Question: Binion's lore
September 13th, 2010 at 12:13:33 AM
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I've read that Benny Binion would let you bet any amount, but any bet could be no higher than the amount wagered on your first bet.
My question: When would the session be deemed to have ended, so that you could return, start anew, and have the opportunity to make an unlimited bet?
Did you have to wait a day, or could you color up, take a quick break and then return?
Just curious.
My question: When would the session be deemed to have ended, so that you could return, start anew, and have the opportunity to make an unlimited bet?
Did you have to wait a day, or could you color up, take a quick break and then return?
Just curious.
"What, me worry?"
September 13th, 2010 at 12:56:19 AM
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Quote: MrVI've read that Benny Binion would let you bet any amount, but any bet could be no higher than the amount wagered on your first bet.
My question: When would the session be deemed to have ended, so that you could return, start anew, and have the opportunity to make an unlimited bet?
Did you have to wait a day, or could you color up, take a quick break and then return?
Just curious.
Interesting. The largest wager accepted under those terms was $777,000, by a gentleman whose name is still unknown. He bet the Don't Pass on the craps table and won. He returned several months later and made a bet of the same size, and lost.
The question is, did he make that same size bet because he was limited to that by his earlier bet, or because he felt that all those 7s were lucky? I don't know the answer, myself.
The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality.---George Bernard Shaw
September 13th, 2010 at 2:00:51 AM
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When anyone asked for raised limits, his response was often "your limit is the size of your next bet". And it was good until they left the table.
Most people focus on that first large bet that Benny Binion booked without hesitation, but a awful lot of money flowed onto that table for that roll. Binion paid out well over a quarter of a million dollars on that roll and is said to have done it without blinking. Oh, and it is known who did it. He did come back later ... and lost. He blew his brains out afterward. News of that was covered up. It appears he had bet with money that was not his, though I'm not certain of this.
Some other memorable Binion moments:
When a bindle of cocaine dropped onto the layout from someone's arm, "Book it! At this time of night everyone of my dealers can cover that bet". When a security guard wandered into the dealer break room and hauled two guys onto the carpet for a narcotics offense he happened to witness, Binion's first question to the security guard was "What were doing in the dealers break room". He told the guard to stay out of the break room and sent the two dealers back to work after returning the drugs to them.
Not nervous? Okay, maybe only your hands are nervous, feel free to come back and try again sometime. (Said to a prospective dealer who had just miserably failed an audition).
Most people focus on that first large bet that Benny Binion booked without hesitation, but a awful lot of money flowed onto that table for that roll. Binion paid out well over a quarter of a million dollars on that roll and is said to have done it without blinking. Oh, and it is known who did it. He did come back later ... and lost. He blew his brains out afterward. News of that was covered up. It appears he had bet with money that was not his, though I'm not certain of this.
Some other memorable Binion moments:
When a bindle of cocaine dropped onto the layout from someone's arm, "Book it! At this time of night everyone of my dealers can cover that bet". When a security guard wandered into the dealer break room and hauled two guys onto the carpet for a narcotics offense he happened to witness, Binion's first question to the security guard was "What were doing in the dealers break room". He told the guard to stay out of the break room and sent the two dealers back to work after returning the drugs to them.
Not nervous? Okay, maybe only your hands are nervous, feel free to come back and try again sometime. (Said to a prospective dealer who had just miserably failed an audition).
September 13th, 2010 at 8:11:19 AM
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More on the Binion's Bet.
"Dice, verily, are armed with goads and driving-hooks, deceiving and tormenting, causing grievous woe." -Rig Veda 10.34.4
September 13th, 2010 at 11:17:30 AM
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I was told by an old timer at Binion's that he kept $2 or $3 million that was required by the NGC to cover the tables, but he had another $25 million that he stored in the vault in case anyone wanted to come in and throw down.
In the old days he would send a car with a trunk full of $ millions to Ceasars Palace when they ran low on cash. Short term loans were customary in those days.
He also told me that Bergstrom shot himself because he was distraught about his estranged wife. It really had nothing to do with how much he had won or lost at the table.
In the old days he would send a car with a trunk full of $ millions to Ceasars Palace when they ran low on cash. Short term loans were customary in those days.
He also told me that Bergstrom shot himself because he was distraught about his estranged wife. It really had nothing to do with how much he had won or lost at the table.
