Binion’s Horseshoe Bonus Stories

 

 

Some great stories from the old days of Binion’s Horseshoe.

 

A pal of mine named Andy Hughes has been around the Las Vegas gambling scene since 1980.

If he hasn’t seen it all, then he’s seen most of it.

Andy enjoyed my recent series on Binion’s Horseshoe and offered a few of his own stories that he personally witnessed.  I’m posting them here with his permission.  A bit of an encore.

By the way, Andy is one of the most knowledgeable casino chip collectors in the world.  One of the top authorities in the trade.  I encourage you to visit his website here, which shows many very rare and highly-collectible casino chips:

NEVADA CASINO CHIPS–OBSOLETE COLLECTION

 

STORY #1:  STU UNGER

The first story was when I was playing in a Seven-Card Stud satellite, in 1999.  Marsha Waggoner was sitting at the table right behind me.  But her satellite had not started yet.  In between hands, we were talking.

There was a guy next to her who she knew and was a high roller.  The talk got around to Stu Ungar and the special chipset that had just been released with some of the poker greats.  His face was put on the $5 chip.  It was part of a full set that had a $25 chip (showing Johnny Moss) and a $100 chip (showing Benny Binion).

I told the guy they had spelled Stu’s last name wrong.  They spelled it “Unger.”  With an E.  It was supposed to be “Ungar.”  With an A.  The guy had one of the chips on him and absolutely insisted that it was spelled correctly.  I said, “how much do you want to bet that it is not.”  He said, “whatever.”

I said, “how about $5,000,” which was what I had on me in cash at the time.

He was just about to accept the bet.  But at exactly that moment my cards were dealt and I looked down to see rolled-up 10’s.  By the time I bet, was raised, and the dealer started to deal out 4th street I turned around and the guy was holding up the chip and comparing it to Stu’s name in the picture on the wall.  Of course, then he said, “No bet.”

Those rolled-up 10’s could very well have cost me $5,000.

 

STORY #2:  TEDDY BINION

The second story is about Ted Binion.  He would later become the main focus in the Binion murder trial.

I use to take breaks during the satellites and walk around the blackjack tables to sweat the action.  Back in the 1980s and early- to mid-’90s there was some very big action on those tables.  On this particular night, a guy walks in carrying a briefcase and was accompanied by a Caesars Palace security guard.  He started playing blackjack for $10,000 a hand.

He can’t lose, keeps winning hand after hand.  After a while, Ted walks up.  He looked like he had been up for days.  Had on a dirty white shirt, half tucked in.  In the back of his pants, he had a gun.  Looked like he’d also been drinking, or doing who knows what else.

Ted walks into the pit and shoves the dealer off the game aside and says he will deal.  He dealt like it was his first day at dealing school.  Imagine one of the owners of the casino, in a crumpled-up shirt, standing there dealing blackjack with a pistol stuck in his pants.

Of course, you can guess how things ended up.  Ted ended up busting the guy in about an hour!

 

STORY #3:  JACK STRAUS

The third story involves Jack Straus.

This was sometime in the mid-1980s.  There was a big no-limit game going on.  A couple of million on the table.  Among the players in addition to Straus were Jack Binion, Steve Wynn, Sarge Ferris, and Bob Stupak.

It was about 3 in the morning and I was sweating the game.  Back in those days, you could lean over the rail and reach over and practically touch the players.  You were that close.

Straus had this guy who was a runner for him.  The guy would just sit off to the side watching the game and get Straus whatever he needed.  You could tell the guy was bored to tears.  So, he comes up with this idea to have everyone toss in a $25 chip and Straus would mark a keno ticket and the guy would run it over to play.  It gave him something to do.

Straus marked just about every damn number on the ticket.  He figured that if it hit, he would get a toke.  After about five times betting the ticket, Straus got bored with it and told the guy he was done.  That seemed to be the end of it.

About ten minutes later I looked over at the guy and he is looking down at the last ticket and up at the board.  He looks like his dog just died.

I said, “It hit, didn’t it?”  He looks up at me and says….”Yeah, would have paid $40K.”

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