Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, and welcome to life is a gamble. My
guest today is Norm Beck. Norm is a professional bridge
player and world class magician and all around rack and
tour Norm. Welcome to life is a gamble.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you, thank you for having me privilege.
Speaker 1: I really got interested. One time I asked you about
what was the biggest gamble you ever took in your life,
and you said something about a bet that you won
that turned out to be the biggest loser. So that's
where what I wanted to talk about today. So can
you explain that.
Speaker 2: So I'm from a small town of Oklahoma.
Speaker 3: When I went to college Durant, which is one hundred
miles off, I got involved with bridge, and I had
a short career and law enforcement had a shourth career
intern I was really enamored with bridge. When I stay enamored,
I'm talking like pill ivy type of me. I take
it really sterious. And the best player in the world
with in Dallas gun named Bob Hammond. He was at
the time the best player in the world. And I
got a chance to work for a lot of the
really good bridge players in Dallas, all the same doctor,
and so without thinking anything, about it.
Speaker 2: I took him on as my doctor.
Speaker 3: We were at a bridge and it would be the
same thing as a poker tournament, but it was like
a small bridge and this doctor had just made what
was at the time the highest rankie at haven Bridge,
which was probably life Master.
Speaker 2: That mean by excepting played the lot anyway evacuated.
Speaker 3: It was the turn for the team of four where
we had four people on the team and it was
basically him in three chairs.
Speaker 2: In a POPEC tournament, it would have been the same
as dead money.
Speaker 3: How guests to be a proper term, and he said,
we need to make a bet on the tournament, and
I'm thinking, you know, he wants to better you know,
launch or dinner. I felt like I definitely was in
an overlay position and I said, okay, sir, what do
you have in mind? He said, if you beat me,
or it said if I beat you, and you have to.
Speaker 2: Teach my son and how to be a really good magician.
It's real subjective.
Speaker 3: Who knows what really good means or how I would
take And I said, okay, what advice to beat you?
He said, you won't pay for your health insurance or
your medical coverage for ten years I'll take care of
I only had to thank for this milliseconds.
Speaker 2: It said, shuffles far as you got back, and so we.
Speaker 3: Played and we prevailed reading. He said, okay, from now on,
everything's free, and I thought, man, this is great.
Speaker 2: And then not long after that he had a stroke
and died. But in the court but to his world,
I mean, he never charged me drinking.
Speaker 3: The problem was I had two medical conditions that he is.
Because I was that my better half would say something
I couldn't hear her, and she kept saying, go get
your hearing checked, Go get hearing checked.
Speaker 2: And I just ignored her.
Speaker 3: Finally I came in one day and stand me a
bit and started to go get your daring checking.
Speaker 4: And I did it, but not because I thought I
had a problem, because I wanted her to shut up,
have me shut up to her what I wanted asking
me about.
Speaker 3: So we got my hairingsack and when I got done,
the guy said, you mean an MRI and I said, okay,
I'm thinking they're going to scheduto what two weeks for
the months or something else, you know. Okay, point when
he said your appointments in forty five minutes, I've already
made it for you after. I mean, I know a
little bit about tells, but it's one good. So we
got me and Mari and he said, now there'll be
a doctor trollowing you tomorrow doctors govers for a different,
different doctor.
Speaker 2: And I thought, yeah, right, okay.
Speaker 3: So next day I get a phone call, not from
a reception, it's not from a nerve, from the doctor.
He said, you need to come in and see me.
I said, okay, what time? He said, doesn't matter, for
every view time I'm gonna see. I thought, oh, this
is not good. So I showed up and immediately they
took a technical exam and he took me back to
his private office.
Speaker 2: They've all but flats and up.
Speaker 3: On the wall and I stepped down and he said, well,
I know what's the problem man. He said, you have
a tooth stick norma. He said, you know what the
toothstick norhomi is.
Speaker 2: I said, yeah, I know what a penstick is. I said,
what she used to play fool? He said no, He said,
you have a brain to He said, it's the size
of the baby. He said, now it's not militia. He said,
it's benine. He said, if you don't give me names.
Just leave a alone. He said, all kill you. That's wrong.
Time out.
Speaker 3: I said, I don't know what's behind doing number two
and doing number three, but I don't like doing number one.
He said, well or those two or three? He said,
the only choice you have is to have brain surgery.
He said, it will be about twelve hours long. Men
a neuro sergeant. He said, you'll be in I see
you nero neural. I see you for a battle week.
Then you'll have a year recovery. You won't feel good
for a year. Yeah, right, saying no way, and I'm
going to keep me down for a year. And I
said okay. So now I came home and I couldn't
stay the words to my better hand.
Speaker 5: I have a brain couldn't do so I wrote around
again and so started prep for it. But it's the
first thing I did as a gambler.
Speaker 3: The very first thing I did was I hired a
malpractice attorney before I ever went in for my neuro
surgeon comp So go to this one of the best
personal jury attorneys and stay.
Speaker 2: So I want to hire you for a couple of hours.
Speaker 3: He said, you're involved in a car ring. He said,
you had an adverse reaction to a drug said. He said,
you had some mistreatment in the hospital.
Speaker 2: I said no.
Speaker 3: He said, we're going to have a hard time winning
this lost. I said, I want to do anybody stop
why I'm here. I said, you're the best personal envy
attorney in the state. I said, I got to go
in for twelve hours of brain surgery and I need
to know if these two agents know what they're doing.
And I said, you know where all the botes were buried,
and you know what's behind that were closet. He looked
at me like I was on drugs. I've been practicing
off for thirty five years. He said, nobody's ever made
this request. I said, well too, yesterday I didn't need you.
What was funny are running was at the same time
there was another neu Rose in Dallas that they convicted
a murder and now practice it was operating on people
when he was high and cocain in tequila. So I mean,
I can't just picked him if I didn't know, I
just you know, But I was I'm smarteran no that
I'm not smart enough to know. So when there's some
sejects I don't know, I don't pretend it and wang it.
I go find out who the very best is and
what their for field it is I need to know,
And say, what do I need to know?
Speaker 2: You live in Vegas, and one of the things that
happened to me.
Speaker 3: A number of years ago, you used to travel to Vegas,
you know, probably three or four times. I have a
lot of friends in Vegas that I won't mention their
names because it doesn't really add the fact in the story.
But they used to be at placed the Gamblers book Club,
and guy who read it was a chair and I
really liked him and would go every time I came
to Vegas.
Speaker 2: There were two places I was winning.
Speaker 3: I always went to the Gamblers book Club and I
always went to Gamblers to Home Store.
Speaker 2: So I'm going with this friend of mine who's from
the Aniver's book Club.
Speaker 3: And there's a brand new book on black jack that's
a book by an author that either one leves you
ever heard of, twenty fifteen bucks. My friend, who knows
as much about black Jacket's anyone in the world, pick up.
Speaker 2: He buys it. I said, what do you doing? You
know we're about black Jackson the guy who wrote the book.
Speaker 3: I said, we never heard that's true, he said, But
what there's something in the book that I don't I
can't afford to not know. So I can buy the book,
I can go through it sitting on the jarn and
if there's nothing that I need obviously gifted, you know,
change my perspective on how I look at the work.
That one advent in that book store changed the way
I so now do exactly the same thing. Because he
waits smarter than I am. If there's four or five steps,
thinks I'm really interested in person who book comes out,
I just buy it. I read everything there is to
know about that's you know.
Speaker 1: So.
Speaker 3: But so after I saw this practice attorney, he's fourth
in the hospital for five years when I was a
police officer security, and so I got to know the
ends and outs of a hospital. And in a hospital,
there's one group of people that will not bullshit you.
You might get bullshited by the administration, you might have
a doctor not be totally candid with you. But the
one group of people that one hundred percent you can
trust are the our hands because they don't take any
bs off of And I also know that there's one
thing that our hands have, your soft its food.
Speaker 2: So what I did was, I know what all right?
Speaker 3: No doctors and administrators are her char went and got
went to a doumbut shop and rt by a great
big box to domnut and a great big jug of
good talk.
Speaker 2: And I go to the neural. I see you two
o'clock in the morning, and nobody there but the Marins
and the order leavesing me, and.
Speaker 3: So I save it to him and exclaimed to him
while I was there, and it was one kind of
I'm not gonna say howing, but it wasn't the best
looking gall on the block.
Speaker 2: Problem but really not. She kind of had a stop
part of warm.
Speaker 3: Air, told what my problem was, and I said, look,
you know, I'm never I've never really been in the hospital.
Speaker 2: I could in the spell acoustic neuroma, still can't.
Speaker 6: I don't know anything about the i CEU of what's involved.
But what I need to know is what kind of
doctors doctor the glory She's her mind right from me.
And I was scared, to be honest with you, I
was scared. I mean, uh, I know you have a
lot of people on here to gamble. I've yambled for something,
I've gambled for more money on one single bet than anybody,
you know.
Speaker 3: I bet as much as a billion dollars on a
single bed, but I never was It didn't bother me
because it wasn't my money.
Speaker 2: I was kind of free.
Speaker 3: Rolling it, but just bothered me because if I mastered
it up, there wouldn't have a second chance. So I
asked her young doctor. She said, well, I'll tell you
she's said. He right, he's calm, he's got a really
shitty bedside, and he's the best blankly blank blanket.
Speaker 2: Neurosurgeon in the city. I said, he and I will
get along.
Speaker 7: Just so that was, you know, that was once I
felt comfortable and it didn't make me long because I
talked to people but knew I want to end.
Speaker 2: I'm sure enough blah blah, twelve and a half our
brain sort of. Oh.
Speaker 3: One other thing I did that people that listen to
this would have never thought to do. I hired another doctor.
I hired a doctor to sit with my mother and
my pardner, my girlfriend during the certainty. And the reason
I did that was because if a surgeon comes out,
he starts talking to it, and you're a late person,
you don't really know or understand exactly what he's say
or not staying.
Speaker 2: But if you have a doctor, he knows, he would
know if it was tired, it was bad, it was good, whatever.
Speaker 3: And I wanted I wanted an advocate, so I was
willing to pay the money to have them to give
my mother and my better hand comfortable. So I was
in there for like about a week and I came home.
I didn't feel good for about a year. I actually
had to go back in because I sprung a leak
and I had to go in and operate on me
in a second time. But it wasn't as bad as
the first time. Take they have, you know, on scale
of one to ten, how much pain do you have?
I still feel like somebody hit me over the back
of the with a beer bottle. He said, sorry, I
don't really know what it feels like. I said, you
weren't raised in northeastern Oklahoma like I was. That was
kind of it, and not so as far as the
biggest bet and I made a love I mean, I
kind of got into the game trying in a strange way.
Speaker 8: But but and how was that? How did you get
into the gambling business?
Speaker 3: Well, I had a checkers passed and you never played
chess or chack. I learned how to count and play
card before I could read. My grant had play run
mean and privilege before I was never with what to mean.
And my dad never graduated in My dad was kind
of raised on the streets and he.
Speaker 2: Never stealeded me from from life at all.
Speaker 3: And when I was a little boy, before there was
ever carmesu a crack, before you could ever go up
to a window, we would go to what was for
Wildcat Trap and there were always two or three bookings
in and around the pattern with a racing form and
that they would say things like I'll take the number
two horses and under six horses you get in the field,
or I'll take the one horse sport, you know, I mean,
And you would go up to him and give him
the money and he'd take your money, writes your name
down what the bet was, and after the race, if
you won that coup and he paid it, I.
Speaker 2: Mean, that was you know, that was kind of how
it worked.
Speaker 3: And when I got to college, you know, we played
a little bit of poking, and when I was in
high school, not very much.
Speaker 2: I never was a player, but I was a pool player.
Speaker 3: I mean I worked in a roadhouse as a bus
boy and a bartender at fourteen, and the owner was
a pool hustler, so he taught me how to hustle
pool kind of.
Speaker 2: It was a really good pul hustler. But I could
beat the cowboys out of a beer or a dollar.
Speaker 3: I mean for me, if I bet, if I bet
five dollars them with somebody, I was a big bet.
Speaker 8: I lost my first you were fourteen.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the first bar bet when I was fourteen, I
lost two dollars.
Speaker 8: But then wait, wait, what was the bar bet you lost?
Speaker 2: I was on a pool table.
Speaker 3: You put up a key ball at the corner pocket
and a keyball at the side a ball of corner
pocket the side pocket, set the rack up on the
side like there, and he said, all my bo balls
in one shot and make the keyball jump off the
table and go through the rack.
Speaker 2: I thought, there's no way.
Speaker 3: So they set the two balls down, put a boat
que down in front of them, sets the keyball over
here behind it, and taking the keyball and gets the
the coustick cuestick, not boat balls in it went right
off the table.
Speaker 2: H So you know it was. But but then when
I was in high school and I was like sixteen
or seventeen.
Speaker 3: I got time at the County Fair of that game
called Razzle, which is by far the most diabolical con
game you know, carvel game ever. And then because they
cheat on the front end, so you win and then
he lose on the back end when they're like fair.
When they're playing fair, you have out chess fore and
the only way you can win is if they're.
Speaker 2: If they're cheating for it.
Speaker 3: So I lost like thirvty two dollars, which was a
ton of money in high school, and I couldn't pay
a hat for to happen. So I went researched it
and found the Carlo game and realized what happened. So
years later I was in Atlantic City and they playing
Rassle on the boardwalk. Oh wow, And so I walked up.
And one of the first rules of being smart is
knowing how to play down. And I'm real good at
playing down, really good. I can play the Catholic.
Speaker 2: Room to perfection. So I walked up, how y'all done,
what's yoat? What's going?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 2: And they they kind of wrote me in, and so
I was and they was on a cost of dollars.
Speaker 3: So I was going to play therefore times for losing
a dollar because I wanted to hear the kids. And
so I played, I win, I played, I win, I'm
playing I win. Finally I said to the guy, I said,
is it?
Speaker 2: Do you own this? He said no. I said, I
need to talk to your boss. He looked at me.
Speaker 3: So what I said, Bill, I'm embarrassed to tell you,
but I said, I've watched you. I said, you missed
count of those gotten those three times in a row.
And I said, you can't even count up with them out.
Speaker 2: Right them in.
Speaker 3: And I said, your boss needs to know how incompetent
you all? So he was, you know it was worth
for three four dollars. I spent to see the look
on his bidy, because you tell nobody ever done well?
Speaker 1: But wait, I mean you if you had won, you
should be ahead three or four dollars, shouldn't you? No?
Speaker 2: No, because you bat, you have to get to one
hundred points. It's like playing football.
Speaker 3: Oh, I ain't trying to play cost your dollar as
soon as you get to one hundred one, but you're
just movement in that direction, so you don't wear a
prize until you get to one hundred. Typically what that
do that gets you like ninety eight or nine nine
at one point one, then you'll be on the fence
and I say, look, if you go, you can go
get your money and come back. And normally I'm not
supposed to to do it for you are lit He
ain't ever going, it're just not doing Yeah, it's the
best game I know to cheat people rated far in
the ways of that all some of the games in
Las Vegas to forget that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean basically my job. I mean, I'm
I'm in my thirty fifth year.
Speaker 3: We're basically we provide contingency cash prizes for probability based events,
which is a real polite last day one. Not we'll
we'll take me, you know, if I can figure out,
if we can figure out what the odds are and
if we can make say we'll do it.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: There are some things we won't do.
Speaker 3: As an example, there was a guy which I won't
mention any names, but wanted to play poker five million,
and he was willing to play a group of people
that knew how to play poker, and it would be like,
whoever wins ones to five million, Well, the pupker players
that were professional and knew what didn't have that.
Speaker 2: So they wanted us to back it, and I said no,
and they were like, well why not, Well, because if
I back you, how do I know you.
Speaker 3: Don't throw the game that the other guy will win
and you take two and a half and you take
two and a half and I'm left paying out five million.
Speaker 2: And they said, we never thought of that.
Speaker 3: I said, that's why you played poker for living, and
that's why I live in Dallas and think about stupid stuff.
Speaker 8: You know, Yeah, there's a problem the yeah, the idea
that they hadn't.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: When I first moved to Las Vegas, I was a
very big Backammon player and I when I got to
Las Vegas and I would go to the back Ammon
Club and one of the people there was Puggy Pearson,
who you know, like to play Backhammon and he was
terrible at it. The guy who ran the back amt
club had teamed up with Puggy to play another guy
and they they Puggy ended up losing with the help
of this guy who was a professional. Puggy ended up
losing one hundred thousand dollars and then later I found
out that the guy had done exactly what you're talking about,
had had partnered with the other guy and they were
splitting puggies one hundred thousand dollars, which that kind of
stuff was also very common in the poolroom.
Speaker 8: Says I'm sure you're aware.
Speaker 2: Yeah, now you said back again. Did you ever know
a guy named Malcolm David?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 8: Sure, of course. I knew about Malcolm for decades.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Malcolm was a good friend of mine. He was from Dolla. Yeah,
he and I had a lot of the state. Yeah.
He was a very very good baglin. Yes, he was
started late in line. He wasn't he hasn't way back
again in his whole life.
Speaker 3: I mean, you were you You're very good at it. Unfortunately,
he passed away a couple three years ago.
Speaker 1: You know, I just I this has been great, But
I just want to in you mentioned in passing the
billion dollar bet, and I'm sure my audience is going,
wait a minute, if we want to hear about a
billion dollar bet?
Speaker 3: So uh, okay, well, so what a lot of people
don't realize the casinos in last bit and the lobby
around the country, they're not damned, They're not in the
gambling business.
Speaker 2: If you think for a minute that Caesar Palace, isn't
it long, they're not.
Speaker 3: During the Gronden business, they're more than happy to come
in step limits and you read it, play for eight, ten,
twelve hours and they.
Speaker 2: Put the limits on you. They're more than willing to
do that. So we do a lot of business with lottery.
Speaker 3: And in fact, one of my favorite stories about the
lot which the same lottery that they did for the billion,
there was a lottery agent I asked my favorite question
to ask people in the dambling is what's the craziest
thing in your line of work?
Speaker 2: And I've gotten some really really clever and so guy had.
Speaker 3: A girlfriend in Dallas and he went to her and
he said, I got this lottery ticket. It's for twenty
five thousand dollars. Don't cash it in. I'll be back
into each with the Vegas and have a good time.
Speaker 2: She's girlfriend in Houston.
Speaker 3: So I got this lottery tickets for twenty five million,
I'll be back into the Okay, we'll go to the
sounds almost like a joke. Well, the girls in Houston
hold on the ticket and the girlfriend and Dallas immediately
goes to the wattery office because of more than six
hundred dollars in Austin to catch it in.
Speaker 2: So she helped the in and I said, just her ticket, yep,
he bought it. Yep. Has it ever been out of
your care trusting control? Nope. You understand that if you've altered.
Speaker 3: This ticket in a landscape for her fashion if considered broad,
and you will be arrested.
Speaker 2: Nope. And you have to sign this appidatem But if
you sign this appidated and he messaged the ticket in
any way, you're going to go to jail.
Speaker 3: I want to sign it. So the guy clearly was
giving her every out in the world. She signs the
appidavit and they sit and drown.
Speaker 2: Her arrest for brown.
Speaker 3: Well wait, wait, let me tell you my boys went now,
so call the boyfriend said, yeah, I got the winning
ticket in my bill bubble.
Speaker 2: He said, I had a girlfriend in Dallas. I didn't
know which one I could trust, so I got to
test it. So but back to so that was twenty
five thousand, was not a big deal.
Speaker 3: So they wanted to do a di store for a
billion dollars for a lottery that if you had played
the lottery and you had not won part of imagine
that ever happening, So not winning, but I hear it. Hey, yeah,
So if you didn't land, you could send in the
ticket for what they called the second chance on and
they got your name and go to Vegas to play again. Well,
if you played in Vegas, there were different things that
we weren't involved with, where you could win up to
twenty million dollars.
Speaker 2: So you lost them one.
Speaker 3: Lottery ticket, You go to Vegas, you play, and you
yet lucky, and you want twenty minutes.
Speaker 2: Now I go to you and I say, take these
two guys.
Speaker 3: If you throw them against the wall and it comes
up stick stick or whatever, one one, you win a built.
Speaker 2: Now if it doesn't, you lose the twenty miler.
Speaker 3: I pulled a lot of people, and I only talk
to one person that would have thrown the dot. Everybody else.
When you got the twenty million, let's go to the cage.
Speaker 2: I'm gone. But I didn't that way because we will often,
like just like.
Speaker 3: A bookie will lay off a particular event because the
risk is more mad than we walk it up.
Speaker 2: And so we'll find a risk take them that will
take the bat.
Speaker 3: And we played them a fee for that because they
don't have their money tied up very long.
Speaker 2: And it's for everybody, but for a.
Speaker 3: Billion dollars, we were really concerned if you had a
winner the wrisk tak them, I'd always want you know,
did I get it?
Speaker 2: So I feel you out a.
Speaker 3: Way to do it for the wrisk taker to be
totally confident that the game was on the square, and
that was this before the event. There are two dies,
a red one and a black one, and the risk
taker has an envelope and stay prepared that I don't.
The only person that knows what's in the envelope is
and inside the envelope it's gonna say black one, red stitch.
So if you go the two dice and when you're
actually you've thrown him down, he opens the elbow up
what you had to throw in order to win, so
black one and stick to you on a billion, So
nobody knows with the risk taker what they're throwing for.
Even if you had the capability and cheat, you wouldn't
know what you needed.
Speaker 2: So you couldn't you couldn't gain. You couldn't. You couldn't
gain listed right.
Speaker 9: So the only way it could be gaining is it
the risk taker and the guy throwing the dot on
it together and then the only after being all together,
then they gotta figure out the way if they could
throw the two dives to throw what's inside the envelope?
Speaker 2: Right, you do that, and you do them with me
and watching, and you're titled to window. That's not gonna happen.
Speaker 1: So well, Plus, I can't imagine anyone actually risking twenty million,
even though I mean you're getting fifty to one on
a thirty five to one shot. I mean you the
bank roll that you would need. You know, I don't
know that Warren Buffett has enough money to justify you know,
I bet that big. Well, yeah he probably does Elon Musk.
Speaker 3: But if he doesn't mean And the other thing is
people that play the lottery don't have that kind. You
don't have a billionaires playing the lottery.
Speaker 1: And they also don't understand math, or they wouldn't be
playing the lottery in the first place.
Speaker 8: Oh, you know, I.
Speaker 3: Hadn't been to Vegas in a while, and I was
at the win because there's a really good restaurant there
that I wanted to try it Spinopris Italian rest. So
we're walking through the f and I hadn't been to
Vegue really since COVID, and there were there was zero
double zero on triple zero on Reluctant and I never
I hadn't seen that or heard about it.
Speaker 2: That's what caused me to stop. And I asked the pitball,
what's what's this deal? And what the straight thing?
Speaker 3: He stick, Oh, we've added that it makes the game
more exciting for the player.
Speaker 2: I had a hard time not saying anything, but I
did not just oh, that's very interesting. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: You know, one one last bet I wanted to because
you you have had bets on so many crazy different things.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: I remember when you were on Gambling with an Edge
you talked about a cow Patty bingo.
Speaker 8: We're at a rodeo. But but the one I wanted
to ask you about.
Speaker 1: There was some bet about for half a million dollars
on how long it would take to change a tire.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, this to me.
Speaker 3: If I won this prize, I would have given it,
but I would The prize was for this promotion come
to a naspar raid and I don't even remember now
where it's located.
Speaker 2: There's a training center for pit crews for Nashville.
Speaker 3: So chomp to where be this racetrack det that has
the training center for the pit foot you spend two
days with your set. Remember your best brand for eight
has on the pit. I don't remember how many it
takes for the bus and learn how to be a
pitch for learn how to change the tires, and the
end we're going to bring a nastar in just like
it's the real deal. And you did this, change the
tires and if you make the pit stop and the
changes were in X.
Speaker 2: Number of seconds, you and a half a month.
Speaker 3: So we took that back because we didn't think that
eight people that were not professional to the pit and
they couldn't they did, but that we only did it.
Speaker 2: It was a one off. And it was interesting because
in the gift shop the training facilities you could.
Speaker 3: Bond fender and pulls that had been in Corage so
you could hang them on your wall at home.
Speaker 2: Now I'm looking at your house and I don't see
anything like that on yourself. Uh.
Speaker 3: They also had the tires where you could put your
kids inside the tires to take their photograph the fortraits.
I will tell you the dumbest thing I ever of
that I've done thirty five years. I know you used
to place some black.
Speaker 2: Jack of me.
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, a little bit.
Speaker 3: And I understand that there sometimes there's a dance or something,
and that it was that some people are I've never
had a chance to come up love to some I
never have. Well, we did a promotion in analeg city
where you could win your line. They invited sixty four
high to a blacket and if we won the tournament,
whatever you want to that it was, that's what you want.
So you came in and you had you had a
credit line of a million. You want five hundred thousand,
five hundred. Smallest credit line anybody had was one hundred games,
so the casino had one hundred thousand dollars deduct They
invited sixty four players and the format was you went
from sixty four to thirty two and thirty two to sixteen.
When they got to sixteen players, they put one player
per table. They had a sixteen table in the pit
and it was head to head against the dealer and
you played twenty two to the end of the twenty
second here whoever had the most chipped one ev Oh.
Speaker 8: So you don't know what the other players have or
how much.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was about his on that. That was intentional.
The other thing we didn't want.
Speaker 3: Let's say you put everybody in the table and you
haven't bet line of a million.
Speaker 2: I hadn't bet line one hundred thousand, and you're.
Speaker 3: About to win, and you have me dumb, and then
you give me part of it, You give me part
of your million.
Speaker 2: So that was the reason. Yeah, So now I did
something really stupid. This was arrogant some much.
Speaker 3: We allowed them to do it in the ball after problem,
instead of doing it in the pit, do it on
the ballroom, on the stage for pen tellers. WI get set,
I thought my pit. So we did that, and I
didn't require them to do that. It's really excud So
around just sixty four went fined around them. From sixty
four to thirty two, it was fine. We get down
the sticky pain. And these players that have a million
dollars and other people have less. So I'm watching the
t tables that have am but I didn't realize there
was one player that had five hundred.
Speaker 2: Thousand dollars line.
Speaker 3: He's on the twenty first hand, he's got a stack
of chips about it, and there was no limit.
Speaker 2: I had a chicken back, so it's something out from
my hand. He puts it off and that's a long Yeah.
Speaker 3: They were to give them the sixth day, so there
was no way from a counting standpoint, you're not going
to get it out. Yep, it's just one on one.
You're not gonna you know, we weren't worried about and
really count.
Speaker 8: No, of course not.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So so the the guy that was deal eight. The
dealer had the tenant to be hit. She deals in
the ten and he looked at me and said, what
are you doing? I didn't ask a hit, I said,
I was good. It's no video survant, there's no pit manks,
I'm not watching. It's a guy with the five hundred
thousand dollars life. But and he's making a big to
do about that he didn't And I'm really worried about
what I'm going to tell my boss when.
Speaker 2: I get home because I messed up.
Speaker 3: I made a really really bad mistate. So it very quickly,
like in less than five minutes. It went from the
dealer to the pit boss, to the casino managed to
the gentleman. And this guy is making he's making the
biggest scene as anybody you've ever so I casino manager
shows up and he asked the guy what happened, and
he asked the dealer what happened, and then he tells
them I'll be back in about fifteen minutes. And the
first thing he did is moved. It moved them and
the player away from everybody. He got him so and
she everybody. I mean, he move moved the guy over way.
Speaker 8: No way, had the dealer already revealed their whole card yet.
Speaker 3: Or or what?
Speaker 2: Yeah? And well yeah it was Yeah. The dealer said
you busted and showed that you know they were you know,
so well, it didn't even matter what was the dealer
car because the guy already busted. He had he had
sixteen up. She hit it with the tense sixty yard
and busted before she show she couldn't have busted.
Speaker 1: Right, But I mean, if he says I wanted to
stay and the dealer has twenty, he loses the hand anyway.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, well, so, so what happened was the castino
manager went around every pitmark and every dealer that had
ever dealt to this and asked him a question, what
does he do in does he sometimes hit and sometimes stand.
Speaker 2: You know what, what's he do? And he always made
the right fun. He always take a hit.
Speaker 3: He never stood ever been playing there for five years
and he's never and five years that any of the
people that he that had dealt to it, I played
KDS never mattered, so he gets the guy.
Speaker 2: I was there and this was to me, this was
really brilliant. Let's say the guy's name is.
Speaker 3: John who Stead. John let me ask you a questions
how good a black jack player are? And the guys said,
I'm as good as they come. There are anybody to
play black debt better than me. I played as good
as anybody in the world.
Speaker 2: Should you're right, You're absolutely right. I agree with you.
Speaker 3: I went and talked to every pit boss and every
dealer that's ever dealt to you, and they all told
me the same thing, that you play as well as
anybody out there.
Speaker 2: And you and I both know you play that good.
When the dealer has a tin up you had a
new hit, We're done talking. You and I both know what.
Speaker 3: You're not taking a shot here. You need to take
your mindset place out feel free. But I got sixty
I've got sixty one other players and sixty three whatever.
I guess other other players and I have to consider
them too, and you're not getting it advance, you know.
Speaker 2: I mean it was Britant. I mean I was yeah,
I was good. He was brilliant, so I gu.
Speaker 1: Well, anyway, Norm, it's been a real pleasure and I
want to thank you for doing well.
Speaker 2: You're brother. Welcome. I'll open, yeah, thank you, have nice day.
Speaker 1: Well you there you have it in my interview with
Norm Beck, one of my favorite people.
Speaker 8: Anyway.
Speaker 1: You can always reach me at Life is a Gamblepod
at gmail dot com, or you can find me on
Twitter at r WM twenty one. As always, I really
like to hear your comments and questions and recommendations for
interesting people that you'd like to hear on the show
and for you gambling with an Edge fans, Stay tuned
this week or early next week, we will have Gary
Kandler on to talk about the tax implications for because
of the Big Beautiful Bill, the implications for professional gamblers.
All right, that's it for today, See you next time.