Encore History from John Martino
RussGe...@aol.com
Jimmy Cleavis, who was a short Greek guy about 5'2", who I met in 1966
at the Fremont. In 1988 he looked the same as he did in 66; he never
really aged. Recently he was going to come to Florida and visit. His
friend bought opened a Greek restaurant in Florida and he said he's
come by and see me when he was here.
One thing Jimmy could do was hold out cards. He would press a lever and
he had an extension up his sleeve, it was called a hold out machine.
The extension would shoot the card out whenever he needed one.
He worked around Vegas; in the Stardust. He worked with Nick Simpson,
was good friends with Nick Behnen. He played with different teams; kept
to himself.
Jimmy went to Amsterdam with Al Silvers when I went and beat
21(blackjack) with marked cards. He was good friend of Archie Karas; he
used to pay Archie's rent. Archie would win a lot but he'd go broke
too. He would bankroll Archie. When Archie winning he didn't help
anyone; not any of the people he owed or bankrolled him. Jimmy was
playing 7 card Razz 150/300 at the Horseshoe, he'd been palying razz
for 20 hours he was down almost 20Ks. Archie came over to his table and
said, "Jimmy quit playing and come over and watch me shoot dice, I need
good luck." Jimmy was tired but he agreed to watch Archie. Archie got
on a hot streak and for the next two hours couldn't lose. After Archie
was up about 2 million he went to cash out and flipped Jimmy a single
5K chip. Jimmy was already down 20K and had bankrolled Archie was
expecting much more. Jimmy threw the chip at Archie and grabbed Archie
by the throat. Security had to come and pull them apart. Archie tried
to have Jimmy barred but Jimmy was a good friend of Nick Behnen.
Jimmy cheated a lot with his hold out machine. He only got caught one
time- Tom Bowling caught him at the Las Vegas Hilton around 1988.
Bowling was the card room manger; he was a big cokehead at that time.
Tom's next job was at Hollywood Park with Mike Caro.
Jack Zwerner and Larry Flynt in the late 80's
In the late 80's Jack Zwerner met Larry Flynt when Jack was at the
Dunes. Larry took a liking to Jack. Jack went to LA to work with Larry
Flynt.
In the movie, The People Vs Larry Flynt, an actor portrayed Jack, who
in real life brought thousands of dollars in one-dollar bills to pay
the court fine. Larry gave him a house to live in and two gold credit
cards. Jack became Larry's top errand boy. One person in Larry Flint's
entourage was jealous of Jack and picked a fight. He hit Jack with a
baseball bat- they tried to kill him, hurt him real bad. After that
Jack left Flynt and came work at the Mirage under Steve Wynn.
Richie "The Fixer" Sklar 1988
Richie "The fixer" Sklar had a connection with the Alpine Casino. He
was friend of CK Swartz, Fast Eddie DeLeo, and Dominic Spinale. Richie
couldn't go to the track because he was barred from almost every live
track. He fixed a horse race and had a friend bet on it for him. They
hit a big six; six horse win parlay only. I think they won about 300K.
Richie Scalar didn't think his friend paid him enough so he hired two
people to rob him. Something went wrong with the robbery and his friend
got killed.
Richie played golf with Doyle regularly. Doyle would put him on his
golf team because Richie was such a good golfer.
He was indicted for fixing races right before Jack Straus died [Straus
died in August 1988]. Jack was one of his partners on fixing races.
Richie ended up doing a year or two time in California. Rod Pardey,
David Grey from NY and Jack Straus were horse-betting friends.
Richie is a card mechanic, who would cheat dealing pan. He would give
hands to himself. He lived at Crystal Park, he got comp rooms for Doyle
and his friends. He also got comp rooms from Robert Turner.
[Sunday, December 14, 1997 COLUMN: Jay Richards
Board should take fixer Sklar seriously
When a convicted horse race fixer admits to having fixed 1,000 races
over a 12-year period, as Richard Sklar said he did from 1983-95, you
can bet embarrassed racing officials in that state will go to great
lengths to deny his allegations and impugn his credibility.
Despite the fact Sklar, 44, was sentenced Monday to a six-month term in
federal prison beginning Jan. 21 for fixing a race at Los Alamitos in
1995, his allegations of a widespread scandal are being downplayed by a
red-faced California Horse Racing Board, whose responsibilities include
protecting the public from that very thing. Jockey Richard Pfau also
was convicted of taking a $2,100 bribe from Sklar to hold back his
mount in that race.
A thousand fixed races sounds like nonstop thievery, but over 12 years,
it's less than two races a week.
Sklar's integrity certainly should be called into question, but not his
credibility. When a convicted murderer confesses to earlier unsolved
homicides, authorities readily give credence to his story, regardless
of the killer's reprehensibility. Whether the murderer truly believes
confession is good for the soul, or -- like Sklar -- is looking to
profit further by selling his story to the highest bidder, there is
more reason to believe him than not. Killers sometimes divulge where
other bodies are buried.
Sklar has promised to do likewise. He said he will implicate
approximately 100 jockeys and harness drivers who were his partners in
crime and will identify specific races he fixed beyond the five-year
statute of limitations for prosecution.
As an appetizer, Sklar named the late Ron Hansen, a jockey, as a
frequent accomplice, and detailed the fixing of a Feb. 3, 1989, race at
Golden Gate Fields in this column on Friday.
That's what has the CHRB and California race track officials -- to say
nothing of the jockeys and drivers -- uneasy. Very uneasy.
You would have to be incredibly naive to believe the basic greed of
certain individuals does not engender cheating in racing, especially
since breaking the rules is standard operating procedure in so many
other vocations. Indeed, there may be more carefully developed larceny
through insider trading on the New York Stock Exchange than at all the
tracks in America combined.
Sklar said he cashed on 90 percent of the more than 300 harness races
he fixed at Los Alamitos and Pomona. Two former California harness
drivers, speaking on the condition of anonymity, admitted they
frequently did business in races fixed by "Fingers," Sklar's nickname
around the tracks.
One driver specifically recounted a race Sklar had fixed at Los
Alamitos in 1986, won by Australian driver Lloyd Higgins. The winning
9-1 exacta combination in that race was so heavily bet off track in Las
Vegas that several race books immediately ceased taking wagers on Los
Alamitos harness until it was linked by pari-mutuel hookup several
years later.
You want a motive why harness drivers, since time immemorial,
frequently have succumbed to the temptation of stiffing their horses?
Let's try basic economics, as explained by Sklar:
"I used to get drivers to go dead (hold back their horses) all the
time, because I didn't have to offer much to give them more money than
they'd get for winning the race," he said.
"I often met drivers at restaurants near Los Alamitos before the races.
When I offered them $300 or $500 to go dead, they snapped it up in a
second.
"Here's why: With an average $3,000 purse, the winning owner gets 50
percent. Of that amount ($1,500), the winning driver only gets 5
percent -- a lousy 75 bucks. And there's no guarantee that, without
help, he'd win the race anyway.
"You don't have to be a genius to figure out whether it's easier to win
for $75 or to lose for $500," Sklar said. Federal prosecutors took
Sklar seriously. The CHRB should, too. -- HANDICAPPING CONTESTS --
Coast Resorts will be offering a $1,000 winner-take-all prize in free
handicapping contests at each of
its three properties this week, the Gold Coast (Wednesday), Barbary
Coast (Thursday) and Orleans (Saturday). Players make a mythical $2 win
bet on each of the last five races at Hollywood Park, with the winners
to be determined by highest total payoffs. Jay Richards' horse racing
column is published Friday and Sunday. ]
1988-98 Lady Luck Casino
[The Lady Luck Casino Hotel was built in 1964 and recently remodeled in
2001. The 738 room casino Hotel is located just off of Fremont Street
in downtown Las Vegas.]
The Lady Luck casino was the easiest casino to cheat in Vegas. Olejack
and Gary Gig Young grew up together in Philadelphia. They were friends
before they came to Vegas. Archie Karas, Mike Murray from Miami, Al
Silvers (Albert Sierra) played all the side games. Al was arrested
several times for daubing cards, and for sanding cards (marking cards
with sandpaper).
In 1997 they barred Stuey and Philly Brush from the Lady Luck Casino
because they were winning so much money at blackjack. They knew Stuey
was a card counter but they couldn't figure out how they were winning.
He'd just won the third WSOP and people knew who Stuey was.
[After winning the 1997 WSOP Stu Unger went to the Lady Luck casino and
posted $200,000 to play black-jack. He wore the same glasses (he used
in the WSOP). The Lady Luck was being beaten by Gary Young, Lou
Olejack, Tom Reda, Al Silvers and other at this time. All were wearing
contacts. After Stu Unger went in and won around $200,000, the Lady
Luck was history for the cheats. Everyone was barred. Lou Olejack
entered the NEVADA BLACK BOOK in 1997. They finally realized why these
people had been winning money from the casino in black-jack. Stu Unger
had worn "COBALT BLUE" glasses. He couldn't use contacts because of
drug problems. It is also a give away. Part of a post about Stu Ungar
by Russ Georgiev on RGP]
Poker Cruise in 1989
I went on this a poker cruise, this was right before the Mirage opened
in 1989. Bob Thompson, who was the best snatch dealer the Stardust ever
had in 1966 and 67, ran the cruise- it was a week long cruise. He also
would bring in coolers back then. Donna Harris, who runs the Bellagio,
also went as a dealer.
Donna started at the Golden Nugget under Eric Drache. Harris did
whatever Eric wanted. Eric was always losing money at the crap tables.
There were guys Eric would borrow money from that wanted a girl, he
would sometimes set her up with them. There was one guy from Canada,
Frank Watson, that she's spend a week with at a time.
Jimmy Shehady called me and said I got some cards in (marked cards),
why don't you come with me on this cruise. So Jimmy also invited Ralph
Levine, who at one time was one of the biggest porno kings that come
out of NY. Jimmy beat him (Levine) for about six months when Eric had
the poker room at the Golden Nugget. After he beat him they became
friends and then Jimmy used Ralph to play in his games with him.
The cruise was $1900 which was a lot of money for me at that time, but
Jimmy said to me, 'Me you and Ralph will go and we'll make a bunch of
money playing as a team of three.' I paid the money and went on the
cruise.
So they had marked cards with white flash and Donna and Bob would put
them in- they were both in on it. Jimmy was acting weird and he would
not talk to me the whole cruise. Him and Ralph won all the money in the
larger games- they were playing 150/300 and 200/400. They were kittying
and carding out and they wouldn't even talk to me.
Maybe Jimmy's not even dead, nobody really even knows. He might be
hiding out somewhere.
The Closing of the Caesar's Palace Cardroom in 1989
Two weeks before the Mirage opened there was a big 7 stud poker game as
the Caesar's Palace with Roger King, who was a multi-millionaire and
owner of TV programs. Roger King was one of the biggest "whales" (a
high roller, a sucker, and a drug addict) playing in the cardroom at
Caesar's Palace. Roger played in the biggest high stakes games.
At this game there were six players on Doyle's team, David Gray was one
of them, playing against King. They were scamming him (colluding) and
showing each other their hands. The collusion was caught by the eye-in
the sky. They didn't want the negative publicity so Caesar's closed
their pokerroom.
Late 1980s Jesse Alto's Wife
Cheaters need access to someone in management to put in cards for them.
Jesse Alto's wife worked on the floor. She was a floor person during
WSOP at the horseshoe. She had access to put in marked cards in the
side games. She helped Doyle's group.
The Mirage Opens in November 1989- Martino is Barred from the Mirage
[In 1986, Steve Wynn bought the large piece of land next to Caesar's
Palace, across the Strip from the Desert Inn. He then sold the Atlantic
City Nugget for a reported four hundred and forty million and used much
of the money on the dream resort, the Mirage, in 1989. The three
thousand room Mirage was the first major resort built on the Strip
since the original MGM Grand (now Bally's) at Flamingo Road and Las
Vegas Boulevard. The Mirage used lush indoor plantings, waterfalls and
a man-made volcano to create the illusion of a lush South Pacific
paradise in the Mojave Desert. On the same parcel of property Wynn
later constructed an additional hotel, Treasure Island, which evokes
pirate movies set in the Caribbean.]
Doyle didn't have a lot of money until the Mirage opened. With Eric
Drache as the cardroom manager and Bobby Baldwin as Vice-President, the
conditions were perfect for Doyle and his team. Doyle's team started
making money hand over fist.
["When the Golden Nugget Closed in 1989 and all of us went to the
Mirage. It was Steve Wynn's vision, I remember on opening day in Nov of
1989, people were lined around the block. Everyone from the Golden
Nugget had a job (at the Mirage) if they wanted it." Eric Drache from
Rounders- the Poker Show]
There were bad feelings about me from the Golden Nugget because of the
marker scam that brought attention to some of the cheating that was
going on. After they (Doyle's group) found out I was cheating them, and
I had beaten them dealing, there was a big dislike of me. One day
shortly after the Mirage opened, Eric Drache came to me and said, 'You
are barred.' I wasn't doing anything to be barred. He said it wasn't
him it was somebody higher up and you're not allowed in here. They knew
I'd witnessed all the cheating that was going on. They didn't trust me
and didn't want someone watching them that knew what they were doing.
Jimmy Shehady Runs A Table At The Mirage in Starting in 1989
Jimmy Shehady came from Pittsburgh, Pa. He was card mechanic like
myself. He got in with Doyle, Jack Binion, Eric Drache and Chip Reese-
he got in with all the right people. He was in control of one main team
at the Mirage. He would play the graveyard shift every night from 7:00
until early morning. He had his team at a certain table playing high
limit poker. Eric Drache was getting percentage of the take, which was
also backed up by Tommy Shehady.
[At the Mirage some high limit players would come to Vegas looking for
action. Eric Drache would call Jimmy (Shehady)and they'd get Johnny
Chan, Chip Reese, and Doyle Brunson to play. They were good players
and knew how to play as a team. It's not like they would even need to
talk about it, they would just play together and win. After they would
win they'd split the money up five ways afterward because Eric Drache
would get a cut for setting it up. Interview with Tommy Shehady
December 2005]
Jimmy Shehady's team played pot limit razz, which we called London
Lowball. The 25K minimum game was held downstairs in the Mirage. Eric
Drache was card room manager at the time. David Gray was from NY was
one person that got broke playing pot-limit London Lowball (7 card
Razz) at the Mirage. The big game that Jimmy Shehady ran, had $100 ante
pot limit with an average pot going to the river of 25K. It was the
most rank cheating you ever saw. Jimmy had a big pad he put on the
table were he wrote down who owed what [each shill would get a
percentage of the take depending on their agreement with Jimmy.]
Vince Musso and Davey Singer were team players for Jimmy. Davey was a
good razz player when not cheating. Davey Singer is now a host of a
table on-line at Full Tilt, 8 and 16 razz. Cindy Violette's husband
Jeff was one of the players taken. David Grey was taken there also.
After he lost a bunch of money, they used him as a shill. Ahmad Hashem
was in the Mirage then. He played for them after they broke them.
It was some of the most rank cheating ever. Everybody had to count
their money at the table and Jimmy wrote it down in his little pad.
Billy Walters after the Mirage opens
When the Mirage first opened Jimmy Baccaro was Race and Sports book
manager. He gave Billy Walters the option to bet before the line would
even be posted. He gave Billy the first line (first odds) to place all
his bets. Billy Walters had different people working inside at pro
basketball games that would run the clock to his advantage. If he
needed the score higher he's let the clock run longer. He could aslo
bet middles by placing a second bet later. When they found out he was
letting Walters bet illegally and getting kickbacks he got a leave of
absence. They brought him back later. Billy Walters was booking private
games out of the poker room which was illegal. Even though thye knew
about it they let it go on. Steve Keonig and Eric Drache both knew
about it but since Eric borrowed money from Billy it was OK.
Incident with Jimmy Shehady- Contract Put Out On Me in 1989
The first contract that was put on me was in 1989 by Jimmy Shehady. I
did business with Jimmy when I worked at the Dunes, I had met him
earlier at the WSOP. We had been running private games for over 15
years by then. About the time the Mirage opened, there was a sports
tout (sports betting) service run by Tommy Jenkins. I gave Jimmy some
names from a friend, sports leads for the tout service, that Jimmy
would give to Tommy. When we went to see Tommy, Jimmy started playing
the Jenkins head-ups in poker and after he had him down about $15,000,
he (Jenkins) asked me to leave. Before I left, Jimmy told me that he
would give me 20% of the take from the game.
Jimmy wouldn't pay me- he thought he could stiff me and get away with
it. I got someone to try and muscle Jimmy to collect the money that he
owed me, which was a mistake. So he hired a hit man named Larry Colbert
(AKA Little Larry) to get rid of me. He was a known guy that did things
for the Binions. He's still alive. He has a car lot in Dallas. Larry
was also the guy who came after me in Costa Rico in 2001.
When I found out about it, I filled a police report against him to try
and keep him away from me.
Benny Binion Dies Dec. 25, 1989- Mob Ties Ted Binion
In 1989 after Benny died of heart failure on Christmas Day, the mob
moved in the Horseshoe.
[The Nevada Gaming Control Board on Thursday officially recommended
Peter J. Ribaste's inclusion in the Nevada Black Book of undesirables
banned from casinos.]
[In 1989, Ribaste moved to Las Vegas' upscale Spanish Trails
development. He subsequently got into the car business here, buying
into the Carriage Car III dealership on South Decatur. Ribaste bought
into the dealership with the help of $100,000 loaned by Horseshoe Club
co-owner Ted Binion, part of the reason gaming regulators added Binion
to the Black Book last month.]
[Wright was among the attorneys who defended the eight people charged
in an April 1990 indictment stemming from the FBI's final RICO
investigation involving Binion. The indictment alleged a series of
beatings, robberies and kidnappings between June 1977 and October 1986
of "undesirable patrons" at the Horseshoe. Prosecutors dismissed the
indictment in August 1992, about two months before the case was
scheduled to go to trial.]
[In his book "Dirty Dealing," author Gary Cartwright said a Las Vegas
associate of Chagra told the FBI that Charles Harrelson and Chagra met
in May 1979 during a poker tournament at the Horseshoe. But the account
states that it was Harrelson who took the initiative to introduce
himself to Chagra, and there is no mention of any Binion family member
being present.
"That guy is passing himself off as a killer, what do you think?" the
report said Chagra asked his associate after the departure of
Harrelson, whom the FBI confirmed was registered at the Horseshoe
during this period.
Cartwright also wrote that the news media, citing a leaked FBI
memorandum, reported in 1978 that a federal grand jury in El Paso was
examining the relationship between Binion, notorious mobster Tony
Spilotro and Chagra's older brother Lee, a controversial lawyer who
later was shot to death. ]
Len Miller- Doyle and Chip-The Oceanside Card Casino 1990-97
[And I remember when it (Len Miller's place) first opened. Doyle
Brunson and Chip Reese were propping $3-6 holdem; not $300-600. It was
pretty cool to see these superstars sitting in a $3-6 hold 'em. Paul
Gennaro RGP Post 1999]
[The Oceanside Card Casino, Len Miller's place, closed about two years
ago (1997) after Ocean's 11 opened. Someone mentioned that Doyle and
Chip were propping $3-6 games there years ago. The fact of the matter
is that Doyle and Chip were partners with Len Miller when OCC first
opened. Doyle and Chip sold out to Len Miller when Len inherited a
substantial amount of money when his father passed
away and he (Len) no longer wanted "partners." When Len closed OCC he
"sold" it to a corporation of players that lived and played the pot
limit game at OCC. What was first a "done deal" kept changing as Len
wanted to retain some interest in the place along with his son. The new
group wanted no part of this
"arrangement" and both sides ending up suing each other Most recently
Len "won" and actually "lost" as he had to pay all of the legal
expenses for both sides and also had to refund all of the monies (plus
some) to the corporation. So as it is now Len still has the license
..... and that's about all as no one at this time is interested in
"buying him out" and opening a new club in Oceanside. Most of the OCC
employees and all of the players were working and playing at Ocean's 11
even before Len "closed" OCC. Goingforlow RGP post 1999]
Len Miller bought back the cardroom from Chip and Doyle when he
inherited some money. Vegas spoiled them; they couldn't make the money
in California. ["The Seniors" began in 1995, with its first tournament
held at Len Miller's Oceanside Casino in Oceanside, California.]
[Cardroom veteran Doug Dalton, who began his career in the late '70s,
manages the Bellagio poker room. He worked his way up from shift
manager at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas to the director of
poker operations today. Along the way, he worked as assistant manager
of the Dunes poker room, general manager of the Oceanside Card Casino,
and manager of both the Treasure Island and The Mirage cardrooms. Card
Player Magazine Volume 14, No. 7]
Lenny B. Michelle stayed there with Len Miller. He was a shylock (an
illegal bookmaker). Lenny got married and stayed there.
["Chip and Doyle did not buy a casino in Oceanside. Eight years after
your LA Times story, in 1990 they invested in an existing cardroom
owned by Len Miller. Their investment allowed Len to move to larger
facility where he could go from three tables to about eight or nine.
Later after Len Miller inherited a large sum of money he bought back
his interest." Jack King]
I responded WOW sure were some great impersonators then. I played and
dealt to them many times, as I'm sure anyone around San Diego at that
time knows. They WERE NOT silent partners. They brought Doug (Dalton)
in to manage the room. Edna used to fix us wonderful meals. Terry King
was brought in as a dealer. Terry King was Chip's "ex" and favorite
dealer" Moira Miller (poker dealer at Oceanside)
Sunny Lord was my favorite dealer," Jack King
Len Miller bought Chip and Doyle out and had the biggest card room in
Oceanside around the early 1990s. It was a HIT. Problem was there was
another room in Oceanside, a place called Jerry's, but it floundered.
The license for Jerry's Place was soon moved (1996-97 or so) and Haig
Kelligian was a major investor with his crew. They became NUMERO UNO
and one of the biggest card rooms in California. Len Miller and the
other place went 'belly up'. OCC or Oceanside Card Casino is now the
KING Russ Georgiev
[I played at the OCC on the day they opened. Chip Reese, Doyle Brunson,
Yosh Nakono, and I think that day or the next Puggy Pearson showed up.
They were there in the beginning to kick their investment off. This is
what I said. After the first month or two I did not see them there, but
I did often play with Todd Brunson during the next year and a half.
Could Chip and Doyle have played on days when I wasn't there? Sure, I
guess, I played in Oceanside maybe two or three times a month because I
played more often in LA. But I never saw them after the first month or
two. I won't accuse you of lying but I am not either. Jack King
Susan
And it's Lenny D. Michelle, not Lenny B.
:-)
<RussGe...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1151597858....@75g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
Max Coin
episode of Wild Wild West.
> ...... and that's about all as no one at this time is interested in
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