Chapter 4: Big Time Spender !

Now that we have established that I was playing Poker at a very young age and proud of my blood and background; we can now move forward as I grew into adulthood (notice that I did not say anything about maturity), marriage and my love of games; specifically poker.

Now a married lady; my husband and I would occasionally go off on a junket to Las Vegas. We were not big rollers then and certainly I am not now. In those days, the plane trip was pretty scary! Propellers - not, Jets! Seven hour plane rides. My knuckles were white from grabbing the arms of my seat for seven hours. One of the most amazing things back then was that people actually DRESSED UP in Vegas! Fashion? What's that? Now, Shorts, T-shirts, Sun Glasses are "all-in" !

Most of our friends enjoyed playing cards. We had one special couple that were as crazy as we were. One of my most favorite memories of those early married days was the day when we were given the address of a Casino in a South Suburb of Chicago. Of course, this was a VERY long time ago and the Casino (not a Riverboat) was absolutely illegal...just as they would be now. In order to get into the Casino; we were told that we needed to use the secret knock at the door and say that Vinny sent us. I swear this is a true story. We decided to live dangerously and take the trip from the City of Chicago to the decadent hide-away in the South Suburbs of Chicago. I cracked open my piggy bank and brought all of the bottles I could find back to the store to retrieve deposits (Ask about that). It seemed like it took hours to get there. We were excited and nervous at the same time. Money was burning a hole in my pocket!

Well, we had quite a surprise when we finally arrived at our destination.

Coming Soon - Chapter 5 - Knock, Knock - Vinny sent us!