah, yeah, 274 00:16:24.440 --> 00:16:26.720 we got round his cigar. He so, yeah, we got 275 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:29.919 de batteries. Back here, come on. So we go back 276 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:32.720 in this aisle and down on the bottom shelf there's 277 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:35.600 a there's a box and it's got about forty D 278 00:16:35.799 --> 00:16:40.759 batteries and Richard says, yeah, okay, I'll take them. And 279 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:43.960 the guy says all of them. And Richard says, yeah, 280 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:47.519 take all of them. And he said, kid, what are 281 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:51.480 you gonna do with forty D batteries? And Richard's eyes 282 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:53.559 get really big and he said, oh, well, you know, 283 00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:56.679 I got my wife one of those vibrator singies. And 284 00:16:56.720 --> 00:16:59.919 she said, honey, if you bring home some batteries tonight 285 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:04.440 the night. And the guy, he's trying to picture what 286 00:17:04.519 --> 00:17:07.240 you can do with forty D batteries he just about 287 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:10.079 hold his cigar. He's like, do you hear that, Mona? 288 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:13.799 She said, yeah, guy born his wife one of those 289 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:16.160 vibrator thinges. Yeah, I hoid. 290 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:20.759 The first time I heard you tell that story, it 291 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:25.039 was I think it was written on Facebook and you 292 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:29.079 said that this was Richard and I didn't realize it 293 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:32.119 was Richard Doherty. I was pretty sure it was Richard Munchkin. 294 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:35.640 And and it does sound like a one liner that 295 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:40.279 Munchkin could have come up with. Well that's proved, and 296 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:45.880 so I was. I didn't understand it. I didn't understand 297 00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:47.599 actually what happened, but it was still funny. 298 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:50.960 So the other story that I think you should tell, 299 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:53.839 and this is really more in the weeds for our 300 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:59.240 blackjack players out there, is the story of the memory game. 301 00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:03.519 Yeah, that was why I went to Atlantic City in 302 00:18:03.559 --> 00:18:06.039 the first place. Bill Benner had he'd been on the 303 00:18:06.079 --> 00:18:09.000 phone with the Munchkin and he said, you know, any 304 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:12.640 cardcomers with a good memory? And Bunch said, well, what 305 00:18:12.680 --> 00:18:15.680 about Jake. So he caught me up and he says, 306 00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:18.039 you know, can you come out to Atlantic City? And 307 00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:25.119 so I got there and apparently Bill had been playing 308 00:18:25.880 --> 00:18:32.240 the high Rollers pit at Harris. And you know, you 309 00:18:32.359 --> 00:18:38.079 probably know if you're a blackjack player, that casinos, every 310 00:18:38.119 --> 00:18:42.720 casino has a routine. Dealers don't just decide, well, I'll 311 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:45.400 shuffle this way now and I'll shuffle a different way 312 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:48.680 the next time. They have to follow a set routine 313 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:55.480 that's come down from on high. And the Bill noticed 314 00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:01.359 that there was a dealer there named Scott, and Scott 315 00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:06.599 had an unusual move. He was not the only dealer 316 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:09.880 with this move. Maybe two percent of the dealers out 317 00:19:09.920 --> 00:19:14.160 there had and usually they were experienced dealers. When the 318 00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:19.279 cards are interwoven, I mean, in theory they're interwoven, but 319 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:24.000 in practice, some of these dealers miss time their move, 320 00:19:24.279 --> 00:19:27.359 and so they start releasing the cards with one hand 321 00:19:27.799 --> 00:19:30.960 before they begin releasing with the other hand. And the 322 00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:34.960 effect of that is that a number of cards what 323 00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:39.519 we were calling a clump, drops down unshuffled before the 324 00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:43.839 rest of the cards begin to interweave. And you know, 325 00:19:44.519 --> 00:19:47.680 some do it only a little bit, others do it 326 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:50.559 a lot. Scott did it a whole lot. He would 327 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:55.960 drop fifteen or twenty unshuffled cards because his timing was 328 00:19:56.039 --> 00:20:00.519 off that much, pretty consistently. And but you know, one 329 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:02.799 of the things about it is that, you know, these 330 00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:09.279 clumping dealers, they tend to always drop with one hand 331 00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:14.000 or the other. So Scott was, you know, shuffling, and 332 00:20:14.039 --> 00:20:16.279 it meant that, you know, there was a certain group 333 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:22.039 of cards that were getting that were left unshuffled all 334 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:25.960 the way through the shuffle, and Bill you know, had 335 00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:29.240 to a limited extent, been taking advantage of that. He like, 336 00:20:29.319 --> 00:20:31.599 memorized some cards, go to the bathroom, write them down, 337 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:34.480 come back chat with Scott a little more. While Scott 338 00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:36.359 was on a dead game and he'd be memorizing a 339 00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:38.920 few more cards, he'd go back to the bathroom and 340 00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:40.720 you know, try to figure out what to do about it. 341 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:45.119 But this had evolved. So the way it worked is 342 00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:49.039 I now I had gone in and I had you know, 343 00:20:49.160 --> 00:20:53.160 introduced myself to the casino by playing some baccara for 344 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:56.559 a thousand and two thousand a hand, which also let 345 00:20:56.640 --> 00:20:58.880 me accumulate some orange chips, because I was going to 346 00:20:58.880 --> 00:21:00.559 be going in there with a lot lot of orange 347 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:06.640 chips when we played. And then I set up a suite. 348 00:21:07.079 --> 00:21:09.319 And in those days you could actually get away with 349 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:14.319 checking in without ID. They didn't like it, but it 350 00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:16.759 could be done. And you know, so I was going 351 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:19.039 in under you know, a fake name. I wasn't giving 352 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:24.920 them my real name. I had with me a woman 353 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:28.880 named Anita. Anita and EARV were members of the same 354 00:21:28.920 --> 00:21:33.599 country club as Tommy Hyland, and Tommy used a lot 355 00:21:33.640 --> 00:21:37.759 of people from the country club as big players as 356 00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:40.519 you know, what have you. So Anita was going to 357 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:45.359 be with me posing as my girlfriend to eat cards. 358 00:21:45.960 --> 00:21:52.039 And this was also a psychological ploy of Bills. See, 359 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:54.759 he figured that the trophy girlfriend was something that you know, 360 00:21:54.799 --> 00:21:59.720 bosses knew. But Anita was twice my age and so 361 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:02.759 she definitely did not look like a trophy maybe a 362 00:22:02.759 --> 00:22:07.400 trophy grandmother. But anyway, she was, you know, going to 363 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:10.079 distract the bosses who were going to be wondering what 364 00:22:10.119 --> 00:22:11.680 I was doing with her. At least that was what 365 00:22:11.799 --> 00:22:17.160 Bill thought. So we would go in and we would 366 00:22:17.720 --> 00:22:22.440 bet five hands the first couple of rounds, but it 367 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:24.799 was mainly the first round that was of interest and 368 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:28.559 somebody else. We had various people that had been trained 369 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:32.200 in the Harry Lorraine memory system would come by the 370 00:22:32.200 --> 00:22:35.880 first hand of the shoe and they would memorize the 371 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:38.480 ranks of the cards. They didn't need to worry about 372 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:40.720 the suits, and then they would run to a house 373 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:43.319 phone and they would call up to my suite and 374 00:22:43.519 --> 00:22:48.079 they'd rattle them off to Bill, and Bill would then 375 00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:50.960 call the rents where we had our apartment. That would 376 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:54.440 be input into a computer and the computer would analyze 377 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:59.400 and it would determine that, you know, if we were 378 00:22:59.400 --> 00:23:02.759 in say the let's say we were at the third 379 00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:07.920 card in the string. Well, they what you got was 380 00:23:08.200 --> 00:23:11.839 we looked at the third through twelve cards in the string, 381 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:16.359 and it would say, okay, you're at the say the 382 00:23:16.400 --> 00:23:19.400 third card in the string, and if you play two 383 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:24.279 hands of basic strategy, you can win, you know, two bats. 384 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:28.720 Or maybe you play one hand and you play mimicking 385 00:23:28.759 --> 00:23:33.319 the dealer. You know always hit the seventeen and they 386 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:36.920 always stand at seventeen. You mimic the dealer and you 387 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:41.079 play one hand and you're guaranteed a winner. So it 388 00:23:41.319 --> 00:23:44.559 you know, you'd work that out for ten cards, the 389 00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:53.960 third through twelfth card. Now I have memorized the suit 390 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:56.559 and rank of the first two cards in that string, 391 00:23:57.119 --> 00:24:00.680 so I'm keeping those two cards in my head. It 392 00:24:00.759 --> 00:24:04.400 gets to the shuffle. Scott is now shuffling the cards 393 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:10.440 and at this point. I and I had practiced this 394 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:12.880 move we had we had I was wearing a suit 395 00:24:13.480 --> 00:24:15.680 and in my pocket I had a pager. Now we 396 00:24:15.720 --> 00:24:19.640 had propped the pager so that it was resting high 397 00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:23.319 on a wad of toilet papers, so it was high inphanacy, 398 00:24:23.960 --> 00:24:26.759 and the pocket was propped open so it wouldn't accidentally 399 00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:29.279 close over the top of the pager, but it was 400 00:24:29.319 --> 00:24:32.240 concealed by my suitcoat. Now I had this cheap three 401 00:24:32.319 --> 00:24:36.240