…My Facebook group Stories From Back In The Day group.

The old Orbit Inn. Once upon a time, a guy had a safety deposit box there around 1983. Who knows how much he had in it. Quite a bit I would imagine, as he was a very successful local businessman. The man liked to play pool. 🎱 We had known each other from about 1981. Our league pool teams played each other quite a bit. Another local pool player, one of the best bar table pool players in Nevada & the west coast tried for months to get the businessman to play for money, giving up a big spot. Finally they matched up. About a year & a half later the businessman had lost over $250,000 cash & numerous vehicles & his business, playing a number of pool sharks. Either those here in town or road players. Other than the first time he played & won a small amount of $400, he only won one other time. He won $15,000 & never got paid!

One night after about 6 months of playing, he got mad at someone during a game, he then walked up to me at the bar. Said he wanted me to call all close hits from then on. I said I had no desire to do that. He said I will pay you a $1,000. I thought about it for a minute & said you also have to pay my bar tab. 🥃 He agreed. For the next year I did not call even one hit. No idea how much my bar tabs were in that time, but I did like to drink back then. 😊

He then went to prison for murder. 😳 In there he studied the law. Going over every law book he could get his hands on. After a while he found a lawyer who took his case pro bono. He was granted a new trial. A key piece of evidence had been lost & he was released from prison. He then married his lawyer & went to work as a paralegal. All of that studying of the law in prison paid off.

We went out drinking one night when he was out on bail about 1985. That was the last time I saw him. Patty saw him one night in the early 90’s. He went into Gera’s on East Tropicana, where Patty was bartending.

Most of the pool playing took place at The Rum Runner. The good old days!