Surviving the Mob - Dennis Griffin [28]
The mob tolerated nothing that might upset the financial apple cart. One good example was that New York wise guys who left Las Vegas without settling up their gambling debts had to answer directly to Genovese boss Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno himself. Because of that, the Vegas casinos rarely got stiffed on New York markers.
Of course, connected gamblers weren’t without certain perks. Andrew remembers the tale of a Lucchese associate who arranged credit for Mob-connected visitors.
“A visitor approached the Lucchese guy, identified himself, and asked for a credit line of, say twenty Gs. The Lucchese guy took the visitor to the cage, which verified he was who he said he was and was good for the money. If everything checked out okay, a marker was approved.
“If the player lost the twenty grand, he got together with the Lucchese guy to settle up. At that time, he was offered a special deal: fifty percent off his debt to settle up in cash before he left. It was an offer that couldn’t be refused. They went back to the cage, where the borrower paid the ten grand, which was split between the fixer and his cashier confederate. Then the marker was ripped up and it was as if it never existed. Everybody was happy—except for the casino, which didn’t see a dime.”
With the corporate takeover of the Las Vegas casinos, combined with technological advancements, the days of organized-crime skimming from the count rooms and cashier cages are gone. However, clever crooks can still take advantage of the casinos. It involves the new extension of the gambling industry: offshore betting.
The reliability of telephonic communications and computer technology has made it possible for gaming entrepreneurs to open businesses in places such as Costa Rica with minimal overhead expenses. Initially, these cyber-book-makers and their customers escaped the tax burdens and other laws associated with gambling on United States soil. However, the U.S. government is now aggressively pursuing them and attempting to close the loopholes—legal and otherwise—that make offshore betting so appealing.
In addition to tax breaks, other features of online wagering appeal to some gamblers. The offshores offer the convenience of doing business on the Internet or by an 800 phone number. Money doesn’t have to be tendered (though it may have already been “posted up” and be on account) when the bet is placed. And most of these businesses offer their customers various financial incentives, usually in the form of sign-up bonuses. For example, a customer who funds an account with $1,000 might get an extra $200, for a total of $1,200.
If you walk into any major Las Vegas casino today, look around the sports book for a guy with a laptop computer (patrons are allowed to bring computers into the casino) and wearing a Bluetooth headset. He may very well be a cyber-bookie. He has customers meet him in the casino’s own betting parlor to take their action. He can service his customers while monitoring the latest line changes. He can even enjoy some free casino beverages if he’s so inclined.
Sports betting is legal in Vegas, so why wouldn’t the gambler just go to the window in the casino’s sports book to make his bet? Because he’d have to come up with the money to make the wager.
Like the Gambino-run books, the cyber-bookies’ betting cycle lasts a week. At the end of the cycle, the bettor can settle his account online through the use of a credit card or meet personally with his local “agent” to balance the books.
Running an offshore betting business was so lucrative that it appealed greatly to Nick Corozzo and he opened one himself. However, it was a decision that contributed to his eventual downfall.
9
1987
In the early part of 1987, Andrew was presented with the chance to move to a larger horse parlor located on Stillwell Avenue in Bensonhurst. It was an