Credentials:

I retired in 2010 after a lifetime as a pro. 1962-76 part time, then permanently at the felt until the Caribbean called in ‘10.

Was awestruck for my 9th birthday when my parents took me on a plane from Idlewild, (JFK for you little ones,) to the desert as a guest of my 4th cousin, Ol’ Blue Eyes, at The Sands, October ’53. (My most definitive memory of my childhood as my papa passed in January ’54.)

Sat down for my first hand at the very same in December ‘65. Played my first hand for cash in 1949…and I am certain the first thing I saw when my eyes opened was somebody’s hole cards as my parents played non-stop. (Mio Babbo was a made member of the ‘Prime Minister’s’ crew.)

Rarely played tourneys, (although I did manage to bank 150K in them,). I lived in Stud, Omaha 8, Big O., all the Mixed, and the master game, Stud 8, from beginning to end. I was opposite everyone from Johnny to Doyle to Stuey to Chip, (The G.O.A.T., no debate.), to Master Ivey when they all played in the trenches.

I was a contributing editor of Card Player for a decade, and Poker Digest for its entire life. Proudly, I avoided Hold Em as if it were the plague. Doyle called it the ‘Cadillac’. Chip called it the children’s hour. Your choice. Poker became big business, kiddies got rich. (See my editorial in CP after Harrington won the main and the 1st Euro. Witness how prematurely naive I was��!) Inevitable and so great to witness in my golden years. Go get ‘em kids!)

Any questions about my games? Want stories from the Jurassic era to Obama? Ask me, I was there…

I bet you have some great stories to tell! Frank Sinatra was your 4th cousin?

Did you live in Vegas all those years you were playing?

With all the brohaha around Eli's loans, how prevalent was it for players to loan back-n-forth these large +$100K sums of money?

What were some of your longest sessions?

What was the rake back in the day?

Any comps back then?

And BTW, Welcome to the forum. We've had a handful of 'oldtimers' over the years that have had some interesting stories.

Yes Deb, Francis was my 4th: Here's the lineage: My grandfather and Frank's father were 1st. Grew up together in Licari Friddi, Sicily, where my pop was born. FYI, his real name was Sinestra. Paramount changed it in '35. My name, Sitra, is the root for all the clans. And here's the hilarious...Ron Smith, famous for his celebrity look alikes age, begged me many years ago to play the Man because back then I looked like his clone. I passed, of course

Vegas '76=Jan. '88, then the stud games in LA. Frist The Bike, then Commerce.

Thanks for the greet., young lion Back in the day, the real 'back in the day.' Only a very select few got big loans. But everybody with a decent rep as a solid player could get staked. When I got to the land of milk and dead money LA,, in '88 I horsed 3-4 players regularly.

24h sessions were not uncommon if live ones with deep pocket were in. They stayed, I stayed. And I did play a 53 once. then sleep 12 hrs on a flight, and had to be wrestled awake by the Flight attendant.

Most limit games at my level had time rakes. E.G.-100-200 stud was 12 per half hour. Winner of 'time pot' got stuck for it. Smaller games had easy rakes. No more than 2 per hand before the jackpot rapes began.

Marks got every comp. Poker players got free toilet paper in the john...

This one is for you, darlin'
Stuey, whom I knew since he was 14, fried on coke, wakes me up to go with him to Tony the Ant's house because he just lost 300k of T's money in a game. I knew The Ant long time also, and he was doing some 'business' with my cuz in NYC. Tony chased me away when Stuey went in, and I later heard that Stuey had 'f..ked up beyond reason. and The Ant beat him into a pile of goo. Not the money; Stuey brought a piece to his house, which sent Tony into orbit. His little son was home.
Stuey spent days in the hospital.
Oh, and if you are wondering who Tony was, see 'Casino'. Pesci plays the watered down movie version of The Ant.
Next time: Master Ivey, me, and the straight flush rush followed by his monster heater at The Series. If you'd like to hear it.
After that, I will take you way back to me teaching Sammy & Altavese Omaha. Or if you prefer, Helmuth, me, Rickles, Sharif, and the $600 piece of chicken.

Thanks for sharing stories from the young years of the game. Playing for so many years deserves great respect. I will watch this thread for new interesting stories.

Hey.
Suddenly, what mastadonty appear on the forum.
I think that any story you tell will be fascinating and instructive for us. Write and we will read your stories and let it be a lesson for us and an invaluable experience.

Great story - look forward to some more!

Welcome,
Good to have you around, enjoyed the anecdotes above, thanks!.
Hope you don't get annoyed by the agressive narcicistic youngsters that wannabe a millionair tomorrow.
(tagged the thread to stay informed of any news).

great stuff...hope there is a sinatra story...lol...when i was a young teen in sixties, i wrote to many movie,music stars...sinatra answered with an autographed color photo...classy move to make a fan for life....thanks darrell

Frank was always a standup guy in every way. Here's a memory for you:
After I met him as a little boy in '53, I did not see him again until New Year’s at the Sands in '65/66. Frank, Dean and Sammy were holding court. I had just come back from ‘Nam and was in the audience with a couple of future poker grinders like myself. Without a clue, a guy comes to me and says “Yeah, you’re him. Come with me.” (Pretty close, but it’s been a while.) He leads me to a huge suite where the Rat Pack and about 50 seriously hot ladies are living it. I am stunned as Frank walks up to me, smiles, looks me over very carefully, points at my face, and then his, and says “Wanna fill in for me, kid?” Like stumbling into paradise. He asked about my life and I told him I just got back from the jungle battles and that I was going to be a New York cop, and then a pro poker player. He smiled and said “You remind me of your pop. He was a warrior forever.” Then he turned to the guy who brought me and introduce us. The ‘guy’ was Jack Entratter, the honcho of the joint, and prince of the desert. Frank says, “Tell the dealers to cheat in his favor, Jack.” Life was good…

Thanks for the welcome...and don't I wish I was one of the kids playing for millions today. When I started, if you won every tournament in existence, including the main event, your take would be maybe 100K.

Where is I can play razz in Vegas?

Here's one you might enjoy:
Poker then and now. (The universe expands
Sometime in maybe ’89 ,‘90?? Al J, John Bonetti and Bobby Huff, (one of the all time greats; and they are all gone now☹,) asked me to promote the game no one was playing…No Limit Hold ‘Em. LOLOL. I di a cover story in Card Player (in the archives maybe??), and The Commerce poker boss, Jerry Stensrud, another guy who belongs on Mount PokerMore, offered lots of lulus to players who showed for the ‘Cadillac’ game. A massive five guys came to play….😊😊😊

Wish I could help you. To my knowledge there is no game unless you want to play a 8,10, 12 game mix. Razz has gone the way of me, an extinct T-Rex, except for tourneys and mixed games. You would have loved when little Al showed up regularly at the Commerce 25-30 years ago. Grand Canyon deep pockets, at least six figures, and he played only razz so we accommodated. 100-200, 200-400 to a sky high 600-1200. The game was on and sometimes ran non-stop for days.

I am loving this thread, thanks for sharing. Any stories about women that played poker back in the days?

Hope you like this one:
‘The Kid’ Fires Perfect: I have seen everything in poker, twice. But I have only seen this once, a prefect session. Kid Poker, A.D. 2000??, during the Cal State Championship. We are side by side in the main game back then; 80-160 stud. On the terrace. (Commerce alive, terrace dead.) EVERY hand Danny takes off 3rd street he wins, for give or take, 5 hours! before he goes off to play that day’s event. I doubt he even remembers it😊! Never saw the like, before or since.

So you want to say that in the limit Razz pure never play except wsop, and now if you play this horse and mixed games only.

For the ladies:
There have been three untouchable heaters in poker that I witnessed. I cannot see any of them surpassed. Archie's 40 million other worldly, Eskimo and his 47 hour FL Omaha insane win at The Shoe…and there was Irene K. in the stud/mixed games at The Mirage not long after we landed there in ‘89. She nuked the games for, seriously, eternity. I was commuting between Commerce and Mirage back then, and the simple fact was, as sworn to by everyone in the game, she never lost a session in all the stud and mixed games for two plus years! Sounds crazy, but it is so. The God-King Chip was in it every day and he testified to it, which makes it gospel. Couldn’t tell you how much she won, but it was a dump truck full of cash.
And there was the time Mimi Tran, who was Barry G’s lady friend at the time. A heated debate one graveyard shift between two of the very deep pockets led to Mimi and I playing a heads up 50K challenge, 400-800 stud freezeout that had a lot of side bets in the room. We were about even when we were interrupted, to our great good fortune, by a baby face who sat down with 130K and ordered a couple of bottles of tequila. Mimi and I deferred and the game got full in about 8 seconds. Anejo Boy dropped the whole bundle before he passed out and was escorted to his room in the hotel. Mimi, as I recall, hauled in the biggest slice of the pie.
Yes, I see the young ladies who are killing it today, Maria H, Liv, Vanessa S, Annette, J.J., but I gotta tell ya, Mimi, Barbara Enright, Kathy Liebert, all pals for decades, were all absolute beasts from day one. And nobody, man woman or alien wanted to be in a hand against Irene…

Afraid so, my friend.

What was the strangest thing a player tried to sell so he could get into or back into a game?

Here's a pic of the pet gator a guy brought into my local game, bargain at only $500.

Now that's funny. Go back two steps...before The Bellagio, before the Mirage, we were at Caesar's. In the '70s and early '80s we would 'pot out' for high-end jewelry. e.g. A bust out with a 5k watch would offer it to the table. We would give him, say, 1200, 150apiece, and then drop it in the next pot. winner get the goods. I once scored a 13K Patik Phillipe for 190.
This one nobody believes unless they were there. Caesar's playing 75-150 mix, a couple visits the table. He looks like Brad Pitt, she looks like Angelina. 'We're available, either or both of us. We need to make $800. We'll do anything.' After the hysterics died down, Fast Eddie, (no not Felson from 'The Hustler',) pulls out his mule choking pocket roll and off go the three of them. Didn't see Eddie for three weeks! and then he never told us the tale!

Fantastic!! Thanks!