Gaming Guru

A very unusual blackjack player

Hello, Frank,

This isn't really an "Ask Frank" message, more like "Tell Frank"!

Maybe 20 years ago at a downtown LV joint... I was there visiting a childhood friend's brother, who was a craps floorman (I'll call him Mike). Mike pointed out a blackjack table that was roped off with two or three security guards flanking it.

One guy was playing - a rather salty-lookin' dude wearing a floor-length black leather trenchcoat with a seemingly endless number of inside pockets. He was playing cash, all Benjamins, and he never played the chips that he'd won. When the cash ran out, he'd reach into yet another pocket and whip out more. The chips kept piling up until the dude finally stopped playing, at which point he was escorted to the cage by the guards to cash in the chips.

Mike told me that the dude was an L.A. drug dealer/runner and this was his way of laundering the money. Profits from his "job" were turned into gambling winnings. Pretty slick, although I'd doubt it nowadays considering the paperwork required from casinos for $10K+ transactions. Your roulette article reminded of this episode.

Feel free to print this story if you like, but I do ask that you keep my name and "handle" out of it.

All the best to you in and out of the casino!

I was once in the Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas (early 1990s) with a businessman from Mexico, a friend of a radio host I knew. He looked around the casino and said, "This would be a great place to launder money." I guess his instincts were correct. Casinos in those days must have been great places to turn your money over into legitimate currency.

I am giving you a free 30-day subscription to my private members-only website at www.goldentouchcraps.com.

We have over 5,000 members on this private site and the conversations are interesting, enlightening and fun.

Enjoy!

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete