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Jul 2, 2026
A Numbers Game | July 2, 2026 | Hour 3
A Numbers Game | July 2, 2026 | Hour 3
00:00
46:08
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Transcript
0:00
[upbeat rock music] The numbers told the story, they always do. He's one of those idiots who believe in analytics. This is a Numbers Game with Gil Alexander on VSiN.
0:10
Hour number three of a Numbers Game at VSiN, the e-sports betting network, vsin.com, GamePlus, iHeartRadio, YouTube TV, and of course, SiriusXM channel 158. It's Gil Alexander. Crack standing by for the Crack Hour.
0:23
Kelly in studio as well. First though, some tweets before we get to everybody. Uh, Ryan Hyatt, "Time to get out a pen and some paper. School is in session," with Crack here in moments.
0:33
Um, Chris Heath, the ticket writer at Cal-Neva, William Hill, told me this morning in Reno that some guy from Texas bought Caesars [laughs] and it's only gonna get worse. Talking about Fertitta here.
0:44
[laughs] Her take, quote, "They should have asked a bunch of ticket writers how to run a sportsbook before owning one," unquote. So there you go. There's a, uh, lady on the scene take from, uh, Reno.
0:55
Uh, Johnny Brock, this is really, this is really nice, Johnny. He said, "I've been wanting to say I spend my days alone running my tree stump grinding company, which gets lonely.
1:05
Having you all to listen to, uh, is such a positive mental boost for me as I almost consider you coworkers. Thank you from the bottom of my heart." Thank you, Johnny. That's such a nice tweet. We really appreciate that.
1:16
And by the way, uh, my buddy Chris Bruno, who, uh, excuse me, yeah, who, uh, is, uh, over there in Nassau, Nas- Nassau Co- County in New Jersey. Mm-hmm. That was t- tough to say. Yeah. Nassau County in New Jersey.
1:28
He was at the county clerk's office yesterday getting a permit for something, and he said he had a Numbers Game on as he walked in to, uh, the county clerk's office, and as he was in there, he kept hearing us on the Numbers Game, and he's like, "Oh my God, I gotta turn this off."
1:44
Uh, and then he realized he didn't have it on, and so he walked across, he was listening to the sound.
1:49
He walked toward the sound across the county clerk's office, and it was a gentleman who was working there, and he said, "Do you, are you listening to a Numbers Game?" [laughs] He goes, "I don't miss it every single day."
1:59
Um, and the guy was so, was super sweet. I wish I knew your name, sir. Thank you so much. He said his favorite part of the show is reading the tweets- Wow. There you go... which I was, uh, thrilled to hear about.
2:10
He loves to hear people chiming in on the show. That's awesome. Uh, and then Del- And, and J- Johnny Brock, thank you for the tweet.
2:15
If, if it makes you feel any better, like, there's a bunch of jobs, Gil, I wish I could do for, like, one day. You know what I mean? Yeah. I would love to join, join Johnny Brock for one day.
2:24
I don't know what, what tree stump grinding company does, but that sounds like bunch- [laughs] Throw a bunch of tree stumps into a wood chipper. Let's, uh, yeah, that sounds like some fun for a day.
2:33
See, see what they do, Kelly, is they take the tree stump and then they grind it- Ah, gotcha... I think is the job. I think that's what they do. Yeah, I think that's what that is. And then you have mulch.
2:41
And fin- [laughs] And then finally, Del Mind The Gap Radio, "How about all the regular tweeters getting together at Circa for a betting seminar with Bill Krackomberger? That would be awesome."
2:53
Well, I cannot promise you that, but I can promise you unscripted with the Crack man, Bill Krackomberger. Let's go. [upbeat music] Oh, yeah.
3:02
[sings] Billy. How cool is that? What's happening? Yeah.
3:14
I, I, and to be honest with you, I, I never, um, well I guess, uh, worked out there in the tree stumping business, but now I wanna do it. [laughs] See, we could do that for a day, Bill. [laughs] Yeah. I wanna try it.
3:25
Yeah. Yeah. I'd last about a minute. [laughs] Crack, you're like, "I'm out." Kelly, I think Kelly would give us a good couple hours. Kelly would be out there for the, for the grind. Yeah, a couple hours.
3:35
No pun in- Then I'd be out too... no pun intended. Yeah. So, um- Billy, what, what's happening, man? Gil, I, I see, um, what, your background there. Oy vey. Where, where are you? How much money do you have? Ooh.
3:45
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. That's pretty nice. [laughs] Wow. No, that's beautiful. Uh, this is, this is, uh, San Francisco, California, sir. Yeah.
3:53
I- Uh, I always, I always say the smartest thing I ever did was get, was get an apartment here. Smartest thing I ever did in life. Good, good, good deal. Good deal. So Kelly says- Yeah...
4:01
uh, "As soon as your, that's your camera and your, when the red light'll come on, and that's when you, when you'll be on."
4:08
A lot of guys that l- follow the show, a lot of people who follow the show of course know The Honeymooners, and I think about the Honeymooners.
4:14
As soon as you said the red light's on, I remember Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners doing a commercial, uh, that, that, that him and Ed saved all their money for, scammed and schemed to get money to do a commercial, and they're all pumped up.
4:25
They're gonna go on live TV selling this, uh, household gadget, handy utensil, and he says, "As soon as the right li- the red light's on, you're on." And then- [laughs]...
4:34
of course the red light comes on, and Ralph totally freezes. [laughs] And that's when I've seen the red light [laughs] I've never seen these r- are these red lights on every week?
4:41
[laughs] No, it's a, it's, it's a fair question, Bill, because [laughs] no, they're not, okay? Oh. Most of the time they are, though. Okay. Most of the time. But seeing the red light made me think of Ralph Kramden.
4:51
He just froze, and Ed was trying to, Ed Norton trying to do a com- the commercial by himself, and he just said, "How man- how man- how man- how man," and you know.
4:58
And I'd just seen that red light, and it just made me, um, think of that. But, um, so guys, World Series of Poker this week is, uh, the main event starts this weekend.
5:07
So John and I have been doing our podcast from the World Series. They gave us an unbelievable studio background and really cool, uh, they, they, they did some great, great work for us.
5:17
So now yesterday I had a, we had a, we did, literally did three different shows, which I nor- normally just do my one hour. So I think we did two 40-minute shows and then a hour show.
5:29
The first show was with Jamie Gold, who was the World Series of Poker champion 20 years ago. Yeah. Um, Jeff Naidu came in for the next hour, and then Alan Boston. So I had three different people do three different shows.
5:41
Let me tell you, they're unique, uh, great shows. Let me tell you, that Jamie Gold show that I did, I never met him, and I didn't even know he knew me.
5:50
Like I, I mean, he, he, as soon as I came on, he talked about things about, like, me from the, from the last dec- He, he, he wa- He followed a lot of my things years a- for years, and I didn't know he was a sports bettor.
6:01
So- I got to meet Jamie Gold, I got to talk to him about different things. He was so revealing, and he is so, um, he- he's one of those, those people that take a lot of heat. Mm-hmm.
6:12
Because there was a, a, a controversy back when he won the World Series of Poker. I think he won $12 million.
6:19
He was supposed to give 6 million of that, supposedly, to a backer, and there was some kind of a lawsuit, this and that, and, uh, he talked about that.
6:29
He talked about not owing money to anyone, how he now, you know, the, anything is, uh... He, he said that people said he cheated. He said, "The WSOP has been my sponsor for file after the fir- five years.
6:43
If I cheated, do you think they're gonna have me be my sponsor?" Like, he-- It's a great interview. It'll be out by the weekend. Then you had Jeff Naidu, who I really like that mafia genre space.
6:56
When I was younger, I always watched the A&E Network. They had these, uh, Bill Curtis mafia documentaries, which I thought he was a great voice for mob stuff. That was the only one, o- only choice you had.
7:08
Then YouTube came about, and you had some of these people that talked in, in the, in the mob space. And, um, also Jeff does a great job in the sports betting scandal space. Yes. He knows more things- Mm-hmm, yeah...
7:21
like he know-- Uh, he was on the show here with us. Yes, he was. He is more in depth and, uh, so I had him on yesterday. Um, and, uh, I, I, I just thought there were just some unique shows.
7:32
They'll all be up, and Alan Boston Q&A, they'll all be up by, by, by the weekend. But Jeff is getting out of the, of the mob space, and I kinda wondered why.
7:42
He's got a, you know, hundreds of thousands of, of subscribers, gets lots of views, makes, makes good money. Um, and he just said, "I'm quitting the show." And he's going back to Barstool, and he's having a show.
7:54
You know, he, he worked with Portnoy at Barstool. Portnoy, I guess, hired him back to do another show. Oh, I see. But he could've kept both, but he chose not to. He feels he's, he has done his job there.
8:04
Some of the greatest shows because he's not one of the...
8:08
There's a lot of people that are in the space that talk things, um, Michael Franzese, um, Sammy the Bull, Sammy J- Sammy the Bull, uh, Gravano, Mikey Scars, Jimmy Calandra, m- um, you can go on and on and on, Dominic Ciaccia.
8:23
You can-- One thing those guys have in common that Jeff does not have, they're all mafia rats. They ratted out their own family members. They ratted out their friends. They rat- they're all rats.
8:36
So, and they go on to, uh, they're doing tours. You got J- you know, they do, they do seminars and, um, Michael Franzese, he makes 20 million a year. I mean, [laughs] just talking about, you know, things about the mob.
8:51
Now, granted, I personally like, like Sammy the Bull did these, uh, thing called Our Thing. I think it was eight episodes, and it talked about his life in the mob, making and growing.
9:03
It was a documentary that he did, a verbal documentary. I thought it was fantastic. It was really good. I learned things I could never, ever learn, uh, never, we, we would never know about the mob.
9:13
But you don't wanna forget who these guys are because, uh, like, that's, this guy in Florida, Dominic Ciaccia, I think his name is, I've watched a couple of his things. Um, he, uh, you know, he's a killer.
9:27
These guys are killers. Sammy the Bull's a killer. Dominic Ciaccia, stone cold killer. John Alite, stone cold killer. These guys are all also the mafia rats, but they kind of don't like Jeff.
9:39
They go back and forth with Jeff Naidu, some of these guys, and, you know, uh, you could see it in their eyes. You could see the black in their eyes. You know, they're the only one with just stone cold, black eyes.
9:50
I don't know. Jeff just said he got out of the space, but like Jeff said, he can't walk around the San Gennaro Feast in New York anymore. He said someone will s- probably say something to him and could be- Wow...
10:00
it could be worse. Now, the Borgata in Atlantic City, he has been told some things down in, in Borgata in Atlantic City when he was playing poker.
10:09
Not so much Las Vegas, 'cause I said, "Jeff, we got to sit with our backs to the wall here? I mean, you know, I don't know who's coming in here." [laughs] You know?
10:15
He said not, not so much here, but okay, he, he's talking about, you know... Think about the people that are threatening him, uh, you know, or, or, or subtle threats.
10:25
Uh, they're, they're, they're mafia guys who have killed many people, even though they have a nice little social media space now. You can't help be who you are. You're still that killer.
10:35
Sammy the Bull a- admitted to killing 19 people. I mean, y- if you're killing that many people, you, you don't have no fear of things at all, so even though you're out of jail now and everything.
10:45
So, um, I thought it was really cool that, um, that, that he, he was very open. That was a great show. I think it's one of my- Wow...
10:53
one of my best shows I ever did, I think was yesterday with, um, with, with Jeff, and I let him talk 90% of the time. 'Cause you can always hear me.
11:03
You gotta let-- When you have a guest in, never-- One thing you don't wanna do, you don't wanna let the gue- guest talk. You gotta let him talk. He's the reason why you're- Yeah.
11:12
So I let him talk, and he talked about a whole plethora of things, Portnoy and, and Barstool and diff- and, uh, the World Series and, um, really cool.
11:22
Well, good for you, Bill, 'cause that, that's exactly how you should handle that. And, and I will sort of echo what you were saying earlier.
11:27
When Jeff was on with you and I on A Numbers Game, he was spectacular, talking about the NBA betting scandal.
11:34
Um, it was great, and so whatever the other stuff is going on, maybe he just needs to, uh, move along for his own peace. But I always, uh, will appreciate his appearance on our show with us.
11:45
Uh, by the way, the name of that podcast, Wisecracks with Bill and John Orlando. Check it out. More with Crack on the other side. You're here because you want an edge. That's what separates listeners from winners.
11:56
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12:07
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13:12
[upbeat rock music] A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network.
13:26
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13:39
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13:52
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14:05
The professor, Bill Krackenberger, has entered the building. Uh, DP, Vegas DP, he loves, uh, what I was saying earlier about that story. Uh, the gentleman's favorite part of the show, reading tweets.
14:15
He says, "Reading tweets, three thumbs up." Uh, Gills Guys, "Billy and Gilley, always a fantastic combo. Let's go." And then Johnny Brock, gentleman, has given us a, uh- Oh, sweet... sped-up video
14:26
of what stump grinding looks like. He says he does it with a remote control. You all could absolutely handle it. Oh, it's with a remote control. Oh, cool. We're not actually in there. Remote control. Yeah. Jesus.
14:37
Oh my God. Yeah, a remote control tractor. Look at that. That's badass. That's unbelievable. I could do that for a couple hours. Cracks said- Oh, I could do that for days. That's easy. Press a button...
14:44
Crack could do that for, uh, forever. He's good. Uh, Tony Hernandez, "Crack, love the Honeymooners reference.
14:51
If Kelly was actually working at the stump grinders business, I could hear the boss after a short while yelling, 'To the moon, Kelly!'" [laughs] Love it. "Thursdays are the greatest. Keep up the great work, fellas."
15:01
Thank you, Tony.
15:02
And then Montreal Max, Gil saying he's, uh, shit out in California and offshore, didn't have a, uh, Fritz prop, reminded me when Davey K recruited me to leave offshore to work with the Koshers, and he said, "We can get any number you like made."
15:14
Um, me say that Crack would also have that ability for Gil's bets. Well, Crack has made bets for me before. Fez has made bets for me before.
15:22
But for any of us, there is this point where we don't wanna bother other people also with it as well. So there's that that gets- Yeah...
15:29
a little bit, uh, into it, but we know we have our buddies that could do it for us, for sure. Uh, and then King, [laughs] King of our Jacko says, "I wanna be Kelly Bidlin for just one day."
15:38
I'm not sure what he means by that, Kel- Kelly, but, yeah, he wants to be you for a day. I got, I got the greatest job on the planet.
15:43
I- I- you know, of course I wanna do, uh, go hang out with Johnny Brock for a couple hours, but otherwise, I got the greatest job. He just wants my job. [laughs] It's okay, RJ, you can do that. Yeah. Uh, yeah.
15:52
He like, well, I don't know, maybe he just loves your personality. Maybe he loves your, your verve, your joie de vivre. Ooh. Uh, Crack is with us, of course, Bill Krackenberger, @BillKrackman with a K on Twitter.
16:01
Name of the, uh, podcast that he was referring to is Wisecracks, which he does with John Orlando. I noticed, Billy, uh, you, uh, you were talking more about, uh, Jamie Gold and, uh, obviously Jeff Naidu.
16:13
Uh, Alan Boston went well too. Did you say hello to Alan from me? Yes. Did you do that? No? Yes. Oh, yeah. [laughs] Of course. That's so strange. Sure. Um, he, he, uh- Yeah...
16:21
and we did an hour show with him also, uh, talking about his World Series of Poker, uh, exploits and some tennis stuff. But, um, yeah, he, he was just- What's he doing in tennis? What's his story? Uh, I don't know.
16:34
I, I think he- Yeah... he's just betting and, and, and, uh, you know, I think, I think his tennis betting's just a social thing, though. Uh, the, the- Hmm...
16:41
he's not like, not like college basketball, where he's actually a, a positive EV bettor. Uh, but he, he loves tennis, loves to watch it, and, uh, and loves to bet on it.
16:51
So he talked about s- uh, some of his exploits there. He gave out like a 30 to 1, 35 to 1 shot he gave out, so a little long shot that he thought w- had some value. Um- Do you remember who that was? Do you remember who?
17:01
No? No. No, I, I don't. No? Okay. All right. Boy, that, that really sounds good. Alan Boston gave out a bet. [laughs] Do you know what it was? No, I don't know. 30 to 1. That's what I asked. Yeah, I don't care. You know?
17:11
No. Figured the right question to ask at that moment, yeah. But going back to Montreal Max, boy, he is a guy that I wish we could do some shows with.
17:19
If you like the history of, uh, sports betting and sports and, uh, just him mentioning a Davey K reference and the Koshers and all, all these guys, um, it, it, it really is, uh, a throwback, and there's not a lot of them.
17:33
And you know, a lot of these stories, I, I was with Albert at Dom DeMarco's, uh, for an hour the other day. Albert's 82, I believe he's 82 years old, owns Dom DeMarco's here in town.
17:44
I put a video up of this new pizza he made, which is not on the menu, by the way. I get, and here's a, a free, uh, shameless plug. I said, "Listen, you have to put this on the menu."
17:53
He's like, "I think we're gonna put it on the end of the month."
17:55
I mean, just a really good, um, like a tom- more of a tomato, a thick, like, tomato, almost like a L&B Spumoni Gardens thick kind of p- uh, pi- Sicilian square pizza.
18:05
Anyway, but Albert too, I said, "Albert, the stories you just told me about, you know, Pennsylvania, northeastern Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, um, oh my God, they are so good." I said, "You have to get these on paper.
18:21
You can't let these die with you." Yeah. I'll say the same thing about Max. And Al- and Albert says to me, "Billy, I got a business to run. These people all have kids and families.
18:30
I, I don't wanna ever repeat them then publicly." Oh my God, I said, "Albert, you'll be more, you'll be busier, you know, than, than you are now.
18:39
You'll be busier th- b- than ever if you just told some of these stories about when you were a kid growing up with your father and, um, your dad's friends and, you know, Russell Bufalino.
18:50
If you guys watch the, um, the, uh, Irishman you'll, you'll know some more- Mm-hmm... of what I'm talking about. But I, I, just, just unbelievable, great stories and I just... The same thing with Max.
19:00
You guys have gotta tell these stories because that's what happens. They go away and it's all over. A- and then no one even knows these things. But, um, so I thought that was, um, interesting that Max said that.
19:09
Another one of his great stories. So going back to these, these, these interviews yesterday. I do the interview with Jamie Gold and it's me, John Roandel, Jamie Gold.
19:19
John says, "Hey, we got a guest that wants to come in. He, he really doesn't wanna come on air. I made him come on air." This guy comes in and takes two $5,000 packs. A guy from Alaba- Alabama, nicer man, very nice man.
19:33
Comes in and says, "Crack, I want you to play the main event." That's a $10,000 buy-in, and throws two [laughs] $5,000 packs on the table. And I'm looking at him, I'm like, "Is this real?"
19:44
I said, I, I actually tried to talk him out of this- Mm... because, you know, I, I'm older now. I played the main event 20 years ago one time. I, I think I played w- just, just once. And I actually came in 177th.
19:56
I, it might've been when Jamie Gold- Damn... won it. Or am I... I, I, I think it was more when G- Greg Raymer won it. I, I, I believe that's what it was. But, um, there was like 6,000 people, 5,600 people or something.
20:09
And so anyway, I, I was like, "Listen, uh, now here we are 20 years later. I don't play poker tournaments anymore." Um, and, and I, I played last year. I played in the, uh, the f- 50 and older tournament. I, I played and
20:25
actually cashed. I'm, I'm a nit. I'm a nit. I'm a grinder. I'm not a guy that goes in there. I, I'm not gonna have giant ch- Mm-hmm. I'm a, I'm a, I'm a nit. I, I just am. So I couldn't believe this guy.
20:36
He's like, "No, no, no. I got... Don't worry about it. I have some big businesses and this and that." He goes, "I want you to play." He goes, "I love your show." But here's the thing, Gil. Guess what? He watches us.
20:48
He's like, "I love your shows with Gil." He says, um, "But the reason why more than anything is there's no one in the space that I feel has a more responsible gambling platform than you.
21:00
You constantly talk about the pitfalls and the things about kids and stuff, my grandkids. I, I want them to hear you." So, um, he wants me to give- Yeah... you, Gil, you got a, a, a, a half of 1% free roll. So- Oh.
21:16
[laughs] Let's go. Yeah. Let's go, ba- So yeah- [laughs] You got a, you got a half of 1%. Half of 1%, baby. I'm in. Half of 1% free roll. Um, he said, "No, I watch you with Gil all the time." So, um- Mm... there you go.
21:29
You're, you got, you got action- And they say that never be in the World Series... you got action over there- Yeah... in, uh, San Francisco. Um- [laughs] There you go. Let's go. Yeah. Pretty- So you're, so you're in?
21:37
You're playing? I'm gonna play. Uh, y- you know, Jamie was... I said, "Jamie, what, what, what do you recommend here? Like, what's the best day to play? You could play today, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday."
21:47
Uh, any day. He was saying to play with the Europeans, uh, because probably better off playing on the weekend. July 4th weekend when people are with their families- Mm... Americans. Play with the Europeans.
21:58
He said they're much more aggressive, and if you're a little bit tighter like you're saying you're nitty, it's possible that
22:05
you play a better game that when someone's trying to bluff, these Europeans are very aggressive, that you, when you have a hand and come over the top of them, they're gonna fold. So I'll probably be out real fast. Mm.
22:15
But, um, no, I, I hope not to be. Um, it's just, it's, it's tough to, to, to... I, I have things d- I have things going on. I'm like, I, I wasn't prepared for this.
22:25
And Sunday I'm, I'm up 6:00 in the morning for my, I'm up at 5:00 in the morning actually for my Fox Sports Radio show. So it's hard to think, uh, you know, you have to be so much mental and physical- Yes...
22:35
conditioning. Yeah, mentally prepared. You're talking about 15 hours a day I, I think. Maybe someone can correct me. I'm guessing it's 15 hours a day. I know it's at least 12.
22:44
And, um- Well, that's, that's where that, where you, you know, you mentioned this a couple weeks ago and you've, you mentioned it casually here again. I honestly did not know, 'cause I'm not, like, wrapped up in poker.
22:54
I didn't know there was a 50 and over, right? Like, I never knew that they parsed it out on age. And it makes all the sense in the world based on what you're just talking about, right?
23:02
If it's a 15-hour grind, some old, you know, g- some old cocker can't go up against some 25-year-old. Mm-hmm. Makes sense. And there's a 60 and over, too. It's, I think it's called the Super Seniors.
23:13
Uh, I'm not old enough for that yet, but still, I think there's a 60 and older and it's called Super Seniors. At least you're playing against people your age or older.
23:21
You know, there, there, there was people that were 90 s- I think the oldest person last year when I played was, like, 96 that he was playing in the tournament. It was just so cool.
23:30
But, um, the World Series really did a unbelievable job over there this year. Um, and it's funny, I see this Burrow pay with the crypto. You can actually sign up on the World Series of Poker app. I didn't know this.
23:42
You could pay with crypto with no fees. Wow. Now I just have to find some crypto. Yeah. Right? [laughs] Yeah. Same here, Bill. [laughs] Yeah. Part one, locate crypto. Yeah. Um, I can hear my dad now.
23:55
"Jesus Christ, now you're in the World Series of Poker?" [laughs] Um, I look forward to it. Thanks for including me. Awesome. Thanks to, uh, thank you to that gentleman as well.
24:04
Uh, more with Bill Krackenberger unscripted exclusively right here on The Numbers Game at Feas and the Sports Betting Network. Coming back.
24:19
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24:56
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25:13
Uh, we get tweets, beauty of the book. NoEmuDoug @ElderlyGambler, "I love listening to Crack. He's that uncle that I never had." Um, MoneyCapperletti, "You guys are gonna get me in trouble. I keep saying fakakta.
25:27
My wife is gonna think I got a gumad." [laughs] That's a what, Italian American for mistress? Is that what that means, gumad? Uh, Jack- That's a, that's a mistress, yeah. Yeah. That's your girl- that's your side piece.
25:38
Yeah, Jack Olaquire. Thank you, Billy, for putting it in modern-day terms. Oh. Side piece, I like that. All right. Jack Olaquire, "Crack, my brother Jimmy's in town and he's going to play in the World Series of Poker.
25:48
We're 100% Polish," so that's European, he says. "He'd love to play at a table with you." Now, that would be fun to watch. I might even have to fly in town to see that. How cool. So there you go, Billy. How cool. Yeah.
25:58
You know, Pol- Polish and Hungarian are very close together, though. Every time I meet someone from Poland, we talk about, I talk about my grand- my grandfather from Hungary, and, uh, the foods are just almost all alike.
26:10
Uh, it's, it's just a really, uh, great parallel of the, of both countries. A lot of those count- European countries, though, um, and, and, and make some of the foods that you would never be...
26:19
Now, in 2026, you'd say you can't eat something like that. You can die. You know, like, it's so bad.
26:25
[laughs] But back then it was peasant food and, you know, like greasy bread, which was a piece of fat back basically on a spigot over a, a barbecue grill, and it has to be a coal. These, these...
26:36
Do you remember the black coals you put on the grill? Mm-hmm. And you... Kingsford Charcoal. Charcoal, that's the word- Yes... I'm looking for. And you, um,
26:44
you take garlic, uh, you take rye bread and you put paprika, onions cut up real fine, and now you drip the fat back grease all over the bread. Ugh. And then you cut off some of the crispy parts- [laughs]...
26:56
and that, and you fight over the crispy part. I mean, like, that's just, all, all these old recipes and things and so that's just something when I, I- I'm so hungry...
27:03
heard Poland there, um, that's the first thing I thought. Hey, hey, hey, guys, both of you guys, I gotta tell you. So do you happen to know Alan Kessler's name? The name Alan Kessler, Chainsaw? Yeah, w- uh, yeah. Yeah.
27:15
Okay, so I've known Alan before poker was even a thing 30 years ago. I met him in Atlantic City in the mid-'90s. Probably nobody I know sharper than... I, I shouldn't say nobody. It's just nobody I know, anyway.
27:29
There, there might be sharper people out there now, but nobody I know sharper on machine promotions, different slot things, casino advantages. Very, very sharp guy. Matter of fact,
27:39
last year he actually won 1.2 million on a slot machine last year and, um, and needless to say, Alan actually, it's not gonna change his life at all.
27:50
[laughs] So, um, he was already very, very, very wealthy, um, from things in his life and his, his sister is, is, I don't know, she might be on the Forbes list now. Seriously, I mean, he's, he's very, very, very...
28:01
He, he's wealthy, but you wouldn't know it. Here's the perfect example.
28:05
Uh, Alan, a- and he's very helpful, friendly to people, but, uh, he's a, a, a massive complainer according to, like, Daniel Negreanu, who I've had on my show. Daniel says, had did a segment with him or maybe even a show.
28:18
People can maybe s- say in the comments, "What's wrong today, Alan?" Like every day. [laughs] Cash in tickets is what it's all about. Cash in tickets is what it's all about. You gotta be positive, man.
28:31
Go in there with a good attitude. Like- Oh, no. Yeah, no... it, it's just, oh, you got to. You got to. So Alan Kessler, he puts a, he puts tweets up sometimes. I'll text him, I'll say, "Alan, you, you can't do that.
28:43
You gotta be careful, man." Like he'll say he landed at Las Vegas Airport, "If anyone wants to give me a ride over to the World Series, I'll buy you breakfast." Oh. Oh, no.
28:54
[laughs] And I'll say, "Alan," I'll, I, I, I text him in the past. He goes, "No, it's, it's okay, Crack. I have a lot of fans." I say, "Alan, Alan, you're gonna get kidnapped.
29:02
You're gonna get thrown in a trunk and taken way out 100 yards down the road." Like, I try to tell him these things sometimes and- Yeah... he kind of, but he really does this stuff. Yeah. "I have $100 comp over at the M.
29:14
If anyone wants to come over, I'm only gonna eat about $40." No, these, these are the tweets. He's dead serious, too. Right. He doesn't realize the, what, ramifications, is that the right word? Like what can happen.
29:24
Yeah. Yeah. I'm not, listen, I'm not trying to say we're in the... There's cameras everywhere in the casinos. I'm not... All I'm saying is you, you just gotta be care- I, I, I'm looking to have less friends.
29:33
This guy's looking to get more or, or any, you know? And, um, I'm being a little- Alan, by the way, Bill, Alan ranked 10th in all-time total cashes with 363 tournament cashes as recorded in the Global Poker Index.
29:48
Um, those include 69 World Series of Poker cashes, 12 World Series of Poker Europe cashes, and 91 World Series of Poker circuit cashes, including three rings and nine cashes in the 2010 World Series of Poker itself, the most cashes of any player at that particular World Series.
30:04
I did not know any of this. No. I, I, I know he's a, he's a- He's big time, man... he's a grinding poker player. Mm-hmm. I didn't know...
30:10
I, I know machines and promotions was his thing, but I didn't realize that poker was such a...
30:16
But I know he has made some good, some money in some tournaments and stuff and, you know, Alan's a guy who's had a lot of guy, people around him ask him for money.
30:22
He helps people and, uh, I, I actually tried to help him a little bit with that in the past too, about, that was about 20 years ago in Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. I was telling him about that. And, um-
30:33
So now he tweets something, uh, last week. I, I... He said, "Well, here's my latest predicament." Oh, no. "My car is 20 years old," and almost 20.
30:44
I think it was 18 years old, "And I, the mechanic said I have to put $1,200 into it. I just don't know what's the long-term EV here." [laughs] "Put the 1,200 in and keep the car going with 100,000..."
30:57
No, Alan, Alan, go out and get a car. Go out and get a, a, a $28,000 Kia or so- Alan, of course it, it, it, I, I almost wanna take him and just shake him. [laughs] Like, Alan.
31:09
But, you know, I have, like, three friends- Is this where-... who, who- Is this where I should tell you that his career earnings are $3.87 million? This seems like a good point- Yeah, no... to say that. I, I- Yeah...
31:19
I have friends, though, that are multimillionaires.
31:21
I have some people, I have a, a neighbor that, that, that can buy and sell me many times over, and he counts down the days to his birthday because they give out, like, a free donut, a pink donut. I, I don't know.
31:35
[laughs] Like, "No, no," he says to me, "Bill, when's your birthday?" I said, "Well, I really don't want to... I, I, I don't..." He goes, "No, no, because I wanna show you some things." Like, I, I, I want...
31:43
I know I'm exaggerating here, but, like, he's like, "Chipotle gives you, like," ah, "for, like, free sour cream," or so- I don't know. But, like, something funny, like- Yeah...
31:50
he has the four different things that you get on your birthday. I swear he spends more money on gas just going to get them. Like, I, you know, it, it, it, it- Do he and Fez hang out? They could hang out, right?
32:01
[laughs] Well, I, uh, no, people really sometimes get-- They don't realize. They, they're so happy to get something free
32:10
that they don't realize the cost of that long term, and you know, that's the same thing with casinos. Walk around any local casino.
32:17
You'll, you'll literally see people walking around with a, a steamer or a, a steak knife or something- Oh, yeah... you know, like a box of, you know, whatever it could m- It, it could be anything. It could be the...
32:25
Listen, I, and this is a live show here, so Kelly will tell you, uh, will, will tell you right now. We get offers for the stupidest things that I would- Mm-hmm... never go. "Come down and get a, a, an apron."
32:36
Like, a, it's a, it's a 65-cent apron. [laughs] Like, you know, get your apron- Yeah... for the day. I'm like, like, am I right, Kelly?
32:42
Some of the gifts that are- Oh, you got giveaway day at the local casino- Giveaway day... is huge.
32:46
I always think the one that cra- the one that cracks me up the most, Bill, is like I remember being at the Ab like a couple years ago, and it's like a Wednesday, giveaway day I went- Sure...
32:53
at the M on a Wednesday, okay? Sure. And I'm asking one of the bartenders, I'm like, "Why is it so much more packed in here than normal?" "Oh, 'cause it's alcohol giveaway day." Oh, bottles of rum.
33:02
As opposed to, like, the, you know- Oh, wow... to- toaster oven or anything like that. South Point gives alcohol away. Yeah, they do. They give alcohol away. Yep, they do. Yeah, like, but I mean, I- But-...
33:09
I went to a local casino, and I've seen there's seniors have a, they give away, like, a box fan. You got seniors in traction trying to walk around the casino with the fan. And they'll be in line standing.
33:20
It's, it'll be 100 people in line standing to get it. It's like a 10-pound fan. Well- Like, again, they can't even- Well s-... walk out of the place. [laughs] No, I mean, there have, there- There have been...
33:27
You know, go ahead, Gil. Th- there have been, there have been many behavioral science books written on free, like the word fr- what it does to people.
33:35
What free does, 'cause it's an, it's an amazing thing that happens in, in the brain. I think what's even more fascinating, though, 'cause free is one category unto itself. People do anything for free.
33:44
But, like, just think about our daily lives.
33:46
So all these tennis matches I have going on this morning, like, people have no idea, right, how much I have on all these tennis matches, but I can assure you that in the same breath, if I'm deciding to take a, a rideshare to the airport, I will literally go from the Uber app to the Lyft app to see if I can save 50 cents, right?
34:09
Yeah. Like, none, nothing makes sense. Yeah, but that takes two seconds. I, I don't know. I do that, too. And you wanna know something? I wanna admit something, too. When I go to rent a car, I check multiple apps.
34:21
I wanna know. And, or airfares- Yeah... I wanna know if it's better from Newark or Philly. Yeah. I'll do the same thing depending on where I'm driving to- Mm... or I'm driving around.
34:28
So I try to get the best of it, but I'm not overboard like some of the situations I just talked about. So I do try to- Yeah... get the best of it with the... A- and I'll leave on a t- a Wednesday instead of a Thursday.
34:39
I know that the best days to fly out of, like, Las Vegas, best day to leave Las Vegas is probably Saturday or Wednesday or Tuesday, like, days that they have less traffic. So I know that.
34:49
I try to get the best of it on a lot of things. I'm not all, you know, making fun of people. I'm just talking about what they do and, and, and sometimes- No, I know... they gotta be shaken.
34:57
That's what makes, that's what makes the human brain so fascinating, man. None of, none of it makes sense. None of it makes sense. More with Crack on the other side.
35:05
It's a numbers game right here at VSiN, V Sports Betting Network.
35:08
[upbeat music] A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network.
35:29
It is a numbers game. Uh, Gil Alexander live from San Francisco this week and next. Kelly Edelen back at the VSiN Studios over there at Circa with Bill Krackomber, Unscripted with the Crack Man.
35:41
Um, you can follow Bill on Twitter @BillKrackMan with a K. Name of his podcast is called The Wise Cracks, which he does with John Orlando.
35:47
Uh, didn't have this on the bingo card that we'd have breaking hockey news during Unscripted with Crack. Uh, Alex Ovechkin returning to the Washington Capitals- Wow... on a one-year contract.
35:58
Uh, that deal includes a, uh, $1 million salary, and for a, a $4.7 million games played bonus after appearing in 10 games, and a $3.25 million signing bonus as well.
36:12
[laughs] So he's just gotta play 10 games, and that ratchets all the way up to, uh, 5.75 million guaranteed. Ovechkin, by the way, uh, at 929 career goals scored already, uh, surpassed Wayne Gretzky's 894.
36:25
Ovechkin, the all-time goal scorer, 929, so that's 71 shy of 1,000, which is where I always thought he was trying to get to, but he's gonna need at least two more seasons for that if in fact he is trying to get to, uh, 1,000.
36:39
We get tweets. Beating the book Eric Bonnet: "Here's a quick fix to the Senegal penalty kick problem. Have two different spots for penalty kicks, one at the current spot and one further back.
36:51
Standard fouls in the box get a penalty kick from the further back spot, while egregious penalties get the closer kick." Um, sounds great on paper, Eric.
36:58
I just think it adds another layer of subjectivity, but I understand where you're going for, because again, yesterday's and so many of these fouls inside the penalty box turn a 10% chance of a goal being scored immediately to, like, an 85% chance.
37:14
So I'm all for any kind of, uh, change there. Do I expect it? Yeah, Kyle, that was- Yeah... that was the Paul Carr fix, right? We, we were texting about this last night. Yeah. The Paul Carr fix.
37:22
He, he, he said, yeah, instead of going to the penalty kick spot, kick it wherever the foul happened in the, in, in the box. That angle at least makes it a little bit tougher.
37:31
Chris Barton, and this goes to you, Billy, uh, "Is it possible to ask Bill..." Sure. There's a little bit of grammar here, so I'll try to get through this.
37:39
"Is it possible to ask Bill about the bust of known associates of a New York mob family at Twin River in Rhode Island," uh, that he, then it says, "doubled 600,000 in slots using people's rewards cards?"
37:54
Do you know anything about that? Oh, I did hear something about that. He's right. There was, um, supposedly someone at the casino there that, um, he, yeah, he had some, some of the cards.
38:06
I, I, I didn't read about it, but I just heard about it, but I didn't know it was, um, it was, um, involved in any, uh, you know, mafia families or anything.
38:13
It sounded like there was a little bit of that involved, what he just said there. I, I don't know anything about that, but yeah, so
38:20
I guess, uh, maybe someone had, you know, a, a lot of cards of different people's names, and they were, they were, uh, you know, uh, picking up their free play or gambling with their cards or...
38:31
You know, I just heard that no- it's funny that this subject comes up. Alan, uh, Boston just said that he, uh, was backed off at Mohegan Sun, uh, playing under his own name, just playing bonus machines. Oh, wow.
38:45
And he was very upset because he has built up... He goes to Mohegan Sun every day and gambles, and he plays machines, and he said that, uh, he had so much money built up.
38:59
He didn't take comps, 'cause he was building up his bank, and he had it up to $8,300 saving up for this Rolex watch, which finally he reached the, the amount to order the watch, and now he went to order the watch and they cut his, they cut his, all his play off and are not welcoming him- Oh...
39:17
in the casino, which makes me think- That's incredible... guys- Come on... and Kelly will understand this a lot too, if you have
39:25
bonuses, free play, uh, comp offers, a bank where you get points, I would recommend you using it ASAP. So- Wait... you, you have a d- you, you have so many points w- built up, you can go to a $500 dinner, use the dinner.
39:40
They could change the reward program around. The points can expire. Now, at stations they actually expire every, every December. I d- I had no idea the end of December they, they expire.
39:49
So you wanna use them as soon as you can. I don't think you wanna bank 'em because j- look, look what happened here. Yeah. They actually said, "Wait, how, how'd this guy get $8,000?"
39:59
And, and, you know, they'll say, "Oh, well, wait a minute, he's not even losing for the year. What are we doing here? We're giving him an $8,000 watch." Or, you know, use the points, use the programs right away.
40:09
So, um, but yeah, the casinos are getting tougher and tougher and tougher. Matter of fact, I had a note and I wasn't gonna use it. I was gonna use it l- uh, t- n- next week. Okay, here, here, here it is.
40:20
I was gonna use it next, next show. So it's supposed to be all about your theoretical loss, what you theoretically are long-term worth to the casino. So, however, let me tell you the real thing.
40:33
It's all about what you win and what you lose. It's about what you lose to them. That's what it's about long-term. So what I'm talking about is,
40:44
uh, when you go ask for a comp, I've been told already, "Hey, um, you know, y- y- you won a jackpot. You won 4,000 last month.
40:51
Uh, even though you lost 1,200 today, I can't give you a comp," which is ridiculous, totally ridiculous. This is why I have the attitude I do, uh, t- towards a lot of the casinos. They...
41:03
It's what have you done for me l- you know, what have you done for me long-term? I, it, just because I hit a jackpot last month shouldn't matter.
41:10
Um, you know, if you run lucky in a casino, not that you get thrown out, but you get backed off of offers. I had an offer where I got $1,000 a week from my wife and I in free play, and the year before I lost 69,000.
41:23
I got my thing back. Mm. $69,000 I lost in this casino, and then I won and ran lucky and won, uh, almost 200. It just ran lucky. I hit a 649,000 to one shot. I got really lucky. Delta royal twice throughout the year.
41:40
Get Delta royal. So, uh, I, I, I ran a little lucky. I won almost 200. They stopped my comps, stopped my cash back, stopped my offers- So bad... my free play. Yeah.
41:51
Not looking at long-term, what, what it i- It's all about what you win or lose. That theoretical loss, that means nothing. You know, people tell me all the time, "Oh, I go to Vegas.
42:01
They comp me everything, and I, I hold my own. I do good." [laughs] Eh, come on, guy. I, I, I- Really... i- in the end it's, it's all about, you know, what you lose.
42:10
So maybe they comp you everything, and maybe that's worth it to you. Let me tell you something.
42:14
It's nice to come out and get RFB, room, food, and beverage comps, and have a $500 cr- uh, vou- you know, a folio credit or $1,000 folio credit.
42:23
It's really nice to have that stuff, and it's worth coming in and taking a shot. Maybe you lose, maybe you win, but you had fun for the week, and you had all these perks and freebies and beautiful rooms.
42:33
Um, you know, I know someone that won 400,000. It's a h- it's a, a royal flush. He won twice. He hit a $400,000 royal. I think that's, that's $100 machine. It's $100 machine- Yeah...
42:45
and he hit a $400,000 royal twice over a weekend. They put crime tape up around the machine Oh my God. [laughs] You know, like, uh, of course it wasn't real police crime tape. Yeah. But they- That's right...
42:56
put tape, yellow tape up around the machine, and they were doing an investigation Something's wrong with it, Bill, clearly. How- Something's wrong with the machine- How did he win?... or that guy's too good.
43:04
Yeah Wait a minute. How did this guy... Like, so you're, you're, you're allowed to win. I mean, the guy- you're betting $500- Yeah... a spin.
43:11
By the way, he was stuck $13,000 when he hit his first, you know, 400,000, and then he was stuck 40,000 before he hit his second one. Yeah. I mean, $40,000 in one sitting session. Um, you know, but I'm not joking.
43:26
Uh- These- It, it, it's amazing- These-... the way these casino executives think, and the way management some things, and, and surveillance of some of these casinos. People are allowed to win. It's a casino, guys.
43:37
Give us a break. You're right. It should be on theoretical hold, but the reality is it's not. These are all really good pro tips.
43:43
That point you were making earlier, and I think you've said this before, about all these, all these bonuses, like, you know, the Alan Boston story with the watch. Try to, try to cash in as quickly as possible.
43:54
This actually applies to sort of restaurants outside of the strip of Vegas, too. There is a great restaurant on the strip called Ocean Prime. Some people in LA may know about Ocean Prime.
44:04
But Ocean Prime is right in between the Crystals Mall and the Cosmo, right on that walkway. Great food. They do this thing where it's every meal, if you have this app, it's 20% off, 20% off.
44:16
So me, in my head, I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna run this up to, like, $1,000 in savings, and then I'm just gonna give myself, like, consecutive free meals, right? Yep.
44:25
And I, and I thought to myself, I'm like, at about 800, I'm like, you know, I better start cashing these in in case they change their mind. And sure enough, Bill, they're like, "All of these expire now August 31st."
44:36
Just random. It was all of a sudden, right? So you're like, "Oh, the whole point in me eating here was this." So that's great a- great advice. Great pro tip from you. Cash in on this stuff quickly.
44:45
Don't get cute with them. Well, there's a perfect idea what you just said. Like, I g- I go to Joe's. I love Joe's. Joe's Stone Crab at The Forum Shops. Joe's, one of my favorite restaurants.
44:53
I think it's one of the best steaks in town. So I go to Joe's. Twice a year, they will have this deal where if you buy their, their, their gift cards, I, I, I don't...
45:02
This is one of the most successful restaurants in Vegas. Why do they have to even do this? Um, if you buy the Let Us Entertain You cards, they give you 25%. So they'll, if you buy $1,000, they'll give you 250 extra.
45:14
So I always buy a couple thousand bucks, get $500 extra. However, the little catch, the little caveat here is you have to use that- [laughs]... within the first 60 days. So- Ah... if you don't...
45:26
I have had Joe's gift card bonus points, you know, taken away from me 'cause I forgot to cash it in or I forgot to use that.
45:33
Like, it, it just, like you said, though, it's so bothersome because I probably wouldn't have w- I went there because of the deal. So here- Right... you go there- That's right... and now here you feel like the sucker.
45:45
But, um, I wanna thank everyone- Well... for, for watching and your comments and your likes and subscribes and everything else. There you go. I gave you, gave Vicent a free plug here. Billy, appreciate it.
45:55
Thank you so much. Bill Krackomberg, everybody. Thank you, guys. @BillKrackman with a K, and again, Wise Crack's the name of the podcast. Uh, Kelly, thank you as well. Kelly and I'll be back tomorrow.
46:04
Fezzik won't be, though. Fireworks. He can't do the show. Boo. But Feliko, everybody else will be
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