The Aces Casino Blog: Proof Positive That "Fake Celebrities" Must Go -- The World Has Grown Tired Of That Jenner / Kardashian / Kanye Group

Well, It's about time.

First off, we must say one thing about this wacky entertainment business that Aces Casino Entertainment is such a big part of.  Hey - We've worked very hard at getting the Aces Casino brand out there to all those that are searching for the best in the orange county casino party company biz, and promotional work and targeted advertising went a log way towards getting our name out in this crazy world we live in.  We do this simply because we provide a service.

A VERY GOOD service.

Aces Casino Entertainment won countless awards in our field, and are recognized by many of the top catering execs and professional entertainment agencies as being honest, loyal, knowledgeable, and very good at what we do.  We love doing what we do for a living, and constantly tell our many orange county casino night party clients that we have the greatest job in the world.

That was one of the reasons that this goofy Aces Casino Blog was created -- To get the word out on just how good (and how ZANY) our team is at providing quality orange county casino night party entertainment for all that are looking for it.  It's a good thing.  People WANT us.  We work HARD to have clients that continue to want us.  We have something to offer.   Hey, everyone deserves to make a living.  Just don't make us sick to our stomachs while you're doing it.

Unfortunately, in this crazy "social media" world that we all love to belong to, one style of such stomach-turning promotion has reared it's ugly head, and become part of the social media fabric -- Fake celebrities.  People that have been created by agents or family members for the sole purpose of making money.  Celebs that are literally "famous for being famous."

We know, yes, this type of Pop-Celeb thing has been around for a while.  We remember Brooke Shields.  We remember Ashlee Simpson.  (Ed. Note: Boy, do WE remember HER.)  But... This Jenner / Kardashian / Kanye West machine that fuels itself on the need for constant promotion has got to go.  Really... We don't know about YOU guys and gals, but for our money, this media whore-circus needs to pull over, NOW.

Fortunately, there seems to be a grass-roots movement taking place here in the United States.  People in the entertainment field are starting to turn on the "machine."  Now, we don't expect this Kris Jenner-created abomination to disappear from TMZ any time soon.... But it looks like there IS evidence that the smart people that love entertainment are beginning to show their displeasure for this group of untalented media vacuums.

Exhibit "A."  The two re-configured Jenner tykes booed at the Billboard Awards.

Exhibit "B."  The abomination creator herself booed at the iHeart Radio Bash.

I know... This is embarrassing.  And, when you throw Kanye West into the mix (the same Kanye West that has just recently taken to Twitter to beg Mark Zuckerberg for $53M to get him out of debt, and help him to "create everything his imagination can provide us," well, you get the picture.  And - So does Stephen Colbert.

O-M-G.  Donda?  REALLY??

I'll make this quick, these dopes HAVE to go.

That's all from the Blog today.  We'll be back next week with something that hopefully will be a LOT better than what this Jenner clan can give us.  (Ed. Note: That won't be difficult.)

The Aces Casino Blog: "A Date That Will Live In Infamy!" - The Day That Our Frustrated Game Show Contestants Discovered "Words With Friends."

When you're well-known in southern California as the top Orange county casino party company in the region, you'd best know your games - And believe me, Aces Casino KNOWS games.  I'm fairly sure that, if you got the chance to look at an Aces Casino Entertainment employment application, it wouldn't have a section on which high school, college, or trade school you graduated from.  Oh, no, not Aces Casino - They're more interested in finding out if you've tried out for games shows, loved playing Monopoly or other board games, or ever thought about joining the circus at some point in life.  THAT'S how we roll here at this resident insane asylum.

Just sayin'.  Believe it.

Aces Casino has always been at the forefront of assembling the craziest, most entertaining and professional dealer crew and management team in the business.  They've always put two ideals first - Know your games, and have fun with the guests at the events.  When prospective clients wander into the deep end of the Aces Casino pool and inquire about the dealers and staff that the company has to offer, the management usually corrects the inquisitive client, and says, "oh, you mean the frustrated game show contestants."

Yep.  That's us.

OK, we admit it, we're a little goofy over here.  "Professionally irreverent," the O. C. Register tagged us some time back.  Uh-huh, that sounds about right.  But, without question, no one blends professionalism and total on-site casino anarchy like this Orange county casino night company.  Often imitated, NEVER duplicated.  Plus, we've got more slogans in this office than the Oakland Raiders.  ("This Beats Working" is my favorite, but I digress.)

"Professionally Irreverent."  Yeah, OK.
 

Yes, 'tis true, Aces Casino's crew LOVES playing games.  All KINDS of games.  I can't recall the specific dates that "fantasy football" gripped the offices here (but they're ALWAYS plentiful EVERY September, and have been widely chronicled here in our parakeet paper), and everyone here remembers the "Farmville Craze" of 2010 (Ed. Note: PLEASE, don't ask).   Yes, when a game grabs hold of our team's short attention span during their off-time here at our main offices, it's usually legendary.  Which brings us to the latest "craze" that is currently sweeping thru the Aces Casino nut house as we speak....Words With Friends.

I remember the first time I heard the phrase, "Words With Friends."  It sounded so calm, so peaceful.... It sounded like a little back-room coffee-break meeting, kind of like a lighthearted discussion about everyone's nice day that they were having.

(BUZZZZZZ)  Nope.

Turns out, this kind-sounding phrase was something originally generated by Facebook, the social media giant.  It's Scrabble, without the trademarks, copyrights and attorneys. Hey, give ol' Scrabble it's due - It's a GREAT game, and Facebook makes it even greater, by using a similar design online, and eliminating all those goofy faux-wooden tiles and that game board on the spinning turntable.  That's what got me off of Scrabble - One false move, sneeze, or overzealous game board spinner, and there goes all the tiles, into Scrabble-heaven.

I HATED that part.  Game over, what a waste of time.

But then, Scrabble-Nirvana.  "Look at this," the cohorts in the office told me.  "No more bumping the board, and losing all the tiles.  It's great, you should play."  We had already "friended" each other on Facebook, so once the invitations started flying, It didn't take long.  EVERYONE was playin' "Words With Friends."

The floor of the office, before "Words With Friends" hit the 'Net.

Yep, things were good.  UNTIL.......... (Laugh)  Until some of our staff got VERY good at playing the game.  And I don't mean strategic placement of virtual "tiles" on the board.  I'm talkin' about some players learning what words they could GET AWAY WITH during game play.  I'd classify these words as "what kind of word is THAT" - type of words - Words that NO ONE in THIS office had EVER seen, or even heard OF, until this "Words" craze hit this Orange county casino party giant.

Here's a shining example of what I'm blabbing about.  Now, I'll admit I'm as competitive a person as just about anyone when it comes to playing games, but I'm involved in one of these internet "scrabble" games with a co-worker, and I've got her pinned right to the virtual wall in the game.  She's 35 points down, and she's only got something like one tile left.  It's over.  UNTIL......

She makes her last play.  She's got a "Q," and she places it in a "Triple word Score" box right next to the letter, "I," which makes the word, "QI."

QI.

Boom.  33 points plus a small bonus for playing all her tiles, and she's a winner, which immediately brought a question to mind -- "QI?  What the Heck is a QI?"  Hey, Darned if SHE knew, but She kept placing that "Q" tile all over the board, trying everything she could to find out if there was some obscure way to actually play that "Q," and score points with it.

QI.

Well, to make it official, she gets online, and looks up the definition of the so-called word, "QI."  Yep, there it is -- "QI - The circulating life force whose existence and properties are the basis of much Chinese philosophy and medicine."  Uh-huh.  SURE.  I'll tell you one thing right now -- This unnamed woman (whose identity will be kept secret for the time being) couldn't have told you one darned thing about some Chinese philosophy 30 seconds ago, and was about to lose her own circulating life force in the just-finished contest, just by playing that dopey-looking "QI."

OK, OK.  I've got the picture here.  This means WAR.

Time to let Al Gore's invention, "the internet," go to work for me. My task - To find some obscure words that I can use to fight back against these no-good "Words With Friends" players in our Aces Casino offices.  And in just 20 minutes of net-surfing, I found something....

I found out that there is an entire network of websites that exist for one thing - to help Scrabble (AND Words With Friends) players that are looking for obscure words to fit into sertain game situations.  There are sites that deal with nothing but silly words, like "QI."  One such site had a prepared chart, with no less than 95 2-letter words that deal with these goofy-word situations.  NINETY-FIVE. Words like ZA, MU, TI, and my favorite, AG.

Come ON -- THESE aren't WORDS!  They're sounds that come out of guys that Chuck Norris is beating on in the TV show, "Walker, Texas Ranger."  These shouldn't count!  This is wrong, we need a moratorium on words like QI.  Even the spellchecker has a problem revery time I type the word, "QI."  New rule here at this Orange county casino party company -- If spellchecker doesn't like it, it's no good.  There.  I said it.  (Ed. Note: unfortunately, his word isn't a binding contract around here.  I'm using QI right now in a game.  Tough break, Aces Blogger.  Thanks for the tip.)

I couldn't believe it.... I mean, there is a TON of stuff dedicated to what I'll call the "Scrabble Phenomenon."  There were "7-Letter Word" creators, words that start with certain letters... It's Unbelievable.  So, we got curious.... I've heard that there are Scrabble tournaments; Surely, THOSE players don't use underhanded tactics to get over on unsuspecting opponents.

BUZZZZZZ.  Wrong again.

It's WORSE with THESE players!  A random search of possible Scrabble tournament controversies chased up a classic story about one player accusing another of actually EATING a game tile to avoid a loss.  The governing board eventually ruled against having the player go thru a strip search, and/or having his subsequent "droppings" examined in the hall's bathroom for possible "evidence."  Here's the link to the story, we can't make this stuff up, my friends.  There are other such goofy Scrabble inquisitions, too numerous to mention, but my fave quote from the story was from a guy that said, "the game is not about words."

No kidding.  When players are using "QI" and "ZA" against you, there's no doubt that real words are on the outside, looking in.

So, what does all of this mean to Aces Casino, the Orange County casino night kingpins? Well, not too much.  We DID decide to create a slush fund that "Words" players have to donate $1 to, whenever they stoop so low as to use one of the now-verboten words in an Aces Casino-based game here.  We'll end up using the proceeds for the annual Aces Casino Holiday party, normally held in February.

Knowing the staff that plays the game here at the Aces offices, something tells me that, for next year's bash, we'll have enough money to rent out the Honda Center with our "QI Fund."

THe Aces Casino Blog: OK, Just Who IS In The Official Las Vegas "Little Black Book" Of Excluded Persons (No, My Name Isn't On There...)

It's time for the top Orange County casino party company, A.K.A. Aces Casino Entertainment, to wrap up this interesting look into the official Las Vegas Casino's "Black Book,"  one of the most discussed, but rarely delved into book of it's kind anywhere.  Part Three of the series simply deals with the answer to the question, "hey, just who IS in this infamous Black Book of Las Vegas?"  Ask and you shall receive, my friends, courtesy of the top Orange County casino night party company in SoCal - Aces Casino. 

There have been 50 individuals entered on the List of Excluded Persons, otherwise known as Nevada's Black Book. The following is the year they were listed, their current age, and last known city of residence along with the reason they were listed:

* 1960 -- Marshall Caifano, 101, Chicago: A high-ranking Chicago mobster suspected of committing numerous killings who became the mob's Las Vegas enforcer.
* 1960 -- Louis Tom Dragna, 92, Covina, Calif.: One-time acting boss of the Los Angeles mob who unsuccessfully challenged the legality of the Black Book.
* 1960 -- Carl James Civella, deceased: Mob boss in Kansas City, Mo., who was convicted of skimming and maintaining hidden interests in the Tropicana.
* 1960 -- Nicholas Civella, deceased: Brother of Carl; another Kansas City mob boss convicted in the Tropicana case.
* 1960 -- Sam Giancana, deceased: Chicago mob boss, murdered gangland style, who was linked to the 1960 presidential election of John F. Kennedy and to a 1963 CIA plot to assassinate Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
* 1960 -- Murray Llewellyn Humphreys, deceased: An alleged lieutenant of Chicago mobster Al Capone.Humphreys worked for Giancana.
* 1960 -- Joseph Sica, deceased: Los Angeles mobster involved in bookmaking, narcotics.
* 1960 -- Michael Coppola -- A New York City mob enforcer who was involved in drug trafficking and later moved to Miami, Fla.
* 1960 -- John Louis Battaglia, deceased: A Los Angeles mob associate who was arrested with Dragna on a vagrancy charge at the Desert Inn hotel-casino.
* 1960 -- Robert L. Garcia, deceased: A mob associate who lived in Southern California.
* 1960 -- Motel Grzebienacy, deceased: A mob associate who resided in Kansas City, Mo.
* 1965 -- Ruby Kolod, deceased: A Desert Inn hotel-casino executive who was alleged to have stolen money from the resort to finance an oil deal. He was removed from the Black Book later that year.
* 1965 -- Felix Alderisio, whereabouts unknown: A reputed Giancana lieutenant tied to Kolod's oil deal. He was removed from the book later that year and eventually became a Chicago mob boss.
* 1965 -- William Alderman, deceased: A one-time stockholder in the El Cortez, Flamingo and Riviera hotel-casinos who was also tied to Kolod's oil deal. He, too, was removed from the book.
* 1975 -- Wilford Kalaauala Pulawa, 77, Kauai, Hawaii: Alleged head of organized crime in Hawaii at a time when gaming regulators were concerned about junket representatives associated with him.
* 1975 -- Alvin George Kaohu, 75, Honolulu, Hawaii: Pulawa's right-hand man.
* 1978 -- Anthony Joseph Spilotro, deceased: The Chicago mob's enforcer in Las Vegas whose badly beaten body was found in an Indiana cornfield in 1986.
* 1986 -- John Joseph Vaccaro Jr., 73, Las Vegas: Convicted ringleader of a slot cheating operation who has also been convicted of illegal bookmaking.
* 1986 -- Sandra Kay Vaccaro, 73, Las Vegas: Vaccaro's wife and the only woman in the Black Book, she participated in her husband's slot cheating ring.
* 1986 -- Carl Wesley Thomas, deceased: One-time owner of Bingo Palace and Slots-A-Fun and executive at the Riviera, Stardust and Tropicana resorts who was convicted of skimming and holding a hidden interest in the Tropicana.
* 1987 -- Chris George Petti, 86, San Diego: A top organized crime figure in San Diego who was convicted of illegal bookmaking.
* 1988 -- Michael Anthony Rizzitello, 86, Reseda, Calif.: A reputed California mob associate convicted of attempting to extort casino leaders Benny Binion and Moe Dalitz.
* 1988 -- William Gene Land, 77, Las Vegas: Convicted of marking cards for a blackjack game.
* 1988 -- James Tamer, 101, Mt. Clemens, Mich.: A one-time Aladdin hotel-casino executive who was convicted of hiding his ownership interest in the resort after having been denied a gaming license.
* 1988 -- Frank Joseph Masterana, 84, Las Vegas: The bookmaker has a history of gambling-related convictions and allegedly was associated with mob figures.
* 1988 -- Frank Larry Rosenthal, 84, Boca Raton, Fla.: One-time entertainment director of the Stardust and Argent Corp. executive who was allegedly associated with mob figures and pleaded no contest to a charge of conspiracy to bribe a college basketball player.
* 1988 -- Gaspare Anedetto Speciale, deceased: A bookmaker convicted of interstate transmission of sports bets, loan-sharking, racketeering.
* 1989 -- Harold Travis Lyons, 77, Las Vegas: A convicted slot cheat whose rap sheet also includes convictions for burglary, grand theft and drug-related crimes.
* 1990 -- Joseph Vincent Cusumano, 77, Las Vegas: An alleged loan shark and Chicago mob associate who was convicted of helping to skim money from a Culinary Union life insurance plan.
* 1990 -- Douglas Joseph Barr, 54, Sparks: The youngest person listed in the Black Book is a convicted slot cheat who was imprisoned for making a cheating device causing electronic machines to pay out.
* 1991 -- Timothy John Childs, 65, Reno: A convicted slot cheat who made mechanical machines pay out by pulling the handle down part way and then jerking it.
* 1991 -- Francis Citro, 67, Las Vegas: Alleged to have ties to the Los Angeles mob, the former card dealer was convicted for extortion and racketeering and for using counterfeit credit cards.
* 1992 -- Richard Mark Perry, 69, Las Vegas: Convicted of fixing horse races and basketball games, he allegedly served as a bookmaker for the New York mob and was linked with the UNLV Rebels basketball team when he was photographed in a hot tub with three players.
* 1993 -- Anthony Michael St. Laurent, 72, Johnston, Rhode Island: An alleged "made member" of the New England mob convicted of running an illegal gaming operation, racketeering and cocaine possession.
* 1993 -- Albert Anthony Corbo, deceased: Owner of a Las Vegas sports information service who was convicted of bookmaking and conducting illegal gambling businesses in Atlantic City, N.J., Philadelphia and Miami Beach, Fla.
* 1993 -- Edward Lawrence DeLeo, deceased: A Boston mob associate with a bookmaking conviction who was also tied to Spilotro.
* 1994 -- Dominic Anthony Spinale, 77, Las Vegas: Another reputed New England mob associate and bookmaker, convicted with DeLeo of relaying betting information from Las Vegas to Boston.
* 1994 -- Brent Eli Morris, 56, Bridgeton, N.J.: He has multiple convictions for making bets after dice were thrown in craps and cards were dealt in baccarat.
* 1994 -- Douglas William Barr Sr., 77, Las Vegas: Father of Douglas Joseph Barr, he also is a convicted gambling cheat who used coins with strings attached to fool machines.
* 1997 -- William Dominick Cammisano Jr., 64, Harrisonville, Mo.: A reputed Kansas City mob underboss who was convicted of witness tampering during a grand jury investigation of a gangland-style killing.
* 1997 -- Ronald Dale Harris, 57, Las Vegas: A former state Gaming Control Board agent who was convicted of rigging slot machines in Washoe County so that jackpots were paid out if coins were bet in a specific sequence.
* 1997 -- Jerry Dale Criner, 64, Claremore, Okla.: A convicted slot cheat whose rap sheet also includes convictions for burglary, racketeering, theft and currency violations.
* 1997 -- Anthony Thomas Civella, 83, Kansas City, Mo.: The son of Carl Civella and nephew of Nicholas Civella is an alleged Kansas City mobster who was convicted separately of illegal bookmaking and of holding hidden interests and skimming from the Tropicana.
* 1997 -- Louis John Olejack, 62, Las Vegas: A card cheat who was convicted of bending blackjack cards at Harrah's Las Vegas.
* 1997 -- Stephen Anthony Cino, 76, Henderson: A reputed "made member" of the Los Angeles mob who was convicted in an extortion scheme to take over loan-sharking and insurance fraud operations run locally by the late Herbie Blitzstein.
* 1997 -- John Joseph Conti, 78, Las Vegas: He was convicted of attempting to file false credit applications at the Maxim hotel-casino.
* 1997 -- Charles Joseph Panarella, 88, Las Vegas: Convicted of attempted money laundering through the Maxim hotel-casino and a reputed member of the New York mob.
* 1998 -- Michael DiBari, 79, Las Vegas: A former Continental hotel-casino supervisor who was convicted of money laundering from the hotel and who was reputedly tied to imprisoned New York mobster John Gotti.
* 1999 -- Peter Joseph Ribaste, 58, Kansas City, Mo.: An alleged Kansas City mobster, he ran an illegal gambling operation there and later was convicted of mail fraud, wire fraud and failure to disclose Las Vegas gambling debts on loan applications in an attempt to buy a Kansas City car dealership.
* 2008 -- William Cushing, 60, Whereabouts Unknown:  Slot cheat extraordinaire.

Sources:  State Gaming Control Board, Nevada Gaming Commission and "The Black Book and the Mob" by Ronald A. Farrell and Carole Case

Ed. Note: That's all for now, my Aces "Blogaholics."  The Black Book is officially in the rear-view mirror.....We'll see you next Monday with a brand new entry into the Aces Blog.... Next up - Our Aces Casino crew's favorite YouTube vids for the month of March, courtesy of the top orange county casino party company in SoCal.  You KNOW They'll Be GOOD!  Have a good weekend, We'll See you then!

The Aces Casino Blog: Part Two Of Our In-Depth, 3-Part Look At Las Vegas' "Excluded Persons List," A. K. A. The Little Black Book Of Casino Cheats

Ed. Note: Welcome back to the infamous Aces Casino Blog and Part Two of our series on the history of one of the most infamous and rarely-discussed books in the world - The Las Vegas Casino's "Black Book," also known by It's official title, "The Excluded Persons List."  Our sincere thanks to the Los Angeles Times, Times scribe John Glionna, and the Las Vegas Sun for bringing us the story of Frankie Citro, Jr., one man that is ready to have his day in front of the Las Vegas Gaming Control Board in an attempt to do something that no person before him has done - To have his name removed from the Vegas casino's "Black Book, while still alive and well.  Enjoy the ride, courtesy of the top Orange County casino party company on the West Coast - Aces Casino Entertainment...

Frankie is holding court at his regular table at a dingy roadhouse, about as far from the glamour of the Strip as you can get.  Men in suits stop to pay their respects, some kissing his cologne-splashed cheek. It’s a gesture of affection, like those of his neighborhood cronies in Jersey City, back in the old days.  These are the new days, though, and they haven’t been so kind to Frankie. He loves this live-music joint, don’t get him wrong. But when you’re Frank Citro Jr., there are only so many nightspots in this town where you’re still welcome.

For 23 years, he has been a regular addition to Nevada’s Black Book, officially known as the "Excluded Person List," an index of desert undesirables blackballed by the state’s casino regulators. Since its inception in 1960, the book has included such mobsters as William “Icepick Willie” Alderman, Murray “the Camel” Humphries and Chicago crime boss Sam “the Cigar” Giancana.  Black Book inclusion means you can’t own, manage or even enter a casino. The only way off the list is to die, and even then state regulators require a death certificate as proof that you are, indeed, truly departed.  (Tough Room.)

Now the 68-year-old Citro is attempting something never tried in the book’s history: He wants off the list while he’s still alive.  “I don’t belong in this book,” he said in his thick Jersey accent, an unlit Camel dangling from his lips. “I never cheated a casino, never had a fight there. I’m just supposedly a notorious felon. There are lots of felons in this town. Why me?”

Frankie Citro, Jr.

Rumors of the move have caught the Las Vegas Gaming Control Board by surprise, and officials had to consult their rules to determine that the challenge is indeed allowable. Now Citro is collecting documents and contacting character witnesses before his attorney requests a hearing with the board.  “For someone to come forward after so many years on the book, that’s something that’s never been tried before,” said James Taylor, deputy chief of the Gaming Control Board enforcement division.

In 1985, Citro and six others were convicted of bookmaking and loan-sharking operations in Southern California and Las Vegas that prosecutors said charged clients as much as 1,000 percent interest. He spent two years in prison.  To gaming officials, the verdict — not to mention the fact he had consorted with known mobsters — made him the kind of notorious character they didn’t want in Nevada’s casinos. So they put him in the Black Book, a distinction that dims even the brightest lights of Sin City. Being inside a casino, he knows, can mean arrest and even jail time.

Citro said the book discriminates against Italian Americans — half the list’s 33 current members have Italian surnames — and promotes Mafia stereotypes. This in a city that has embraced its organized crime roots with not one but two mob museums.  Citro is stubborn. Since being placed in the book in 1990, he has refused to leave Las Vegas to avoid the slightest hint of surrender. He continues to embrace a streetwise image, making wisecracks, gesturing with his hands and shoulders, ending sentences in “boom, boom, boom.” He likes to say he knows only two real tough guys, and the other one sends him a Christmas card every year.

Citro grew up the youngest of three sons in an Italian neighborhood in northern New Jersey. He showed an entrepreneur’s eye early on, shining shoes for neighborhood thugs. At age 13, he chased two guys into an alley. One put a gun to his head. He flinched and he hated himself for it. That’s when he vowed to never fear another man.

Frankie Citro has lived in Las Vegas since the late 1960s and is one of a few dozen people on the Nevada Gaming Commission's "Black Book." He is prohibited from stepping into a casino anywhere in the world. Citro tries to avoid the famous Las Vegas Strip because it is lined with the casinos that he used to frequent years ago.  Soon he was running numbers, fencing stolen goods. He became a bouncer. He worked collections. He bare-knuckle boxed for years, breaking people’s bones in and out of the ring.

He was a tough guy, he said, but not a made guy. Citro said he was never a member of organized crime.  “I never wanted those guys telling me what I had to do,” he said. “Only my mother had that power.”

While starting his federal sentence, Citro realized he was going to miss a crucial time in the life of his 1-year-old son, Francesco. That’s when he swore he’d never go back to prison, even if it meant cleaning toilets. One of the first jobs he got on the outside was running his own janitorial company.
“How many people promise to never return to jail again?” said his 20-year-old daughter, Bettina. “My dad actually kept his word.”  For a quarter-century, Citro has avoided jail and is off probation. He donates time for charity — rounding up bands and singing his beloved doo-wop music at fundraisers.

Citro showed up for his Gaming Control Board hearing in 1990 dressed in a tuxedo. It was a minor gesture of mock respect: Just out of prison, he figured he had paid his dues. The federal government had confiscated his Las Vegas luxury home. Now Nevada wanted to banish him from its casinos?  State prosecutors challenged his character, waving headlines of his racketeering trial that screamed phrases like “brass-knuckle therapy.” Citro found that particularly insulting: He’d never hit a man with anything but his own fists.
Officials decided he was “notorious and unsavory,” a guy with mobster cronies.

“They just buried me,” he said later. “They buried a man who’s still alive.”  Critics call the book an outdated relic of an era when wiseguys called the shots. Card cheats and slot crooks now pose a bigger threat to the industry, and some appear on the list. The last entry, Philadelphia mobster Frank Bulgarino, was added in 2004.

“I represented a lot of people in that book,” said Oscar Goodman, a former mob lawyer who later became Las Vegas mayor. “Many haven’t even been convicted of a crime. They just supposedly brought ignominy, scorn or derision to this great state of Nevada. It’s draconian and it’s silly.”  (Ed. Note: Two words that are normally mentioned when our orange county casino night party company holds their annual Christmas Party.  In March.  'Draconian' might be a little too strong....)

Nevada’s Excluded Person List was launched with the names of 11 reputed gangland figures. The book was later imitated by gaming states such as New Jersey, Michigan and Mississippi.  The Black Book really isn’t a book and it’s not even black. Originally bound by a black leather cover, it’s now a shiny gray binder. It still strikes fear in nominees.  When alleged mobster Stephen “the Whale” Cino learned of his hearing in 1997, the 325-pound felon told state investigators, “You just ruined my lunch.” At his hearing in 1987, gangster Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal screamed that he had dined with many board members, only to be stabbed in the back.  (You may remember that scene in the movie, "Casino," Starring Robert DeNiro as the character modeled as Mr. Rosenthal.)

Some friends have turned their backs on Citro, but he has new believers in his camp.  Like the North Las Vegas police officer he helped raise money for children with cancer.  “I’m a cop. I deal with lots of people who did things 40 years ago, now trying to eke out a living,” Steve Noahr said. “You pay your debt to society, why be persecuted for life?”  Former Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren said that “if anyone gets off that list, it should be Frankie.”  He added: “It’s not just his past that put him in that book; it’s where he came from, his speech, his accent. At this stage, he’s probably cleaner than 90 percent of corporate Las Vegas making deals behind closed doors today.”  Taylor disagreed: “Even today, I don’t know if we’d still want Frank Citro frequenting our casinos.”

For now, Citro makes do. He’s had a succession of business ventures with only fleeting success — including a bar and strip club manager, plumber and carpenter. Job interviews go well, until bosses learn about the Black Book. He isn’t obligated to tell them, but the list pops up in a quick Internet search, and some in this town see it as a bigger black mark than the racketeering conviction.

Before the Black Book, he owned a nice house. Now he frets about paying rent for the space where he parks his double-wide trailer. The frustration has taken a toll on his health. A doctor has warned him of a possible blocked artery. But Citro said he’s not having any heart attack: That would ensure defeat.
With sadness in his voice, he mentions the 1994 film “The Shawshank Redemption,” in which a convict played by Morgan Freeman says he wants to talk to the young man he once was, just to tell him how stupid he is.  Now Citro awaits his new day in casino court, seeking redemption in a realm where there have been no second chances. This time, he thinks he’ll skip the tux.

That's all for Part Two of our Aces Casino look at the infamous "black book" of Las Vegas Casinos.   On Thursday, our famous orange county casino party company finishes up our "look at the book" series with a peek at who's IN the black book, and what got them there.  The Vegas "Rogue's Gallery," right here in 3 days.  We'll see you then!

The Aces Casino Blog: Yes, That Las Vegas "Little Black Book" DOES Exist. We Don't Have One, And No, We're NOT In It! (At Least, We Hope Not....)

It happened during a discussion between three of our top game dealers here at Aces Casino Entertainment  (Ed. Note: Doesn't this blog ALWAYS get it's best ideas this way?), when the gab-fest turned to the subject of cheating at the Las Vegas casinos.  "We're well-known for our uncanny ability to cheat FOR the players here," said top Aces Casino Roulette dealer Scott Percifield.  "What happens to the people that try to cheat us?"  To which Craps specialist John Lopp, he of the 'Yosemite Sam look-alike contest,' replied quickly, "No problem - We put 'em in our Black Book."  (Ed. Note: Guffaws all around, these two guys are always a crack-up at our events.)

Now, let it be known right away that, when you play games with fake chips like Aces Casino (the top Orange County casino party company on the West Coast) does, you're really not in need of an official "Black Book."  Hey, here at Aces, the best reason to have valueless chips in the first place is that we regularly cheat FOR the players.  They don't need to cheat US.  We're ALREADY cheating us FOR them, It's inherently built into our DNA.  Needless to say, no one runs out of chips at an Aces Casino Entertainment event. 

Unless you're bringing us to your big yearly fundraiser.

That's when our kind-hearted, sweet-as-sugar casino game dealers turn on the players, and play the games by the rules, for keeps, so the charitable organization we work for can earn some much-needed funds for their next pet project.  It's really a sight to see; they go from laying down and playing dead to Schwarzenegger "Terminator" clones.  In our industry, it goes without saying - THIS orange county casino night party crew is the BEST in the biz at our craft.  (Ed, Note: Then why did you say it?  Get back to the blog-topic!)

But... It got us to thinking.... One thing we hadn't researched for any measurable amount of time here at Aces Casino WAS that infamous "Black Book" of Las Vegas, what it does, does it even exist, who's on it, stuff like that.  It sounded like the perfect tool for the parakeet paper known as the Aces Casino Blog.

So, without further fanfare, let's begin our trek with Part One of the Aces Blog's report on "The Infamous Black Book of the Las Vegas Casinos" -- Who's in this book, and why.

  ___________________________________________________________________________

The names IN the Black Book are Scorsese flick-worthy: Francis “Lefty” Rosenthal (an old acquaintance of ours back in the day); Dominic Anthony Spinale; Joseph Vincent Cusumano. Their crimes, the stuff of wise-guy legend: Louis Tom Dragna led organized crime in Southern California; Buffalo mobster Stephen Anthony Cino racked up a laundry list of charges from robbery to extortion. Their bravado, incomparable: Fred Anthony Pascente was a Chicago detective busted for mail fraud and linked to the Chicago mob; Timothy John Childs once listed “slot cheat” as his occupation on a loan application (Ed. Note: I love that one); repeat felon Frank Citro (racketeering, loan-sharking, illegal bookmaking) showed up at his Nevada Black Book hearing in a tuxedo and told commissioners, “I’ve never been invited to join anything in my life; I just wanted to show the proper respect.”

 Frank Rosenthal, "The Man That Ran The Stardust."

Back in April of 2008, the state Gaming Control Board nominated slot cheat William Cushing for inclusion in Nevada’s Black Book—also known as the more officious-sounding List of Excluded Persons. If inducted, he’ll be the 36th person banned from state casinos—the first since 2004. Created in 1967, the Black Book, according to UNLV gaming researcher David Schwartz, played a role in pushing the mafia out and corporations in.

Getting into the Black Book is rather easy. All you need is a prior felony, a conviction for violating gaming and tax laws, hidden interest (but no license) in a gaming establishment or a rep so notorious or unsavory that it erodes public confidence in the gaming industry. Good luck getting out, though. “About the only way is a judicial review, and that’s never been successful,” says Jerry Markling, chief of enforcement for the Gaming Control Board.

But casino banishment doesn’t mean a lifetime of playing Tonk. You can still drop a quarter in a slot machine. “They can go in restricted locations, places with 16 or fewer slots,” Markling says. “If there are more than 16 slots, it must be a slots-only facility.”

Or you could be Douglas William Barr bold: Three of his 150-plus arrests (mostly for gambling crimes) came after his Black Book inclusion. His son, also Douglas (they’re the only father-son tandem - gee, Dad, thanks for the same name at birth), has been arrested more than 30 times on gambling charges. The lone woman on the list, Sandra Vaccaro, organized a slot-cheating operation, along with husband John Vaccaro, that stole millions from Nevada casinos. Scofflaws can get a return trip to the clink. Says Markling: “It’s a gross misdemeanor if they violate the order; that can mean up to a year in jail.”

There is a list longer and maybe more onerous than the Black Book. From 1980 to March of this year, 112 individuals have been found unsuitable for a gaming license or have had licenses denied or revoked. “It’s very intense, probably one of the most intrusive processes ever,” Schwartz says. “You’re asked questions like what car do you drive. Most honest people would have trouble getting a gaming license in Nevada.”
 ___________________________________________________________________________

That's it for this edition of the Aces Casino Blog for Thursday.  We hope all of you enjoyed Part One of our look into the "Black Book" of Las Vegas.  (Damn, It's not even BLACK.)  On Monday, the top Orange County casino party company in SoCal brings you Part Two of our series on the Black Book of Vegas - An In-depth Look at one man that's taking a shot at the impossible task of getting his name OUT of the book.  (Ed. Note: you normally have to die first.  Boy, you talk about a tough club to get out of.)   We'll see you then, keep those very cool comments comin', we LOVE to hear from our fan club (All three of you)!!

The Aces Casino Blog: First, It Was Dimaggio's 56 ... Then, It Was The Lakers' 33-Game Win Streak ... And Now, Unfortunately, The Aces Casino Blog 20-Game Super Bowl Win Streak Has Died. It Is a Sad Day.

Onyx. 

The Name That Will Go Down In History as "The one that ended the streak."  Now, we know what it felt like our in Northern California, when De La Salle High School's 151-game win streak in high school football some 10 years ago.

Onyx.

Hey, I would guess that "all good things must come to an end," but still, it is a sad day here at the offices of Aces Casino Entertainment, home of the top orange county casino party company on the west coast, and also, the owner of what is now a one-game losing streak in the area of Super Bowl Prognostication.

Quick history note: after selecting 20 straight Super Bowl winners both here in the Aces Blog and in our pre-internet parakeet paper called the Aces Casino news, our streak of winners ended last night when Onyx, the resident panther at the Miami Zoological Wildlife Reserve in Miami, Florida, incorrectly predicted that the Carolina Panthers would beat the Denver Broncos.

(BUZZZZ)

So, the streak is over, there's nothing that can be done about this..... To that end, we're declaring that the Aces Casino offices will be closed for the rest of the day today and re-open tomorrow, bright, early, and streak-less, at 10am, just like always. 

We'd like to thank all of the great people that we've met along the way in bringing this dopey story to the masses -- The Staff at Knott's Berry Farm, The Orange County Register, Fox Sports One, The Los Angeles Times, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and so many others too numerous to mention.  You're all terrific.  Rest assured that we'll come up with something else that will amaze, amuse and confuse the people that make real news.  We'll return on Thursday with more blog stuff.  Have a good day...

I knew we should have gone with Chumlee.

The Aces Casino Blog: A Short History On Just How This Dumb Blog Has Hit 20 Straight Super Bowl Picks (Call It "Jimmy The Greek Meets Dr. Doolittle.)

Without question, the staff here at Aces Casino Entertainment (A.K.A. the top orange county casino night party company on the west coast) has been blessed with what is the best job in the world.  Think about it -- We get to bring our crazy casino party crew to some of the best events in southern California, hob-nob with tons of great celebs and super clients, and also, one other thing -- We call it our second job --

Picking Super Bowl winners.

Well, it really didn't start out that way.  Our fine orange county casino party company was founded back on April 15th, 1994, and found that what we all did better than anyone else in our industry was provide state-of-the-art Las Vegas night casino parties, and truly entertain each and every one of our hundreds of clients better than anyone else around with our kooky, irreverent style.  People just love us.

So, near the end of our first year, when the annual NFL Championship Game came around, also known as the Super Bowl,  well, we thought it would be fun to supply the world with our selection of the winner of the game, "in our own irreverent style."  We figured who best to make the picks for us than our theme park-neighbor, Henny Penny, from Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park.  Here's the link to that chronological chicken-pickin' history....

Well, Henny picked the 49ers that fine day back in early 1995 (Ed. Note: before the internet, unfortunately), so, each and every year thereafter, we'd wander back over to Knott's, pester the handler of the chicken until he'd let us use that piano-playing prognosticator for our evil gambling deeds, and have Henny pick another winner.  Which she did.  (Dallas.)

And Another.  (Green Bay.)

And Another.  (Denver, which we thought was a SURE loser vs. the Packers.)   And Another.  (Denver, AGAIN.)

All totaled, That darned egg-laying wizard picked SEVENTEEN SUPER BOWL WINNERS IN A ROW, closing out the show with her winning pick of Green Bay on February 1st, 2011.  Here's the link to that piece of history.... Then came the saddest day of our football lives - Two local news channels (Ed. Note: From a tip we provided. Hey, free advertising.  Can't beat THAT.) came to chronicle Henny's Super Bowl 46 pick over at the theme park.  Unfortunately, when we arrived with our two helmets to pick from like every year prior, the Berry Farm's security put an immediate stop to the show, claiming (truthfully, as we found out) that the Henny Penny setup had been "retired," and was no longer an exhibit at the park.

No one knew where the chicken was (Ed. Note: We could all GUESS, of course, with the Chicken Dinner restaurant just 40 yards away), and found we were out of luck.  And... Promptly escorted out of the building. 

Well, if you know ANYTHING about Aces Casino Entertainment, you KNEW that we would find another way to get our selection.  So, we searched the internet for any qualified animal that could continue our tradition. So, in 2012, we turned to Papa, the miniature donkey, who promptly picked the New York Giants (Ed. Note: Gasp! We thought that was a loser for sure, against the 18-0 Patriots!)... Here's that pick....

The GIANTS??  Hey, that's why we use animals. Winn-ah, winn-ah..

In 2013 (after Papa's handlers told us to go away and not bother them for any more picks), we turned to Baby, the pigskin-predicting pachyderm, and got our 19th straight win....

Go Ravens!  (In our most controversial pick.)

Now, when Baby picked up the Ravens melon, we immediately went with that pick, and voted NOT to go with someone's idea that the ravens would be "eaten" by the 49ers.  Hey, we've always gone with the first touch, and the Ravens were that.  Check out the vid for yourself, that's a winner!

2014 was Teddy Bear, the Hedgehog.  (Ed. Note: It's a PORCUPINE, you dope, NOT a Hedgehog!)  This pick, I agreed with. 

20 in a row. 

2015 turned out to be our first snafu, when we picked Honey, the Aces Casino Mascot / Puggle, to make the pick for SB 49.  But, after many tries across two days to provide her with the chance to make history,  she declined every time.  Here's THAT link...

Nice goin', Honey.  Angel fan, should have known.

No problem.... The selection is in for Super Bowl 50, the pick was made on Monday, February 1st, by Onyx, the Panther from the Miami Zoological Society (Ed. Note: Just search our archives for THAT pick), and we're going for an unprecedented 21 straight winners.  Enjoy the Super Bowl, and we'll see you back here on Monday, with the Pickin'-post-mortems!

The Aces Casino Blog "Super Bowl 50 Selection Special:" Football Kitty Looks To Make It 21 Straight Wins With Our Annual Aces Super Bowl Pick!

Finally!

You talk about feeling the heat?  The staff here at Aces Casino Entertainment (A.K.A. the top orange county casino party company on the west coast) found out just how hot things can get, when it comes to extending our incredible streak of providing 20 consecutive winning Super Bowl picks.

After trying for two years straight to get our company mascot, Honey the dog, to make our heralded selection on who we think will win football's greatest prize, we finally learned something about "our pick to make the pick."

Puggles are incredibly stubborn.

We tried using Honey LAST year, with no luck.  Two straight days of watching that dopey dog just sit there, and do nothing.  I can't remember who coined that now-famous quote around these here parts (Ed. Note: "The true definition of the word 'insane' is repeating the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.'  I said it.), we decided to give Honey another chance THIS year.

Um, yeah, bad idea.  Two more days of filming, and filming, AND FILMING... No luck.  The dog is obviously a hockey fan.  So.. We finally made a team decision -- If, in the past, we've asked the Knott's chicken, two geese, various ducks, a groundhog, an elephant, and a dog that actually BEHAVED when asked for his pick, well, why not go BACK to what made your pick famous?

So, to THAT end, we've gone back to the dance with who brung us.  We put the word out to immediately find a replacement for Honey, and we found one -- At the Zoological Wildlife Research Center in Miami, Florida.  Perfect, we thought -- Miami!  They've hosted Super Bowls in the past, so they MUST have animals out there somewhere that have the winning pick, and are just waiting for someone to ASK them.

Well, we got wind of just such a situation..... The ZWRC just happened to be filming the type of Super Bowl pick that we love the most -- Onyx, the Zoological Wildlife Center's resident Panther, who would make the Aces Casino Entertainment "pick heard 'round the world," if we asked.  One quick vote from the staff here at the top orange county casino night party company in SoCal came in with a unanimous vote - Ladies and Gentlemen, we are proud to present the official selector of the 2015 Aces Casino Entertainment Super Bowl prediction.

Onyx, The Panther.

 Yeah, take a wild guess who I like.

Now, I know what you're thinking.... "Now, Aces, just HOW could you turn to an obviously BIASED game-picker like Onyx?"  The answer is simple -- Because!  Hey -- We've gone with Elephants, groundhogs, piano-playing chickens...Maybe THEY were biased.  We never asked.  We didn't care, as long as they were correct in their prognostication.  We're just as surprised as YOU are that the damned streak has gone this far.  Talk about luck...20 in a row, and going for 21.

So, as you've now seen, the Aces Casino Entertainment 2015 Super Bowl winner prediction is in - We like the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl 50.  Good luck to all of you that are throwing Super Bowl parties here in SoCal.... We're actually working at a few of them this Sunday.  As for the Aces Casino Blog, we'll be back tomorrow with a blog post that chronicles the history behind this crazy streak of Super Bowl winners, all selected by animals, and then, we'll be back on Monday to gloat about our 21st consecutive Super Bowl winner.  Have a good one, we'll see you tomorrow!