I remember growing up, my dad loved Blackjack. Being on a disability pension, he would take bus trips to AC a few times a month. He could not wait for me to turn 21 to take me with him. He thought the idea of sharing a table with me was the best he could ask for.

He had me study basic strategy, then, we’d play a few hands. Finally, I reached legal age. He and my mom take me to Atlantic City. I took $100 and played $50 of it on Blackjack. I played for about three hours. You could almost see the glow of pride from him. As I lost that buy-in, he tells me something in line with I gave em hell for 3 hours on my very first trip.

On the way out the door, I said I wanted to try the slot machines. I cashed in $20.. Mind you, this was in the 90’s when they still used quarters. I would drop 3 quarters, pull the arm, drop 3 quarters, pull the arm. After a bit, I would see the the wheels stop, the machine would ring like it was ready to fall over. OMG, I JUST WON, only to hear the sound of ONE quarter drop into the tray. So, wait, I drop in 3 and get back 1? It didn’t take long to see why they were called one-arm bandits. I found the whole slot machine dog-and-pony show a bit patronizing. I decided that I would stick to the table games.

I had to say goodbye to my dad in 2001. Not a day goes by I don’t think of him and my mom. After my dad passed, I became the recipient of his ruby ring. I am the fourth generation to wear it. I don’t wear it at work, and I don’t always remember to put it on for trips to the tables. But i do my best and it’s my way of sharing time again at the tables.

He’d probably have gotten a kick out of Dom and GTC. Anything to put it to the house.

Love the story Wirenut. He sounds like someone that I would get along with right from the get go!

Dom

Rose and Doc had a surprising great father’s day weekend. In addition to the cards from our two daughters we had a very special event.

A little background. I lost my dad when I was only 11 years old–massive heart attack. The grandkids (8) never knew their grandfather. I lost my sister to cancer in January. While recently visiting her husband he showed me a small box and said that my sister had written a note and wanted our nephew to have our grandfather’s watch and did not know when he would be able to get it to him. We responded that we would take care of it. We arranged to have dinner Saturday night with the nephew and his wife and presented him with the watch. To say he was overwhelmed would be an understatement. He had never met his grandfather. it was such a pleasure to to see the look on his face. It also made me think about my own dad who I had not really thought about in many years. The watch is a "Lord Elgin" brand watch and as best I remember an excellent brand for it’s time—probably purchased prior to World War II. It is the kind you have to wind up—no battery or other fancy features you have in today’s market. But it is a priceless heirloom for our family.

A very special father’s day. Dom, thanks for this thread and letting us share.

Rose and Doc

Like doc my time with my father was short lived, he died when I was 10 of a heart attack. We owned a small pet shop and there was a diner across the street and my dad would give me an envelope to drop off at the diner from time to time, the owner of the diner was a bookie and my dad was a regular customer of his, maybe that is where my love of playing comes from.

My son also had a love for playing, we would go on cruises and at the age of 12 he would sneak into the casino and play a slot machine and take the winnings and run out, his request for his 18th birthday was to go to the local Indian casino so we could play Texas hold’em together, he was an avid hold’em player. He was killed in a car accident just shy of his 20th birthday so fathers day is a little bitter sweet for me. I know if he was still alive he would have loved GTC and we would have shared many craps tables together.

I am glad that we can bring back some memories that we haven’t thought of in awhile. God bless you son Brywood.

Dom

My Dad loved the horses. I could never understand the term handicap growing up. In the beginning I was actually looking for disabled horses racing in wheelchairs. Sometimes he would win lots of money but I remembered how he would mark-up his program like a pro and smoked these cheap cigars "Antonio & Cleopatra Cigars". He would put a buck on a show bet for my favorite horse so I would feel I had some skin in the game. He use to take me to tracks like Belmont, Aqueduct, Meadow-lands, Yonkers Raceway etc… and although he was a great 7 card stud player and hosted card games out of the garage with our neighbors in Canarsie Brooklyn on weekends, he would never play poker at the Casino, instead he and my mom would pull the one arm bandit, "WTF!!!" I would yell at him that there is no skill in that why don’t you play cards? He would never give me a straight answer. His dream was to always retire in Florida and talked about it all the time for years. Then when he reached 64 he and my mom moved to Florida and he lived his dream for only one year, he sadly and quickly died of cardiac arrest at 65. I still meet up with my mom in AC, she still pulls those one arm bandits but I think she just wants to relive the fond memories of going to the casino with my Dad. I don’t play slots, poker or even attempt to handicap horses but I know my dad would be proud of me for finding my own game, one that would give me an advantage one that I enjoy as much as he enjoyed handicapping his horses. RIP Dad and put a show bet on "Monster Roll" in the 6th for me.

-Mr Pip

I got to tell you all that these stories make me smile and then obviously make me sad at the end. Each one hits my heart and brings back more memories.

Thank you all for this!

Dom