Metal Money, Money and Gamblers

[Johnny Hughes]

The idea of metal dollars is a bad one. I got a job in Las Vegas at the Golden Nugget as a shill, playing poker for the house,in 1960. It paid a dollar an hour, eight silver dollars for an eight hour shift. They would weight your pants down. Passersby could count you down. One night I shot craps. I lost a dollar, doubled up and lost two, doubled up again and was down seven dollars. Doubling up is called the Gambler's Fallacy.

In the early days we played with all cash money because of raids by the law. In your stack, you kept singles on the top, hundreds and up in the middle, and twenties on the bottom. Fifties were not allowed because they are considered unlucky. It was impossible to tell how much your opponent had until there was a big bet. Five hundred dollar bills and thousand dollar bills were in circulation. You could slip one of these coarse notes, as they were affectionately called, into the middle of your stack.

Once when I was twenty, I won about $1200 which would be like $12000 now, adjusted for inflation. I had a check for $900. I was at the bank at 9 a.m. before payment could be stopped. They gave me a $500 bill and four $100 bills. I practically ran out of the bank. My rent was $25 a month at the time.I had just won four years rent.

Keep your money tightly in rubber bands. Keep a few dollars outside to spend where you won't be pulling it out in public. When you leave a game, keep the wad of money in your hand. You can throw iit if you are hijacked.

All of you Internet players are going to be playing in live games and learning that God's good green cash money can be a hassle to carry and hide.