Kojak, and Late Night Fun

Sometime in the heyday of THE VEGA$ CLUB (mid 80’s) an organization called Players Club International burst on the scene with a group of enticing late night TV commercials starring Telly Savalas. For a small up-front fee, you could swing like Kojak! I forget the details, but for the price of membership you were entitled to substantial discounts on hotel reservations, plane tickets, shows and meals. Roger signed up in a heartbeat! The rest of us were envious of his shiny gold Players Club official membership card, and luckily he readily shared the benefits bestowed upon members.

One of the hotels that offered benefits to PC members (possibly the only one in Vegas) was the Riviera, so we stayed there several times, enjoying the deeply discounted room rates, free buffet coupons, discounts to shows, etc. We went to “an evening at the improv” there and the headliner was KNBC Los Angeles’ TV weatherman Fritz Coleman. He wasn’t very funny.

The Riviera was okay, it’s kind of got that “old Vegas” feel that is getting harder to come by as the years go by, but we didn’t spend much time gambling there. After a few late-night gaming sessions along the strip, Roger and I would be walking back to the Riv, only to be drawn in by the midnight Steak & Eggs special at the nearby Westward Ho!

On another trip we found ourselves trying out late night breakfast specials at Foxy’s Firehouse. This place had the atmosphere and clientele of Little Caesar’s, but no craps table, so I had no interest in it. I guess it was a small step up from LC’s since it had a restaurant and a security guard. On this particular visit, the lone security guard was posted near one of the entrances… playing video poker! The joint was located just north of The Sahara on the strip, across the street from The World’s Largest Gift Shop, where the Holy Cow Brewing Co. is now located. The thing I remember most about the $1.99 breakfast special is that it was way yucky. It was served on Styrofoam plates with plastic knives and forks, and the “chef” working the graveyard shift at Foxy’s almost seemed like he didn’t want to be there! When breakfast was over, Roger eyed the single blackjack table and decided that he wanted to win the price of his breakfast back! I was too tired to gamble, plus after a day of cheap beer, free hotdogs, the world’s largest taco, a buffet lunch, free margaritas, and a $1.99 midnight breakfast I was a little green around the gills. Roger plopped down 2 bucks on the blackjack table and was dealt two face cards. I was relieved. “Let him win the price of his damned breakfast back so we can get some sleep!” I was thinking. The dealer was showing a 3, and turned over a 2, hit with a 3, then a 4, another 4, then a 5. Roger and I stared at the spread of cards trying to add them all up. The dealer was only marginally faster and announced “21!” while picking up Roger’s $2. Would you believe it, the same thing happened for the next three hands? By the fifth hand, Roger was getting pissed. He plopped down a $10 spot for one last hand. He got a respectable 19. The dealer was showing a 5, but at this point we weren’t breathing easy. She turned over a 6, (shit!) then pulled out a 4 (yay!) then an Ace (double yay!) then… another 5 (Oh, Jesus!) Roger lost it. “I can’t believe it! This is bullshit!!!” he screamed! The security guard glanced over his shoulder from the poker machine, then went back to his game. Roger stood up, lifted the blackjack stool over his head, and before he had a chance to crash it down onto the table, a short, squat woman came running over, “SIR, PUT THE STOOL DOWN RIGHT NOW!” He gave her a menacing look, “Who the hell are you?” he snarled. “I’M THE PITBOSS AND I WANT YOU TO PUT THE STOOL DOWN AND LEAVE THE CASINO , NOW!” He looked her up and down with a sneer, “Pit boss? You look more like a Pit Bull!” He finally put the stool down, and we beat a hasty retreat. When Foxy’s Firehouse closed down, nobody shed a tear!

In the next installment… Downtown Fun!

P.S. The above anecdote has possibly been embellished by many retellings over the years. In truth, he lifted the stool about 2 inches off the ground, and had no intention of crashing it down onto the table. He also never uttered the “Pit Bull” remark, but he wanted to, and the security guard never glanced over his shoulder. That incident also added a new phrase to our vocabulary. From then on, anytime a dealer got a total of 21 with 5 or 6 cards, it became a “Firehouse 21”

P.P.S I just “googled” Telly Savalas to see if I could find out more information on the Players Club, and I found a website dedicated to celebrities that are missing parts of their fingers! Telly is apparently missing part of his left index finger! Other digitally challenged people include James “Scotty” Doohan (right middle finger), and Daryl Hannah (the tip of her left index finger) Isn’t the internet incredible?