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An Irishman in France
But every time I was in a casino doing that blackjack move and took steam, I knew that I'd just missed him. You know, the move was so good there was always enough to go around for everyone. Still is. I doubted that Henry knew we'd been doing it with chocolate chips. I had the urge to tell him but didn't.Is Joe still working?" he asked out of curiosity, not concerned about the competition. No. He packed it in five years ago. What about you? I don't do much of the pastposting anymore. I spend most of my time traveling the country playing poker. With all the online casinos sprouting up everywhere, you don't even have to cheat anymore. The suckers are on both sides of the Mississippi now, north and south of the Mason-Dixon line too. If I'm not playing cards, I'm either railing someone at a craps table or picking up stray bets. Did Joe ever show you the opportunities with sleepers? He spoke about it, but we never did it. I told Henry about the experiences I had railing with Joe. He burst out laughing when he heard that his brother had spent an entire weekend in bed with a rich woman from Texas he'd just finished railing. You should've seen her. She was a real looker to boot.
That's a real Classon for you, he commented. In all, I enjoyed my little sit-down with Henry Classon. I was even a bit saddened about his breakup with Joe, though, had it not occurred, I most likely never would have met a Classon. Before I left, Henry asked me if I was still in touch with Joe. I don't speak to him very often, but I did a few months ago.
He's living near your mother's old condo in Miami Beach. Can you do me a favor next time you do?" "Sure. Tell him that I'm sorry for having hit him that time in Puerto Rico.
I called Joe that night and told him Henry was sorry. From Atlantic City we flew north of the border to welcome the new Canadian casino in Montreal and Windsor. We beat the hell out of them but made less money because the Canadian dollar was worth only seventy cents and no extraordinary limits could make up the difference. Southward bound, we found the Midwest riverboats. Some tugged out, others stayed docked while you played on them. I was never much thrilled about working riverboats because of the obvious problems with escape. Even when docked, it was a long way from the boat down at the dock to the parking lot, usually up a hill-and there was always only one way on or off the boat, a narrow gangway in which we'd have no room to maneuver if we were being chased. Despite my concerns, Pat and Balls wanted to go aboard, and they overruled me two to one. The best riverboat at the time was the Empress, about an hour outside Chicago near Joliet. It was a "sailer" and presented all the usual riverboat problems. We arrived just as it was getting dark at about 8:30 P.M. We cased the Empress while she was stilI docked. We observed heavy action with a lot of purple and yellow chips in play. However, I was still leery about working it, but both Pat and Balls figured I was being too cautious. You can never be too cautious," I said to them at the entranceway to the boat, indicating the narrow gangway leading to the terminal above. "Even if we work her when she's docked, look what we're up against if we gotta escape. What the hell do we do if we take steam in the middle of the fucking river? Jump, Pat said. Be serious, will you! They got holding tanks on these shit heaps. If somebody rats us out or something, there's no way out. They stick you in the tank until the boat docks, then turn you over to the cops on land. If we stick with the blackjacks, it's pretty safe, Balls said.
