End of an Era
Vegas landmark Horseshoe casino closed (Seattle Post-Intelligencer: AP)
Binion's was pretty darn important to the mythology of Las Vegas. It's a shame that they're being shut down because of unpaid employee benefits. It's where they played the World Series of Poker. No bet was ever turned away, the legend goes. Take
this famous story, for example:
In 1983, a man named Robert Bergstrom from Austin, Texas, called the Horseshoe's owner, Jack Binion, on the telephone. Bergstrom, who apparently possessed more money than sense, had recently lost $50,000 at the craps table. Thanks to a lucrative real-estate business, his plunge was not going to keep him awake at nights. In fact, Bergstrom was calling Binion to ask whether he could return soon and bet a "significant amount." Binion, adhering to his casino's policy of your first bet is your limit, no matter how high, naturally said yes.
And that was the last he heard of the mysterious Texan ... until three months later.
"The guy calls up," recalls Binion, "and says he's going to be here soon to make a very large bet. One night he shows up with two little suitcases, filled with exactly $777,000. And he says he wants to bet it all."
Binion approved the bet: $777,000 on the pass line.
"I think it was a little old lady who was shooting the dice at the time," Binion remembers. "She made a point of nine, rolled maybe one or two numbers, a six and an eight, I think. And then another nine." Bergstrom was a $777,000 winner.
He promptly collected his plunder, jumped into a beat-up old car and left. "I wanted to win that bet, sure," Binion says. "But we accept our losses. It's all part of the business. The losses definitely happen sometimes, especially when you're talking about a single bet, where we have very little edge. It's like flipping a coin. But, no, I didn't really mind losing that bet. Besides, I want to meet a guy who is capable of betting half a million or more on one roll."
Bergstrom, in fact, came back a few weeks later and bet $548,000 on the pass line. Again, an elderly woman shot the dice. Seconds later, this highest of rollers had 548 more $1,000 chips stacked before him. Shortly thereafter, Bergstrom made his final trip to the Horseshoe. "I'm going to double it or dump it," Binion recalls him saying, just before Bergstrom bet exactly $1 million on the pass line.
Once more, a geriatric lady shot the dice while an enormous audience vied to witness the results. Her first roll established the point--a nine again, a 3-to-2 underdog--and her second roll came up a "six-ace." A loser seven. Bergstrom was never seen again.
Guts. Balls. Taking it like a man. That was Binion's.
* Ray, 1/12/2004 02:09:11 PM
