J.A.Sucker
07-15-2004, 04:31 PM
Awhile ago I was playing a little 20-40 at Bay 101 and a few "old timers" were reminiscing about the old lowball days. They talked about games at The Miracle Mile that were huge: 800 limit lowball (in 1972), and of course there were the big games at the Cameo, AJ's, and the like.
Further, they joked about all the bad cheating that went on in these games - Rick Reola and others dealing seconds and such. The live one in my game (who was a live one back then, too) was talking about how he lost X hundreds of thousands of dollars in that game, and I believe him.
I have two questions: First, how could the area have supported such large games, when around here, it's tough to even maintain an 80-160 hold em game? 800 bucks in the 70s was real huge dough. I realize that cardhouses were the only outlet for gambling back then, and those Pai Gow maniacs would probably be pouring cash into the games, but wouldn't they get cleaned out quickly in such a big game with a high skill requirement? They told stories about people paying multiple bets and drawing 3 cards!
Second, how could the two mediocre players (who are not great cardplayers) in my game have survived these conditions back then? They were playing stakes that were probably 200 - 1000 times what they play now, and even though there were some maniacs, the top players and cheats would have to clean them out eventually, right? An extension of this is what happened to these guy's money? Did they not properly adjust to holdem and get broke in the early days? I'm just curious, and this is an interesting cultural point for me; I know there are some folks who remember those games and could enlighten me.
Further, they joked about all the bad cheating that went on in these games - Rick Reola and others dealing seconds and such. The live one in my game (who was a live one back then, too) was talking about how he lost X hundreds of thousands of dollars in that game, and I believe him.
I have two questions: First, how could the area have supported such large games, when around here, it's tough to even maintain an 80-160 hold em game? 800 bucks in the 70s was real huge dough. I realize that cardhouses were the only outlet for gambling back then, and those Pai Gow maniacs would probably be pouring cash into the games, but wouldn't they get cleaned out quickly in such a big game with a high skill requirement? They told stories about people paying multiple bets and drawing 3 cards!
Second, how could the two mediocre players (who are not great cardplayers) in my game have survived these conditions back then? They were playing stakes that were probably 200 - 1000 times what they play now, and even though there were some maniacs, the top players and cheats would have to clean them out eventually, right? An extension of this is what happened to these guy's money? Did they not properly adjust to holdem and get broke in the early days? I'm just curious, and this is an interesting cultural point for me; I know there are some folks who remember those games and could enlighten me.