<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by scott:
Fish, didn't Paul die in Reno? Were you up there or did he call you? He used to call me but at the end he was almost unemployable. Jackie Gaughn loved him and gave him every break known to man but Paul couldn't help himself and screwed it up. I first saw Tiger Paul in 73' or 74' at Churchill. Nobody knew him, he was still from Pgh. He came in Churchill dressed in his Pirate uniform. Pirate as in eyepatch & sword. He was the official (unpaid) mascot of the Pgh Pirates. Imagine the clientile of Churchill and right in the middle there's a Pirate! He took some getting used to.....ScottyS<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
TIGER was a true character in every sense of the word! One of a kind for sure.
I knew TIGER very well and would venture to guess he spoke with me darn near as much as anybody in his later months.
Please understand that I considered him a very good friend and what I will relate here now about how he ended his life is not an easy thing for me to do.
I write the following for those that would like to know what happened to TIGER, one of the funniest characters I ever ran into in Vegas.
In his later years, TIGER had accumulated a very nice BR by running numbers for some of the big boys in town and by also grinding a little profit from wagering with the inside info he was recieving. He was betting only 200-300 a game and sometimes larger when he knew he could get a good middle chance later.
TIGER had basically no bills as he rented a very cheap hotel room downtown on a weekly and monthly basis. His biggest expense was his pills he had to take for some of his ill-fated medical conditions. Food expense was NIL and was not a problem, as could grab a comp almost anywhere, either from the book itself or other gamblers.
Well, TIGER had amassed close to a $200,000 BR and now that he was getting up in age he was tired of running all over town for other people. Health being a major factor in this decesion. So TIGER layed out a plan.
TIGERS plan was to grind out a living with his huge bankroll. How was he going to do this? The plan was the very dangerous art of increasing ones bet size if you lost the game before. Basically betting enough on the next game to cover the loss of the last one, plus a little more.
TIGER calculated out that if he started small, 50-1OO a game, that he could withstand something like a 14+ losing streak with his bankroll that he had and grind out a profit for the rest of his life as he figured no way could he lose that many in row.
We discussed this over lunch or dinner many many times before he put this plan into action, all the while warning him of the dangers of this system.
In the end though, he practically had me convinced he could pull this off.
TIGER made arrangements at the GOLDEN NUGGET that he would NEVER EVER have a problem getting down a $30,000+ bet if he ever needed to. He could always spread more around at other places, but he wanted to make sure he could get down a substantial wager at one place for sure. I am not sure if Jimmy V. was still the manager than or not. Tom Smilanich, a very close friend of mine, was the supervisor.
Well, one month or so into his plan, TIGER was grinding out a profit just as planned. He was happy to be winning and having action(which is what it all came down to really).
Then when dreadful day, TIGER got off his plan and made his first wager a bigger one than his customary 50-100. He was very high on a game and wagered in the neighborhood of $500 on it. It lost!
TIGER never won another game in his life.
His losing streak reached the stage where he was down to his last bet to recoup all he had lost, for TIGER was down to his last dollars.
Of all the things to bet, TIGER placed a halftime wager of HUGE proportions at the Golden Nugget. You can do the math as to what TIGER had on this bet.
I was not there at the time he placed his bet, but my friend Tom said PAUL was shaking like a leaf as he pulled $100 chips out of every pocket of clothing he had on.
The bet lost by a narrow margin.
I recieved a phone call that night from TIGER saying he was going to end his life. He was in dire straits. I talked to him for what must have been 3 hours trying to ease his pain and explain that in 24-48 hours you will feel much better. I tried to assure him everyway the best way I could that everythng would be ok and if he needed anything, I would help in anyway I could.
After the conclusion of the call, I knew he was most definetly suicidal. I knew he was not kidding. I got in my car and headed to the hotel. No TIGER. I went all over downtown looking for him imcluding back to his hotel. NO TIGER.
It pains me to say, I never spoke to Tiger Paul ever again.
The following evening, I learned that TIGER had committed suicide by hanging himself in the shower of a hotel room.
As some will attest here, TIGER was impossible not to like. I wish everybody on this board could have met him at least once.
May my friend Tiger Paul rest in peace.
You shall never be forgotten buddy.
Fish, didn't Paul die in Reno? Were you up there or did he call you? He used to call me but at the end he was almost unemployable. Jackie Gaughn loved him and gave him every break known to man but Paul couldn't help himself and screwed it up. I first saw Tiger Paul in 73' or 74' at Churchill. Nobody knew him, he was still from Pgh. He came in Churchill dressed in his Pirate uniform. Pirate as in eyepatch & sword. He was the official (unpaid) mascot of the Pgh Pirates. Imagine the clientile of Churchill and right in the middle there's a Pirate! He took some getting used to.....ScottyS<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
TIGER was a true character in every sense of the word! One of a kind for sure.
I knew TIGER very well and would venture to guess he spoke with me darn near as much as anybody in his later months.
Please understand that I considered him a very good friend and what I will relate here now about how he ended his life is not an easy thing for me to do.
I write the following for those that would like to know what happened to TIGER, one of the funniest characters I ever ran into in Vegas.
In his later years, TIGER had accumulated a very nice BR by running numbers for some of the big boys in town and by also grinding a little profit from wagering with the inside info he was recieving. He was betting only 200-300 a game and sometimes larger when he knew he could get a good middle chance later.
TIGER had basically no bills as he rented a very cheap hotel room downtown on a weekly and monthly basis. His biggest expense was his pills he had to take for some of his ill-fated medical conditions. Food expense was NIL and was not a problem, as could grab a comp almost anywhere, either from the book itself or other gamblers.
Well, TIGER had amassed close to a $200,000 BR and now that he was getting up in age he was tired of running all over town for other people. Health being a major factor in this decesion. So TIGER layed out a plan.
TIGERS plan was to grind out a living with his huge bankroll. How was he going to do this? The plan was the very dangerous art of increasing ones bet size if you lost the game before. Basically betting enough on the next game to cover the loss of the last one, plus a little more.
TIGER calculated out that if he started small, 50-1OO a game, that he could withstand something like a 14+ losing streak with his bankroll that he had and grind out a profit for the rest of his life as he figured no way could he lose that many in row.
We discussed this over lunch or dinner many many times before he put this plan into action, all the while warning him of the dangers of this system.
In the end though, he practically had me convinced he could pull this off.
TIGER made arrangements at the GOLDEN NUGGET that he would NEVER EVER have a problem getting down a $30,000+ bet if he ever needed to. He could always spread more around at other places, but he wanted to make sure he could get down a substantial wager at one place for sure. I am not sure if Jimmy V. was still the manager than or not. Tom Smilanich, a very close friend of mine, was the supervisor.
Well, one month or so into his plan, TIGER was grinding out a profit just as planned. He was happy to be winning and having action(which is what it all came down to really).
Then when dreadful day, TIGER got off his plan and made his first wager a bigger one than his customary 50-100. He was very high on a game and wagered in the neighborhood of $500 on it. It lost!
TIGER never won another game in his life.
His losing streak reached the stage where he was down to his last bet to recoup all he had lost, for TIGER was down to his last dollars.
Of all the things to bet, TIGER placed a halftime wager of HUGE proportions at the Golden Nugget. You can do the math as to what TIGER had on this bet.
I was not there at the time he placed his bet, but my friend Tom said PAUL was shaking like a leaf as he pulled $100 chips out of every pocket of clothing he had on.
The bet lost by a narrow margin.
I recieved a phone call that night from TIGER saying he was going to end his life. He was in dire straits. I talked to him for what must have been 3 hours trying to ease his pain and explain that in 24-48 hours you will feel much better. I tried to assure him everyway the best way I could that everythng would be ok and if he needed anything, I would help in anyway I could.
After the conclusion of the call, I knew he was most definetly suicidal. I knew he was not kidding. I got in my car and headed to the hotel. No TIGER. I went all over downtown looking for him imcluding back to his hotel. NO TIGER.
It pains me to say, I never spoke to Tiger Paul ever again.
The following evening, I learned that TIGER had committed suicide by hanging himself in the shower of a hotel room.
As some will attest here, TIGER was impossible not to like. I wish everybody on this board could have met him at least once.
May my friend Tiger Paul rest in peace.
You shall never be forgotten buddy.
The current "tiger" has a very interesting story, i am told. He is the guy out of Phili he started with absolutely nothing, hit a few games, worked hard, and is now one of the biggest professional gamblers in the world. I don't know all of the details of his story, but from what i have heard it is very interesting.
My three most cherished places were Churchill Downs, the early Stardust and The Tower Of Pizza (it's a rr, no fav) Another excerpt from the book.....
II
.....Before I knew Jasper he was booking out of the Santa Anita Race & Sportsbook on the strip. He also was a greeter with Joe Lewis, when Ceasers Palace opened. He set up shop upon his arrival from New York in the early 60’s. He was exiled to LV from NY and soon would be given the same treatment by the Nevada Gaming Commission. They chased him out of the legit bookmaking business at Santa Anita and forced him out at Ceasers. No problem. There’s no overhead for a street bookmaker or loan shark anyway, except for the occasional stiff.
In those day’s there were no books in the casinos. Las Vegas had eight storefront race and sportsbooks. The Rosebowl, Santa Anita and Churchill Downs on the Strip. Downtown there was the Paddock, the Derby, the Saratoga and Hollywood. In North Las Vegas there was Bill Darks Del Mar. The premier shop was the famous Churchill Downs. It might have only been famous to us but it was the birthplace of the public line and big time betting in LV. Harry Gordon owned Churchill along with the Derby and Hollywood downtown. Harry was a stone cold bookie and had no fear. He would take anything in the horses. Put it up. The sports were partnered up with equally fearless bookmakers. The legendary Bob Martin and then Frank Hall when Bob went to the can .
The old Churchill Downs is a shrine to those of us that remember. Those who don’t have missed an almost cult like experience. It sat on the end of a block long plaza next to the Alladin. The horse room was fairly large with the old wall boards and a sound system to recreate the races. The recreations were supposed to be accurate with the track spotters sending in the race info. Trouble was the guys that recreated the races were degenerate horse players and they put there own bias into the calls. You could almost tell who they had by there recreations. The most famous was Joe Deluca. He worked for ****Swanson
who had the race ticker, made the wallboards and recreated the calls. They also announced post times and the track prices. Others would crowd out Swansons service later but he was the guy in the early days. A real player in the evolution of horses in LV.
The horse room in Churchill had a long counter with 6-8 windows, one cashier and the rest to take wagers. When the race went “off” and Joe would begin his call all the players in the room would look at the wallboard as if they were actually watching at the track. They would root as only a horse player can and keep their eyes on the wallboard. Joe of course knew the winner but he would keep everyone excited till the finish when he would give us his famous “ jjjuuusssttt galloping” winner. The next day you look at the charts in the Racing Form and the race was not close to Joes call but who cared. It was action.
The “steam” made Harry wealthy. He overcame getting past posted, cheated by his writers and all the scams his horse players could through at him. He took it all. Just put the money up. Sometimes there would be three “steam horses” in the same race. There was a definite pecking order among horse players. The insiders got the “information” first. A real status symbol. They would get down first so as not to steam the room up. After they were down then they would give the horse out. What a break for us all. Those that had money left after all the other steamers went in the tank would scramble to get down. Sometimes two or three steam horse in the same race would be a problem for everybody but Harry. “Who they got?”. “No they got the six”. “You got the right guy but the wrong horse”. No “that’s the wrong guy, my guy likes the four”. Harry picked them all up with a blotter in the end. Sometimes the steam came in, mabey by accident, but they were all pumped up, everyone was flush for a day, if there were no more races to bet. Shylocks were paid. Some rents were even paid. No clothes were bought or doctors visited. The horses had to be fed the next day.....
II
.....Before I knew Jasper he was booking out of the Santa Anita Race & Sportsbook on the strip. He also was a greeter with Joe Lewis, when Ceasers Palace opened. He set up shop upon his arrival from New York in the early 60’s. He was exiled to LV from NY and soon would be given the same treatment by the Nevada Gaming Commission. They chased him out of the legit bookmaking business at Santa Anita and forced him out at Ceasers. No problem. There’s no overhead for a street bookmaker or loan shark anyway, except for the occasional stiff.
In those day’s there were no books in the casinos. Las Vegas had eight storefront race and sportsbooks. The Rosebowl, Santa Anita and Churchill Downs on the Strip. Downtown there was the Paddock, the Derby, the Saratoga and Hollywood. In North Las Vegas there was Bill Darks Del Mar. The premier shop was the famous Churchill Downs. It might have only been famous to us but it was the birthplace of the public line and big time betting in LV. Harry Gordon owned Churchill along with the Derby and Hollywood downtown. Harry was a stone cold bookie and had no fear. He would take anything in the horses. Put it up. The sports were partnered up with equally fearless bookmakers. The legendary Bob Martin and then Frank Hall when Bob went to the can .
The old Churchill Downs is a shrine to those of us that remember. Those who don’t have missed an almost cult like experience. It sat on the end of a block long plaza next to the Alladin. The horse room was fairly large with the old wall boards and a sound system to recreate the races. The recreations were supposed to be accurate with the track spotters sending in the race info. Trouble was the guys that recreated the races were degenerate horse players and they put there own bias into the calls. You could almost tell who they had by there recreations. The most famous was Joe Deluca. He worked for ****Swanson
who had the race ticker, made the wallboards and recreated the calls. They also announced post times and the track prices. Others would crowd out Swansons service later but he was the guy in the early days. A real player in the evolution of horses in LV.
The horse room in Churchill had a long counter with 6-8 windows, one cashier and the rest to take wagers. When the race went “off” and Joe would begin his call all the players in the room would look at the wallboard as if they were actually watching at the track. They would root as only a horse player can and keep their eyes on the wallboard. Joe of course knew the winner but he would keep everyone excited till the finish when he would give us his famous “ jjjuuusssttt galloping” winner. The next day you look at the charts in the Racing Form and the race was not close to Joes call but who cared. It was action.
The “steam” made Harry wealthy. He overcame getting past posted, cheated by his writers and all the scams his horse players could through at him. He took it all. Just put the money up. Sometimes there would be three “steam horses” in the same race. There was a definite pecking order among horse players. The insiders got the “information” first. A real status symbol. They would get down first so as not to steam the room up. After they were down then they would give the horse out. What a break for us all. Those that had money left after all the other steamers went in the tank would scramble to get down. Sometimes two or three steam horse in the same race would be a problem for everybody but Harry. “Who they got?”. “No they got the six”. “You got the right guy but the wrong horse”. No “that’s the wrong guy, my guy likes the four”. Harry picked them all up with a blotter in the end. Sometimes the steam came in, mabey by accident, but they were all pumped up, everyone was flush for a day, if there were no more races to bet. Shylocks were paid. Some rents were even paid. No clothes were bought or doctors visited. The horses had to be fed the next day.....
Thanks Fishhead, sadly even sharps tend to go broke much faster than the time it took to amass a serious bankroll(even ones w/info and serious financial help when needed), even the best of the best that I've witnessed, tend to spiral to bust at a 10 to 20 X rate of speed than their climb took.
Talking about old bookies, when I was a month out of the Army in 1971 I went to work for an old pro in Boston. Everone called him "Gooch" although to his face we referred to him by his real name. Gooch would take 25 cents on a number or 5 dimes on a ball game it was all the same to him. My job was as a gopher and I loved it. Gooch was on oxeygen and I had to rotate his tanks for him every few days. He had Babute dice games in his basement, high stakes, that I worked watching the players and basically looking out for the Gooch. He worked out of a small house and sat in his kitchen, where he had 4 phones on the kitchen table. In the cuboard above where he sat he kept a foot high stack of hundreds and twenties, he always knew how much was in the stack, how, I don't know. Players would come and go through the kitchen, betting, paying and collecting. Somehow one day, one of the horse degenerates managed to push the minute hand on the cheap electric wall clock Gooch used for off times, back 5 minutes. Well I don't have to say to much except the next day was'nt a good one for Gooch's book. We noticed the clock being off that night when he asked me to turn on the news on a small TV he had on the kitchen counter, the headlines were already over and the clock read 6 PM straight up. That was that.
Anyway I learned how to have class as a bookmaker from him, if you know what I mean. His best customers always got gifts on different occasions. When other bookies laid off with him, and needed to lay off at a certain number, he would accomadate them. He always paid, I mean always, and for the most part, he always got paid. No one in the neighborhood wanted to be in his bad graces. I recall bringing the local chief of police a case of Chivas Regal on Christmas, delivered to his back door, a gift from the Gooch. Sadly he died around 1973 at a ripe old age, I owed hm around $900 when he died, still do, he had no real family, some people I did not know came in and closed up the house, settled accounts, and we buried a local legend. I moved to Vegas a couple of years later, all the wiser from my job as the Gooch's gopher.
wil.
Anyway I learned how to have class as a bookmaker from him, if you know what I mean. His best customers always got gifts on different occasions. When other bookies laid off with him, and needed to lay off at a certain number, he would accomadate them. He always paid, I mean always, and for the most part, he always got paid. No one in the neighborhood wanted to be in his bad graces. I recall bringing the local chief of police a case of Chivas Regal on Christmas, delivered to his back door, a gift from the Gooch. Sadly he died around 1973 at a ripe old age, I owed hm around $900 when he died, still do, he had no real family, some people I did not know came in and closed up the house, settled accounts, and we buried a local legend. I moved to Vegas a couple of years later, all the wiser from my job as the Gooch's gopher.
wil.
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kyhawk:
Anybody ever see the Stu Ungar story.? He had a sad ending too. Used to play a lot of sports at the Nugget. Also same site where Art Schliter would play.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
THERE WAS A BIG STORY ON STU UNGAR IN THE NEW YORK TIMES. JUST ANOTHER GUY WHOSE STORY WOULD MAKE A GREAT MOVIE.
Anybody ever see the Stu Ungar story.? He had a sad ending too. Used to play a lot of sports at the Nugget. Also same site where Art Schliter would play.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
THERE WAS A BIG STORY ON STU UNGAR IN THE NEW YORK TIMES. JUST ANOTHER GUY WHOSE STORY WOULD MAKE A GREAT MOVIE.
