Who am I Going to Borrow From in Coach?

If you have become a poker enthusiast in the last five years, you could not possibly appreciate Eric Drache. If Harrah's intends to do anything credible with the Poker Hall of Fame, it needs to induct Drache, pronto.



Where would the World Series of Poker be without Drache? As its first tournament director in 1973, he took over an informal gathering of high-stakes Texas gamblers (there were only two events) and, by 1989, turned it into the event it is today: worldwide media coverage (including the media tournament, which paid money to those at the final table, if Harrah's is listening), schedules set months in advance, events in all forms of poker, a ladies event, and satellites. Take out the Internet influence and despite the 2005 World Series being 30 times the size of Drache's last as tournament director, the institution is very similar to what Drache developed.



Eric had a starring role in two of my all-time favorite poker books, A. Alvarez's The Biggest Game in Town and Anthony Holden's Big Deal. It became a point of pride that, when I talked about Eric in my book, I would have an original story to share. (Keep in mind that when I was researching The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King, I resolved to interview Drache despite knowing of no nexus between Drache and the Andy Beal games.)



Despite his formidable poker talent, pioneering role in American poker, and personal qualities like brains, resourcefulness, integrity, and resilience, most Eric Drache stories concern large amounts of money he has borrowed. Al Alvarez, in his autobiography, Where Did It All Go Right?, tells about Tony Holden trying to find Drache after hearing rumors that he left town owing $4 million. As Alvarez and Holden converged on Vegas, hoping to reunite with Eric on the trip, Tony found him living in L.A. Eric had a new daughter and was wrapped up in obligations near home.



Holden told Alvarez that Drache couldn't make it, but "I'm going to astonish you, delight you, and appall you with just two words: Erica Drache."



"Jesus," Alvarez replied, "he's had a sex change."



The two were still laughing like jackals in a Binion's restaurant when Jack Binion, a longtime friend of Drache, asked what they were laughing about.



When told, he solemnly said, "It's his only way out."



How would this legendary character who, for all I knew was little more than a creation by a pair of literary geniuses and now past 60, measure up?



Giants, no matter what happens, are always giants.



Eric was leaving for a vacation in two days, but meeting the next day was out of the question. "I'll be out all day borrowing money for the trip."



We met on a later occasion, and several thereafter. I am lucky to call Eric Drache a friend. He also shared with me several great stories, ones that, to my knowledge, have not appeared elsewhere. This was the ammunition to go toe-to-toe with my writing idols, Holden and Alvarez, but I shot myself in the foot. I credited Eric in the book – I scarcely could have avoided it – as being one of the pioneers of Las Vegas poker, but failed to take advantage of what I learned from and about this larger-than-life character.



Bad Timing: I learned one great Eric Drache story too late for publication. The book includes Ted Forrest's description of running into Drache on flights between L.A. and Vegas, seeing Eric, broke, in first-class, while Ted trudged to the back of the plane, where he would be wedged between two offensive linemen.



Barry Greenstein, reading an advance copy, e-mailed me with the rest of the story: "When asked why he always travels first class, Eric responds, 'Who am I going to borrow from in coach?' He once secured a $100,000 loan from a stranger he met in first-class on a flight to Las Vegas."



Bad Timing Again: My personal favorite Drache story, which didn't make the book because I couldn't fit it into my story, concerned the first pot he played with Puggy Pearson, when Eric came out to Vegas in 1970 or 1971. (He is still vague on the year.) The bigger problem now, however, is that Michael Kaplan and Brad Reagan used the story in Aces and Kings.

Drache was playing $100-$200 seven-card stud with Puggy Pearson. Pearson was the king of seven-card stud in those days, and Eric, in a move foreshadowing the rest of his gambling life, was playing with his entire bankroll on the table.



The two built a huge pot.



Drache said, "I had my standard two aces. On the river, I made a mistake. I was down to my last $200 and checked. Puggy, of course, came out betting. I said, 'I just want to let you know, I have two aces.' Puggy said, 'Son, I don't need your money. I'm telling you like a father. Put that $200 back away. Start over again. You're a good boy.' I thought it over carefully and folded. Puggy then showed me the bluff."



Third time is the charm: I simply forgot to include this last story, about the ethical choices an honest man makes among dishonest men. I described in the book at length Drache's commitment to honest poker in Las Vegas, but I never properly put that in context with the times. For instance, even though cheating was rampant, it was not considered proper, as a player, to rat out cheaters. Everyone took care of himself. "If it happened in my poker room, I would bar them. I had many cheaters who played in my room who gave me their word. In most cases, they held to it."



As a player, however, refusing to be the snitch created a dilemma. Drache was warned of one particular game, but "I had to keep my word that I wouldn't say anything. I actually violated that once, because I told a close friend, 'Stay out of that game.' The trouble is that everyone has a close friend. He went and told someone else who was in the game. By the time it got to him, he misunderstood and thought he heard that I was cheating. He was ready to go outside and fight."



They straightened it out, but Drache's concern about his honor went beyond someone mistaking him for a cheater. "If that had gotten back to the cheaters, it would have been considered very unethical by the cheaters' standards. That's really bad, being considered unethical by a cheater. Even they have honor."

If you have any comments to share, you can contact me at [email protected].