The Buddha Saga - Part II

| Published: Feb 27, 2004

In Part I of this saga, I introduced you to a young man nicknamed "Buddha" who had become a legend in Southern California casinos because of his big-stakes play in poker, sports betting, and especially pai gow, where he would take the bank and routinely win or lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single session. He was equally famous (or notorious) for his outrageous verbal abuse of dealers, whom he would then compensate with oversized tokes. He had asked me to write a story about him, and told me his gaming bankroll came from a $20 million inheritance from his grandfather, and that his parents had another $70 million or so in reserve.

After the story was written, it was put on hold when Buddha began talking about being in hot water with the Department of Justice. He said he was being threatened with indictment because he wouldn't provide information on a lifelong friend who was under investigation in a $15 million case of some sort. He said he was afraid the mob would hit him if he did.

Then came the shocker. A story broke in the papers reporting that Buddha (real name, Robert Gomez) and two others were indicted on 23 counts by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri, alleging they bilked churchgoers out of $21 million by promising them nonexistent discounted automobiles. The story said Buddha was supposed to be the adopted son and heir of a wealthy and religious New York businessman who died and wanted Christians rewarded for their piety. The indictment charged the trio claimed to have had 7,000 autos available to churchgoers as a reward for their piety, and that most of the money they collected was deposited into players' accounts at various L.A.-area casinos.

Buddha had been arrested inside the Hustler Casino by agents of the California Department of Justice, division of Gambling Control, and inspectors from the U.S. Postal Service, with $800,000 in gaming chips in his possession. If convicted on all counts, including money laundering, the story said, Buddha could be fined $7 million and face up to 235 years in prison without parole. That's a lot of penalty time. At 10 minutes a pop, he would have to utter the f-word more than 10 million times at tournaments to earn that much penalty time.

After several months of incarceration at Leavenworth, he was let out on bail and returned to Los Angeles. He contacted me and asked that his side of the story be aired. Then, he got into more hot water. He was supposed to avoid gambling situations, but got caught going on a PartyPoker Million cruise. He was returned to Kansas City to await trial, under electronic surveillance. The trial was in September. His attorney subpoenaed several poker and pai gow players and staffers, trying to show his money came from gaming, but it was no use. He was convicted on all counts.

Sometime later, Howard Lederer came across a story in Car and Driver magazine about the "Miracle Cars" scam (as the case had come to be known) and thoughtfully posted it on rgp (rec.gambling.poker). Curious as to Buddha's reaction, I printed it out and mailed it to him. His upbeat reply blew me away. He wrote back and said the writer of the article, John Phillips, was his "agent." Phillips was writing a book, and they were currently in the midst of a "huge" book/production deal with Avalon Books, which, he wrote, was "very interested in buying/purchasing the rights to my lifetime gambling story/life and my role in the Miracle Cars scam." A movie, he said, was also a possibility.

I can't wait to see whom they cast to play him.

Well, Buddha got sentenced in December. He wrote to tell me he got 21 years, but as a first-time offender would be home by the summer of 2007, and might even get a favorable decision with his appeal in February. He was also fined $12.5 million, which had to be paid by the year 2025 or the government would seize assets held in foreign banks, which he doesn't think they can get at.

Well, that's the Buddha saga to date. He had expected to serve his time in a Southern California facility, but ended up being incarcerated in a Texas prison. He'd enjoy visitors, so if you're ever in his area, you can bring a deck of cards and try your luck with him if you'd like. And do stay tuned. With this guy, who can guess what Part III might bring?