Benny Plays a Trick on Cowboy

I have a lot of fond memories of my friend Benny Binion from the old days in Las Vegas. One time during the early 1980s, I was all dressed up in a suit and vest with my cowboy hat on, wearing my diamond rings and gold jewelry, and was playing poker with the boys at the Horseshoe. Two tourists walked by and saw Benny standing on the rail watching the game. He hadn't shaved for a couple of days and was looking a little bit raggedy.

"We'd like to meet this Benny Binion," one of them said to him. "Do you know where we can find him?"

"That's him," Benny answered, pointing at me. "You'd better not bother him while he's playing cards, but that's him for sure sitting right over there."

After I finished playing poker, I joined Benny in the coffee shop. "Cowboy, you know what I done?" he asked.

"What was that?"

"Well, a coupla guys came by the poker room a little while ago sayin' they'd like to meet Benny Binion. You was sittin' there all dressed up and lookin' good, so I just pointed at you and told them that you was Benny Binion. Hell, you was dressed real nice and they weren't gonna know the difference. That ain't gonna hurt nothing," he laughed. I got a kick out of it and laughed right along with him.

The next morning I had breakfast with Benny and R.D. Matthews, who was working at the Horseshoe at the time. I had made up a little story to tell Benny.

"You know, the damnedest thing I've ever seen happened to me last night," I started.

"What happened?" Benny asked.

"You know them two guys you told that I was Benny Binion? Well, I ran into them last night kinda late, and I think I really messed up." I was acting real serious.

"What'd you do?"

"Well, they asked me if I really was Benny Binion, and since you'd already told them I was, I said, 'Yes, I am.' Then they told me that they wanted to put up some money with me, but they didn't want to put it in the cage. They just wanted to put it up with me, Benny, as a bank to gamble against. 'All right,' I said. 'How much do you want to put up?'

'$25,000,' they said. 'OK, just let me have it,' I said, and they handed me the money and left. Then I drank a coupla beers and started shooting craps – and I lost every damned nickel! I don't know what I'm gonna do if they come back down here."

"Oh, my God! We've gotta find 'em, we've gotta find 'em!" Benny was really upset. "I've gotta pay those guys that money this very minute. When they come around, holler at me and I'll give them their money." He thought I was really serious about taking the $25,000 off them and shooting craps with it. Later on, I told him the truth and he got a laugh out of it.

Another time, I had just gone broke gambling at the Horseshoe, and R.D. Matthews and I were sitting in the Sombrero Room talking about it when Benny came walking by. "Benny, I need some more money," I told him.

"Cowboy, I'm gonna tell you something," he said. "I've just paid my income tax and I went on a guy's note for $20,000 and he didn't pay it. I just don't believe I can do it."

"Well, I'll be damned," I said, kidding him a little bit. "I guess if I had won, I couldn't have got paid my damned money. Thank you anyway, I won't bother you no more today."

"Wait a minute, Cowboy!" he said, pulling on my sleeve. "R.D., go down to the cage and get him that money! We don't want that damned story getting around."

Benny's friends could do no wrong and his enemies could do no right, it was as simple as that. I remember the time when he let me take his seat in a big five-card stud game, where the low card had to bring it in for $100 … but I'll save that story for another day.

Editor's note: Cowboy Wolford won the $1,500 buy-in limit hold'em championship at the World Series of Poker in 1991. His new book, Cowboys, Gamblers & Hustlers, is available through Card Player. For complete details, visit the web at www.pokerbooks.com.