https://www.888casino.com/blog/flynt-888-story

Larry Flynt was hilarious. The recently deceased publisher of Hustler magazine was an avid gambler, who, despite being paralyzed as the result of an assassination attempt in 1978, retained a perfectly dry sense of humor. The first time I interviewed Flynt, back in the late 1990s, I asked him why he had such an affinity for poker and blackjack. In his froggy voice, speaking to me from a perch on his motorized gold-plated wheelchair, he replied, “Well, I’m not going to take up water skiing, am I?”

That is no doubt a true statement, but Flynt, who had a disarmingly boyish way about him, did not wait until being wheelchair bound to get into gambling. He told me that he first played poker in the military. As his financial resources increased so did the stakes at which he chose to gamble. By the time casino host Steve Cyr encountered him in the high-limit room of Las Vegas’s Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, Flynt was a bonafide whale. He played blackjack for $25,000 per hand (a sum that would increase over the years) and maintained a credit line of $1 million.

Cyr spent months trying to woo Flynt away from the Rio and to the Las Vegas Hilton where Cyr worked as a host.

Flynt was comfortable at the Rio and not really interested in playing elsewhere until Cyr made the publisher an offer he could not refuse. “I told him that I have 100,000 reasons for him to come over the Hilton,” Cyr, the subject of a book called “Whale Hunt in the Desert”, told 888. “I gave him $100,000 in promotional chips [used for play at the table and paid off with cashable chips on winning hands]. Larry is such a great guy that he said, ‘If you’re giving me 100,000, I’ll bring a million-dollars of my own.’ He gave us a shot at winning some of his money, which most players would not necessarily do.”

It proved to be a profitable decision. “Larry went through the 100K,” recalls Cyr. “Then he dipped into his own money and wound up winning a million dollars from us.”

That outcome set a precedent. “He won on his next seven trips,” says Cyr. “Baron Hilton [who owned the hotel chain] made Larry a trophy that said World’s Greatest Blackjack Player. He was up millions of dollars that year and we could not beat him. He gave us plenty of time, but, unlike a lot of gamblers, Larry was disciplined. I think he came to the casino with a number in his head, played until he won that number or else lost a certain amount, and then he left. He flew to Las Vegas on his own jet” – a sinister looking aircraft, painted black with the word Hustler in electric pink – “and took off when he wanted to. He would not necessarily stay the weekend.”

Cyr describes him as “shrewd … Larry’s strength was bankroll. He could ride out the losses and he was disciplined.” He avoided playing after a few glasses of wine and drank ultra-hot coffee at the table (a butler would man a Bunson burner that kept Flynt’s brew at the properly scorching temperature). Cyr respected Flynt’s financial resiliency but the Vegas gambling dens did not necessarily love it. “Casinos were not sure whether to keep him playing or to stop him from playing,”Justin Smith, a friend of Flynt’s and a former high-stakes poker pro turned movie producer (his latest project, “Flinch” [flinchthemovie.com], was recently released), tells 888. “He put them into tricky positions.”

A natural negotiator, Flynt wheedled concessions from the casino before sitting down to play. “There would be 30 deal points,” says Cyr. “As soon as he landed, he got a $10,000 reimbursement for airfare. If he lost a million dollars, we gave him a 20-percent discount. So it cost him only $800,000. Then he got $25,000 in promo chips for every three hours he played. Larry negotiated to split aces four times, switch dealers any time he wanted and to surrender with any two cards.”

That last condition was critical for Flynt. He was not just any blackjack player. Years ago, while I was attending a major baccarat tournament in Monte Carlo, one of the sharpest players on the circuit told me about working with a poker pro to create a blackjack strategy for Flynt. It optimized comps, took discounts into consideration and minimized losses. Flynt confirmed this for me, identifying Jason Lester as the poker pro in question and accurately describing my source as “a guy from out of San Francisco.”

Flynt added, “The big thing they helped me on is whether you are supposed to surrender six against a face card. He and the San Francisco guy ran several million hands through a computer and concluded that you are 30-percent better off to just surrender.” And while Flynt may have ranked among the few high-rollers to use a basic strategy card at the table – these things tend to be employed by old ladies and nervous pensioners – he told me that his card was far from ordinary. It contained the strategy cooked up by Lester and his San Francisco collaborator. “The ones soldin casinos are bullshit. They’re conservative, they’re weak, they’re non-aggressive. I had a lot of these special cards made up and I used them. I used it last year [2007, one year before this particular interview] in Vegas and came out winning $2.5 million.”

Two other requests would have been less costly for the casino – putting Hustler in the sundries shop and allowing his 1998 bachelor party to be thrown at the Beverly Hills Hilton – but were both shot down by Baron himself. The ever resourceful Cyr, however, found workarounds. “Whenever Larry came to the casino, I bought a half-dozen Hustlers and put them on the gift shop’s magazine shelf,” he says. “And I arranged to have the bachelor party held in a Beverly Hills mansion owned by a player of mine. Larry’s logic about us carrying his magazine was, ‘You have Playboy in there and I don’t see Hugh Hefner gambling at the Hilton.’”

As to whether or not Flynt – who opened his own Gardena, California, gambling spot, the Hustler Casino, in 2000 – was a winning player at blackjack depends on who you ask. Flynt himself told me he was ahead and Cyr counters that he lost overall. Smith, who was one of the world’s top poker players before shifting to movie production, expresses some insight: “Larry knew what he was doing. I’ll put it that way. One would be foolish to expect that a guy whose company name is Hustler would not be a hustler in his own right. I would be careful about letting him gamble in a casino. I would think he was a winning player, based on what he told me.” 

Pressed for further details, Smith clams up. “I’ve got to honor the code,” he cryptically explains.

As Smith knows, from participating in many iterations of the famous Larry Game, Flynt’ sultra-high-stakes poker blowout where you could win or lose $500,000 in a single night, Flynt loved to play 7 card stud. For years the game was held in his home – kept at temperatures so low that frequent participant Barry Greenstein wore layers of thermal underwear below his clothing – and it later moved to the Hustler Casino. But prior to that, Flynt was a fixture on the Vegas circuit where he matched wits with greats like Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese and Stu Ungar. Asked to recall a good story about the drug-loving Ungar, Flynt answered without hesitation: “I got shot a couple years before I started playing in Vegas and I was taking a lot of pain killers. I used to drink a Brompton cocktail: 60-percent morphine, 20-percent alcohol, and 10-percent cocaine. This concoction was perfectly legal. It was made up for cancer patients in their final few weeks of life. I gave Stuey a cup of that. He went to the restroom and drank it. He didn’t come out for a while. So a couple people went in looking for him, and he was sprawled on the floor, unconscious. When he came to, he accused me of trying to kill him.”

Flynt hesitated for a beat, allowing the tale to resonate, and then kicked in another one about the great but tragic poker star. “This sums up Stuey’s whole personality. He and I are playing poker, heads up, at the Horseshoe in Vegas. I took off a card and had a gut-shot straight-draw. I caught a 7 for a 9 high straight. He made trips or something, bet out, I raised and he called me. I turned over my cards, and he said, ‘God damn.’ We were playing on a blackjack table and he picked up the table and just threw it on the floor. Stuey had a temper. As long as things were going Stuey’s way and he was winning, he was fine. But if he started losing and you started making bad beats on him, well, he started to steam pretty bad.”

Then Flynt’s boyishness rose to the surface as he smiled tightly and added, “I was always able to get him irritated pretty easily.”

Whether playing blackjack or poker, Larry Flynt will be remembered as a gambler who savored competition and handled beats a lot better than Ungar did. “He was a gentleman all the time,” says Cyr. “He took losing the same way he took winning. You had to love a guy who had a big bankroll, had balls and loved the action. That was Larry.”

Rich grew up in a suburb of Salt Lake City, attended college at The University of Utah, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the business school. He entered the insurance business right after graduation and cut his teeth working for a national life insurance company. Being the first in his family to work in the industry, he didn’t have the networks that many of his peers enjoyed, so he hustled and hustled to build his own network and create his own referrals. As a result, Rich’s network of contacts, former clients, friends, and business associates is incredibly extensive and literally spans the globe.

While Rich was hustling to build his book of business, he also learned an extremely valuable lesson about successful people; they’re usually very willing to mentor and help others, most of the time you just need to ask. And ask (and learn), he did. By the time Rich finished his sixth year in insurance, he qualified for the Top of the Table of the Million Dollar Round Table – the industry’s premier production-based organization; he was 28 years old and one of only ten producers under 30 to qualify for Top of the Table. Rich maintained ToT production levels, some years many times over, every year he was active in the industry.

Eventually, Rich and a partner attracted the attention of a public company in NYC in late 2007 and made a bid for his independent brokerage operation in early 2008. Rich exited and his partner stayed for an attractive earn-out. The following year he jumped into the bank card processing and merchant services business with a college friend who rolled the new platform into his existing restaurant Point of Sale system sales business. It was immediately profitable, and he exited in 2012.

Since then, Rich has stayed busy with consulting engagements in both the insurance world and in data analytics and brokerage and gaming/hospitality – focusing on entity structure and financials.

The casino floor at The Cosmopolitan comes to life with the excitement of classic table games like:

Table Games:

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• Blackjack
• Roulette
• Craps
• Let It Ride®
• Baccarat

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• Fortune Pai Gow Poker
• Three Card Poker
• Ultimate Texas Hold’Em
• Crazy 4 Poker
• Spanish 21

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Slots:

At The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, we have a wide variety of slot machines – 1,478 reel spinning, video reel and video poker machines with denominations ranging from $0.01 – $500. No matter what your level of play, you’ll find something that’s right for you. And, all of our slot machines incorporate state-of-the-art technology to keep you continually entertained.

Only a short drive from the Las Vegas Strip, Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa offers lavish amenities in its beautiful guest rooms, including plasma TVs, iPod docking stations, marble bathrooms and luxury linens. Guests can take in the scenery of Red Rock Canyon and the lights of city right from their room.

In the resort’s enormous casino, guests will be delighted to find an array of table games, close to 3,000 slot and video poker machines, a poker room and a bingo hall. Dining options are numerous as well, and include T-Bones Chophouse & Lounge, Cabo Cantina, Grand Cafe and The Feast Buffet. Each restaurant has its own distinctive feel, look and menu, whether it be the western classics of the Salt Lick BBQ or the authentic Italian delights of Terra Rossa.

The Spa at Red Rock offers a variety of holistic massages and body treatments for those in need of a little rest and relaxation with saunas, steam rooms and a yoga garden available to spa customers. There is also a full-service salon, fitness area and an expansive pool complex.

For a change of pace, guests at Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa can go dancing in the warm, red atmosphere of Cherry Nightclub, knock down pins at Red Rock Lanes bowling center or catch the latest flicks at the state-of-the-art Regal Cinema movie theater. Performers like Zowie Bowie draw crowds to Rock’s Lounge, while the Onyx and Lucky bars provide a more low key spot to kick back with a few drinks.

Guests can also take the recreational route. There are several nearby golf courses as well as hiking trails andsight seeing at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

Casino At Sea:

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• Blackjack
• Craps
• Roulette
• Let it Ride
• Caribbean Stud Poker
• 3-Card Poker
• Baccarat
• Highest Table Limits at Sea
• Personal Betting Limits
• Casino Credit
• Player Programs
• Membership Club
• 24-Hour Slots
• Newest Reel Machines
• Video Poker
• EZ Pay Coinless Slots
• Progressive Banks
• Mystery Jackpots
• Slots ranging from one cent to $100

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Voted ‘Best Cruise Line’ by the readers of Casino Player Magazine.

Measuring a minimum of 450 square feet, each room contains either a king or two double queen beds, relaxing lounge chairs and spacious marble bathrooms. Special needs are easily accommodated and child care services are available. Surrender to the calling of bliss and indulge in divine spa therapies in the 22,300 square-foot luxurious Elemis Spa at Mohegan Sun. Additionally, and available only to our guests, the Fitness Center and pool are the perfect way to unwind.

It has sandy beaches, ocean-like pools, underwater music, deluxe private cabanas, swim-up gaming and delicious beach fare. 657 sophisticated guestrooms, deluxe suites, celebrity suites and the popular ‘boom-boom’ room. Six on-site dining experiences from around the world. The famous Pink Taco (mexican fare), AJ’s Steakhouse, Mr Lucky’s 24/7 Diner, Nobu (Japanese), Starbucks, and the newly added Simon Kitchen and Bar (American-Style fare).

The Golden Nugget is the proud recipient of 37 “Best of Gaming Awards” courtesy of Casino Player Magazine readers!

You’ll find plenty of entertainment options on-site at the Wyndham Nassau Resort, from one of the Caribbean’s largest casinos – to eight exciting specialty restaurants and lounges. Unwind in the 5000 square foot oceanview fitness center, gift shop, shopping arcade and concierge. Relax and enjoy the private beach and lagoon, swimming pool with water slide, swim-up pool bar and water sports. Or take advantage of the many nearby sporting facilities, which include an 18- hole PGA-approved golf course.

Perhaps the best feature of our hotel, however, is its proximity to complete gaming excitement. Whether you want to play in our grand casino, or test your mettle at the challenging Barona Creek Golf Club, you’re only steps away.

Of course, the easiest way to enjoy our incredible hotel experience is as a Club Barona member. Membership is free and easy, lets you accumulate points toward hotel stays, and delivers other special offers. And serious players can call the Real Player’s Hotline for the ultimate VIP hotel experience. Learn more about making reservations, earning comped stays, as well as our special getaway packages now. And come to where the real players stay.