The Island Of South Philadelphia

I spent the majority of my nine years in Philly hanging out with guys like this, i.e. typical South Philadelphians.

In fact, the one in the white hat is the subject of a lengthy and interesting article:

In the shadows of the Italian Market, in a second-floor walk-up, the old gambler leans on the blackjack table, with an ever-present cigarette in one hand, and his bet in the other.

Under his trademark white Phillies cap, his jowly face is deadpan. John Palumbo is none too happy with those around him.

For one, blackjack isn't his game. "All you need is one idiot," he explains in a measured voice, to ensure that you and your money soon part.

Palumbo, 75, a lean man with gold jewelry, silver eyeglass frames, and street-gathered wisdom, prefers craps, a game he can control. He made his legend running back-room games in South Philadelphia, until Atlantic City casinos killed the action and "took all the money."

Palumbo went on to teach a generation of A.C. dealers on his dining room table. Then three years ago, with slots coming to Philadelphia, he opened the Casino Dealers Training Center with his sons, Jerome and John Jr., a former Atlantic City box man (who supervises craps tables) and floor boss. Palumbo's gut told him that table games weren't far behind. No one leaves money on the table.

In fact, I know this particular guy pretty well; never really liked him much. To say he had a reputation for cheating on the golf course would be to put it mildly. Shocker, right?

When I was in college I actually, briefly, sold football pools for this shady little gambling mogul. A couple of times when my customers won (e.g. correctly picking 4/4 or 5/5 games) I had trouble getting the money to pay them.

You see, I would turn in my pools and money to one of his sons....who would then NOT TURN them in to his father. In other words, his son was *gambling* that none of my customers would win and wanted the action for himself! So when I needed a payout I had to badger the thievin' middleman - who was stealing from his father - for the money. As you can imagine, I didn't work this job for very long.

BTW, that whiny nonsense about how *all you need is one idiot* to muck up a casino blackjack game is just what I said - nonsense.

When a blackjack player takes or doesn't take a hit that they probabilistically should...

They are just as likely to set up the dealer a bad card or for a good card. In other words, anyone who's ever blamed another player for their blackjack outcome....they are also a complete Moron!