Hi, my name is Joseph Pigliatti. I am also known as Joey the Pig, Juiced Joey, Joey the Big Ouch and Joey Cupcake. If you don’t mind, I prefer Joey the Pig.
The good folks at gambleonthis.com have asked me to write an article about the first times I ever gambled. So, here it goes.
The first time I ever gambled I was 13. It was craps in the school yard. Only we was so poor in my neighborhood we could only afford one dice. Try shooting a 12 with only one dice. I tell you it’s impossible. Unless they allow you to roll twice. Which they didn’t.
The second time I ever gambled was with my gang. We were all young pip squeaks who thought we were big shots. Not one of us was older than 14 but we had all done time in jouvy. There was myself, Guido the Mooch, Pasquale the Peperchino, Mug Me Mario and Pete the Purse Snatcher.
We was all in Guido the Mooch’s basement and we were playing Blackjack. But a funny thing kept occurring. Every single deal Mug Me Mario would hit 21. This went on for about an hour before we began to notice this funny occurrence. By this time Mario was up about a double sawbuck.
The rest of the gang wanted to beat the living tar out of Mug Me Mario for cheating. But cooler heads prevailed. We did some figuring and we figured that if this fella could fix the deck this well then he was of better use to us in one piece.
So we put all our money together, put Mug Me Mario into a suit and tie to make him look older and we all bicycled over to Little Anthony’s Pool Hall. In the back room Little Anthony ran a card game. Usually 7 Card Stud or Blackjack.
When the wiseguys in the back room saw Mug Me Mario they all laughed at him. It’s hard to make a 13 year old look older. But the wiseguys decided to let Mario play. Maybe they wanted to teach him a lesson or maybe they just wanted the 40 bucks he had in his wallet.
Anyhow, not 2 minutes into the game the wiseguys spot Mario’s cheat. After all they are pro’s. So they take Mug Me Mario out into the back alley and beat the living tar out him.
Mario spent a month in the hospital.
So this just goes to show all you regular folk out there, never cheat at poker when you are playing against wiseguys, unless of course, you are a made man.
I hope the good folks at gambleonthis.com like my article. It was a lot of fun to remember.
Until next time, arrivederci.
Copyright Joey the Pig. All rights reserved.