Back in the day when I first started dealing, we used silver dollars at the tables. Not the kind the Government minted. No, it was the coins that the Government tried to shut down Las Vegas for counterfeiting.

Now, using silver dollars was all about winning the public over. Dollar coins (back then) were very popular but we couldn’t keep enough in the joints so that people could play. Mind you, silver coins were also used on the blackjack and craps tables, and they were even used in poker games so there was quite a demand for them.

After the smoke cleared, the Feds backed down and allowed casinos to mint their own coins based on a certain recipe of mixed metals. The name of the casino had to be stamped on the coin, and the dies had to be located somewhere on the casino premises for inspection at any time. (It’s kind of like owning a machine gun these days.)

Anyway, I won’t get into the numerous back injuries suffered by the crap dealers due to bending over while handling stacks of more than twenty coins for payoffs. Man, it was hell, and I’m still waiting for that class action lawsuit so I can jump on board.

Now in the poker room, there were always a slew of characters playing, but one particular character happened to be an employee. We called him "Cowboy Bob" because he wore cowboy boots and one of those bolo ties, which he had to have permission to wear from the upper-class casino bosses.

Cowboy Bob was one of the most proficient dealers in poker that I ever had the pleasure of watching. He was fast, funny, and just plain entertaining; however, as I later found out, he was as crooked as they come.

It all happened one night after Cowboy Bob missed his break because the players were...

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