…In the day, when there were poker games with lots of cash on the table, those sweating the game could just lean on the rail to watch. You could almost reach over & touch the players. Those games had millions on the table.
I was sweating one such game at the Horseshoe during the World Series of Poker around 1984. It was a full game, 10 players. Among those playing were, Steve Wynn, Jack Binion, Bobby Baldwin, Bob Stupak, Sarge Ferris & Jack “Treetop” Strauss. Jack had won the WSOP Main Event two years earlier, in 1982. He came all the way back from having just one chip left to win it. That is where the saying “A chip and a chair.” came from.
Jack had a guy who he paid to be his runner. If he needed anything the runner would go & get it. The runner sat at the end of the rail. I was about 5 feet from him. You could tell he was bored to tears. So all of a sudden he jumps up & walks away. Comes back holding a fistful of Keno tickets & a couple of the crayons to write with. He starts filling one out & tosses it away. Finally after a few minutes he has filled out the one he wants. What he had done was make out a multi-way Keno ticket for $250 a game. He takes it to Jack & Jack tells everyone to toss the runner a $25 chip. Off the runner goes to play it. This goes on for about 5 games, with nothing at all being hit. When the runner goes up to Jack once again, Jack waves him off & says they are done with the Keno.
Now the runner goes back to his seat & is bored to tears once again. But he keeps looking at the Keno Board as the next game is played. His head looks like one of those Bobble Head Dogs you use to see on car dashboards. Looking up at the board & back to the ticket. After the last number his head stayed down. I said to him…”It hit, didn’t it?” He looked up & said…”Yes, for $40,000.” 😳 We will never know what the poker players would have toked him. But at the very least they each give him a $100 chip, for a $1,000. Plus they probably would have kept playing & won some more.
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