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Columnist Jimmy Vaccaro: As I See It

Let's be clear about Billy's success. He does not need anyone to validate his achievements. Sure, he has his detractors, they come with the territory when you are as good as he is.

No one can deny that Billy was the first one to "market" sports betting on a scale that is not likely to ever be duplicated. He got it going back in the '70s, when you could ramble through Vegas betting cash across the counters without tripping over a bunch of regulations.

Underneath Billy's southern drawl, you could sense there lived a barracuda. Back in those days, the stops were the Stardust, Castaways, Barbary Coast, Little Caesar's, and Harry Gordon's Churchill Downs.

The faces at the ticket windows were a lot younger and consisted of players like Billy Baxter, Big Luther, Artie B and the good doctor. The list could go on and on, but those were the leading characters. To a large extent, those same guys are still very prominent and still playing.

If there is a common thread to all these players, it is that they were there to bet, and not have the rules changed every time they hit a few winners. That leads me to the next part of the story.

When we opened up phone accounts at the Mirage, everybody had an account there. But Billy had to be discreet about the process because he was definitely not on Steve Wynn's Christmas card list. That is a story we'll save for another time.

So, in a sense, the deal for Billy to play at the Mirage had to be brokered. We had a breakfast meet at a local favorite of many players, Poppa Gars, now shuttered.

All Billy wanted to know was that he could play at certain limits and not have the rules changed on him every day. That part was easy, but the next item was a little tougher.

A third party was at that breakfast meeting. Some of you will recognize him immediately, but for others, take my word for it, he is a gaming hall of famer, first round inductee.

His name is Eric Drache, and he was the force behind big-time poker that made it what it is today in virtually every casino in the world.

Throughout my life, I have been around monster players in all forms of gambling. People like the late Stu Unger, who would bet a $10,000 exacta just on the say-so of a "railbird" in the poker room, and Allan Boston, who told you upfront that he would bet every halftime of every NCAA Tournament game if you would put up numbers on every game.

Eric belongs in this group of players who just wanted to play. But with Eric, the difference was he mostly did it with no money. Sometimes, with no more than 40 cents in his pocket, he could have a $3,000 round robin cooking.

Everyone loved Eric and they were trying to get him out of the deep hole he had dug himself into after a bad run. The Billy connection was that he would give Eric the games before he played them himself. That way, in time, Eric could get back on his feet.

In this crowd, there are people who would have traded their wives to know Billy's plays, and here he was doing it for nothing.

I had plenty of nights with Eric and, believe me, they were fast and furious. One in particular that lives in my memory is the time we went to Laughlin where he was going to play hold-em with Tommy Elardi.

That was the Elardi family who wound up buying the Frontier, then had to deal with a strike by the Culinary Union, which picketed in front of the hotel for about five years. Anyway, they also owned a casino in the river town, where I went with Eric.

Here is the deal we had: I took 20 percent of Eric, which truly was highway robbery because he was an out price vs. Elardi. It took a while, but after five hours, Tommy threw in the towel. He had lost $45,000, but that's not the whole story.

The stipulation was for Eric to play craps at a dead game (more rolls) for at least an hour if he beat Tommy at poker. Well, I had $9,000 coming and it looked like a profitable trip.

But, it took only 45 minutes of Eric shooting craps, and when the smoke had cleared, I owed $2,000. Eric had gone through all the winnings and had 10 call bets on the layout when 7 jumped up.

Once again, he gambled as high as a giraffe's behind, but needed bus money to get home.

Meanwhile, Billy Walters had a pretty good year, hitting around 60 percent. His only loser was Eric, who needed to bet parlays instead of straight bets because of how deep he was in debt.

Eric's moves and antics are legendary, and I do not think anyone will ever come close to the moves he has come up with. How's this for a parlay?

Billy Walters is giving Eric his football games and Chuck Sharpe is giving his NBA totals, at his numbers, and still Eric did not cash in. As big as Billy is to football, Chuck had the same stature in roundball circles.

So, when I read stories about Billy, there are usually two possible endings. I haven't seen Eric in about a year, but I am sure the next time we meet, we will wind up rooting for something.

As far as Billy is concerned, I always told him I should have taken up golf and he could invite both me and Eric for a round.

On to the playoffs. Finally had a good weekend with the pros, and there are a few spots I like this time around.

I took the 3 with the Raiders vs. New England. No need to tell you the job they have done up there in Foxboro with Brady and company. But with Gannon finally having a vertical game, I believe they can get 20 points against the Pats. That should be enough.

I expect the Pats game to be very conservative for Brady, and as good as their "D" has been playing, they will not stop the Raiders enough to make a difference. Looks like a 20-17 Raiders win, to me.

Comments are always appreciated at vaccarosports@lvcm.com or www.jimmyvaccaro.com. Also check out www.legalwagerreport.com for all the latest on the offshore operations.

Free pick phone at 1-800-899-1122.

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