Bert Bertino - Confessions to a Casino Joker - Entertainers

Copyright 2021 by Bert Bertino

ISBN: Paperback 978-1-956096-02-6

eBook 978-1-956096-03-3

LCCN: 2021913312

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

My New York mentor always had special gifts for his customers and his soulmates. He continually felt that the worlds daily meetings should be an event and everything you do should intrigue and entice people to enjoy your company. This gentleman was a fine dressed silver fox who had spent over forty years in the gambling atmosphere of New York City, mostly as a bookie. He was always well dressed, knew the elite of society and politicians of the world. He used his unique talents to spend time with the elite of casino gamblers, not necessarily because he wanted to but more because they wanted to enjoy his acquaintance. To have made his acquaintance is to have basked in the glow of true casino gaming royalty, as those who have shaking hands with him have made you elite in the annuls of gaming history.

On one sunny February afternoon, the silver fox and I were in New York City and took 12 customers of his, to a famous restaurant right near Carnegie Hall. As we sat and conversed, we were in the back of the room, not the most advantageous place to be. This was highly unusual for this gentleman to arrange something that was not Grade A, top-flight. Rather he had placed us in a rear table, far from the center of the room (his domain), that sat 12 people in the back of the restaurant space, which never happened before to my knowledge with him. After about twenty minutes of conversation, where everybody was intrigued and able to order their cocktails and their lunches, we were now beginning to be entertained by a bolstering tenor voice coming from the back wall where we were seated.

We soon realized that the Premier tenor of the entire universe was serenading us while he was rehearsing for his evening performance. Yes, we were on the back wall of Carnegie Hall and listening to an hour of practice for an opera superstar that everyone was clamoring to get tickets for. This was the silver foxs highlight for his customers as he could only obtain four tickets for the event but was able to give twelve premier players an opportunity that they would never have been able to enjoy. Through expansive networks that he had set up in over forty years is how he was aware of the opportunity and booked the table to Always be in the right place at the most opportune time.

And even though this gentleman is long gone and many other people there in the room have passed on this was a great day and resonates in my mind nearly for your thirty-five years later. The silver fox had an extreme gravelly voice that always said, know your environment, know your people and always anticipate what they want. On this day he far exceeded all the knowledge needed.

While my New York mentor, the Silver Fox mentioned earlier, was well known within the gaming community throughout the United States and he always drew back on his east coast roots to entice patrons and entertainment megastars. Much of the time we spent together, he was always in his uniform of blue suit, white crisp shirt and red tie. Even when we traveled to Las Vegas to work with west coast operations, he kept to his attire. Many of our employers fellow operations executives dressed in polo shirts and casual slacks. We however were distinguished by our suits and ties much of the time that I was in his company, and I followed suit and still continually wear a shirt and tie even though we were in meetings with very casual fellow employees.

For the ten years we worked together, I always found his professionalism and knowledge to be of great strength to me and others. He never ceased to expound upon knowledge and teaching opportunities to better serve the casino organization he was affiliated with and to help young future executives like myself. Many times, he was short with many of the other executives within the organization because his knowledge far exceeded theirs and became upset when they said things he did not agree with. However, with me and a few of my fellow junior executives we were always able to have his ear and at the same time suggest things that we thought would be proper. Many times, he would help us through our thought process and at the same time he was never short but always willing to help. I have always attempted to keep his legacy when helping others and speaking with executives who have little knowledge but the correct family connections.

Many years after we had worked together, we met up in Las Vegas at a Grand Opening event for a new casino and again the tenor that we spoke of earlier was performing. And instead of the uniform of blue suit, white shirt and red tie, he was bedazzled in his white hair with a black tuxedo and a red tie. He was at the pinnacle of his career and was happy to have myself and others who he had mentored with him at this occasion. He gently nudged me and another former mentee to join him briefly backstage. As we approached the area he had designated, he introduced both of us to the musicians, the stage manager and finally the performer. He explained to everyone there why he had chosen the performance personally and why this was to be his swan song in entertainment.

This was one of the last times I saw the silver fox in good health and about two years prior to our last meeting in Florida prior to his death. He was a strong force in my life and someone I have emulated throughout my career and continue to hear his gravelly voice instructing me on the right way.

There once was my Catskills mentor, who was much more than a counselor, guide, tutor and teacher. He was my guru for all things marketing, entertainment, promotions, and special events. He did not know how to do a small event; he only knew what over-the-top looked like and how to interact with everyone so his vision could be realized. This guru had the wonderful knack of always trying to resolve whatever problem was set before him. I genuinely enjoyed working with this shaman because he was the man who always came up with the answers no matter what the question may be.

I have tried to model my life after him and have succeeded on some fronts. His belief in himself was infectious and his belief in the team he assembled was contagious. When he needed to make changes and pivot the organizations goals and structure, the faith that his fellow upper management and his subordinates made for flawless transitions. While he worked with many to improve the organization, his laser focus on growing me and my potential will never be forgotten. (During the period I worked directly for him, I was attending my final years of college to attain a marketing bachelors degree. He insisted on reviewing all material I was presenting to my professors, and grading my presentations prior to me turning them in. These are the days prior to word processors and computers, so a minor change needed to force the entire page to be retyped. He not only forced me to be a better student, but a better employee and person.)

One of my favorite mornings spent with the guru from the Catskills was sitting in his office as a junior executive with six other of my compatriots and a phone call came in saying that the well-known country entertainer that was coming to perform that weekend had fell and broke his leg. Without a modicum of doubt and /or a bead of sweat he hung up the phone picked it up again and called another member of the troop that always performed at our casino and proceeded to convince this major crooner to come in three days from then and perform for the weekend in return for using dates later in the year. To the amazement of everyone in the room, this was done with ease, poise, and respect to everyone. This made making telephone calls to customers of high wealth much easier as they had already made their reservations to come for the weekend and needed to be aware of the sudden change.