WEBVTT - Titanic and The Brain 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:03.480 Ridiculous crime is a production of My Heart Radio. Hey 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:07.480 Elizabeth Dutton, Yes, Zaren Burnett, you know what's ridiculous. Yeah, 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:10.680 I'll tell you what's ridiculous. The French word for dandelion 0:00:11.000 --> 0:00:15.040 is peace only, and that translates to what the bed 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:19.160 I literally thought you said on me. I said peace only, 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:26.400 same thing, and it's because dandelions the leaves have diuretic 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:30.920 properties make it which bed ah, what is what is 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:34.879 lee in French? L s? Bed Oh, that's what you 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:41.240 were saying. Over see, I read French, do not hear French. Okay, 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:43.959 so that's that's that's what I think is ridiculous. That's 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:45.839 a pretty good one. That that is darn goood. I 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:48.000 mean we could just stop the show. Well, I'm trying 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:50.840 to do ridiculous. I'm trying to tell you about stuff 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:54.440 that's like a ridiculous fact rather than my normal mini 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:59.280 Andy Rooney, what's irritating me today? You're taking my attack 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:01.560 of like you of the blue whales. A Orda is 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:05.000 big enough to drive a VW test driving that how 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:07.240 it feels? It's fun, isn't it? It It is? Well, I've 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:09.559 got a story for you, So how about a story 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:13.319 that's about the real life inspiration for Marlon Brando's role 0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:18.440 Skymasterson in the musical Guys and Dolls. And a friend 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:22.360 of that real life inspiration another man who himself inspired 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:25.080 the role of the big bank roll, the villain in 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:28.240 the first season of Boardwalk Empire. Oh, this has so 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:31.080 many good elements. I love it, all these references. Ready 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:54.520 to get ridiculous. Yes, this is Ridiculous Crime, a podcast 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:59.080 about absurd and outrageous capers, heists, and cons. It's always 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:07.800 murder free and one hundred ridiculous, Elizabeth. This story, it 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:11.040 takes place in the twentieth century, and we'll pretty much 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:14.519 be covering a lot of the architects, if you will, 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:18.360 of the underworld and organized crime of America. You're going 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:20.520 to hear some amazing names. It's like a Hall of 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:24.440 Fame roster. Here we go. The two men were gonna 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:28.040 focus on today have great names. They were called Titanic 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:33.120 Thompson and Arnold the Brain Rothstein. I'm already loving your 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:36.480 ankles deep in the water waiting in right. Okay, So 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:39.880 the Brain was a gangster. He was a banker for criminals, 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:43.440 and he's known as the architect of American drug distribution. Yes, 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:46.200 he came up with the model for basically financing heroin. 0:02:47.000 --> 0:02:48.720 Caroline was like a new drug back then. He's like, 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:52.200 I've got a way to make this pay and was like, Brain, 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:54.800 But that's not the story we're gonna tell. We're gonna 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:58.919 talk about him as a gambler. Now there's also Titanic Thompson. 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:02.440 He was a con and a professional traveling gambler, a 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:04.960 road hustler, if you will. And he was a man 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:08.080 who could get one over on just about anyone, that is, 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:12.000 except Arnold the brain Rothstein, except for he also could 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:17.040 do that right. Yes, so the pool shark, Minnesota Fats. 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:21.359 These names are coming at me fast and curious. Buckle up, baby, 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:26.359 So Minnesota Fats one's called Titanic Thompson quote the greatest 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:29.400 action man of all time. Now, he didn't mean like, oh, he's, 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:31.960 you know, a fit guy and looks like Jean Claude 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:34.560 Van Damn. No. When he talked about action, he means 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:38.200 money betting, big money bets. The action you find in 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:42.600 Vegas and Atlantic City. Right now. The legendary golfer Sam 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:46.800 Snead once called Titanic Thompson quote the greatest hustler of 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:49.440 all time. Right, I'm I'm telling you this is a 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:52.320 Hall of fame. This is just like, yeah, you pay 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:55.320 for this kind of admission to see this show. Now 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:58.160 you have to understand that this guy, Titanic Thompson was 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:01.600 a phenomenal laugh but he was also like you know, 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:06.160 just street level a great golfer. He was so great well, 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:10.520 I mean like ground level, you know, like pick up golf. 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:12.760 He was the kind of person that other golfers who 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:14.880 are really good like, why don't you turn pro? In fact, 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:17.279 pro golfers would be like, why don't you turn pro? 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:20.159 And when professional golfers like Sam Sneed, who he golfed with, 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:22.600 would be like, hey, Titanic man, you're pretty good, why 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:25.839 don't you consider going pro, he'd be like, you know, quote, 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:31.200 I could not afford that cut and pay. He was 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:34.000 making money, because you have to understand, as a professional 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:36.599 road gambler, he basically worked the country clubs of the 0:04:36.680 --> 0:04:40.599 newly oil rich Texas cities and towns. Now, that's a 0:04:40.600 --> 0:04:42.560 lot of loose and easy money to throw into your 0:04:42.560 --> 0:04:44.520 pockets because it was new to them. This is when 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:47.479 the Texas oil industry was basically brand new and just 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:49.320 starting to boom, so he went down there was just 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:53.159 cleaning up on the suckers. Right, So all those fresh 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:56.320 marks in Texas they kind of like, you know, give 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:58.880 him his name if you will, Like you'll find if 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:03.560 you read golf magazine Golf Digest, which I know you 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:05.920 get them as a subscription, right yeah, I make sure 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:08.359 they send me the ones from the twenties and thirties. 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:12.520 They will. Those magazines often will run little profiles or 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:15.880 mention things about Titanic Thompson, like he is still talked 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:18.400 about figure in the golf world. What's is Titanic is 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:23.000 not his government name? What's who? Titanic Thompson is not 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:24.880 his government name? What are you talking? You don't think 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:28.920 somebody's mother would name them Titanic Thompson, Right, No mother 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:31.880 would name their child after a sunken ocean lighter. So 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:34.200 that is a nickname. And we'll get into how he 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:36.719 earned that first. Let me tell you a little bit 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:39.920 more about the shapes and contours of this man. One 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:43.159 of his favorite cons was to bet against a golfer 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:45.920 and he would go on and beat them. Now, and 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:48.719 typically a con artist is not going to do that. 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:51.359 They want to instill confidence in their mark. He's like, 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:53.279 I'm gonna go the opposite way because people might see 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.200 me coming if I like lose. So instead he would 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:57.080 beat them and then guy was like a good game, 0:05:57.720 --> 0:06:00.359 Mr Thompson, and he was like, oh, tight handed if 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:03.240 you're nasty. But he's like, look, I know I just 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:05.360 beat you, but how about this, I'll give you a 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:07.480 chance to win back your money. And the person is like, 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:09.719 I don't know about that, man. You just you beat 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:11.719 me pretty handily. You know you're shooting in the eighties. 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:13.200 I was shooting in the nineties. I don't know about 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:15.560 the no, no, hear me out. I'll do the next 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:18.080 game left handed. They're like, oh, now you're making a 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:22.159 sporting Okay, okay, how about this double the bet double 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:26.440 your money double or nothing? And uh, I'll play left handed. 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:30.599 That's suspicious. You see, you're smart, you're skeptical. These people 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:33.200 down in Texas with their oil rich money. They're like okay. 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:35.880 So he would go out there and he'd play, and 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.520 in that second game he beat him too, and then 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:40.160 they'd be like, man, how did you do that? And 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:42.719 that's when they would learn his secret. He was left handed. 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:45.760 So he would beat him right handed, and then he 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:47.480 beat him left handed because he knew if he could 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:49.880 be him right handed, you know, done deal left handed. 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:54.159 This is my man. No like your brother, he's a lefty. 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:58.799 Right now, Trev, from what I recall, you were telling 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:02.200 me that he, as a baseball player, would throw lefty 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:03.920 and bat right or wait to get that back, he 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:08.800 through left, batted right, and what you hear from our 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:12.520 theme song, he plays the guitar right, but as a lefty. 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:15.160 But he doesn't he when he played baseball, he didn't 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:18.360 switch hit. Okay, okay, so he didn't switch it. It 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:22.240 was like Ricky Henderson throw left, bat right. I like that. Yeah, 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:26.800 anytime you're like Ricky Anderson, you're winning. So Oakland, Now, 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:30.320 can you imagine your brother doing any of this stuff 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:32.080 as a righty? You know, like, could you imagine him 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:34.800 being able to compete athletically at the level that you've 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:37.200 seen him by doing it as a righty? I don't 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:38.880 think so. And now I really want to see him 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:40.920 throw a baseball with his right hand, because that's always 0:07:40.960 --> 0:07:42.520 really funny. If I were to throw a ball with 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:46.560 my left hand, it's really funny. Yeah, you like, as 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:49.200 somebody who like I'm I tell people I am ambidexter's 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:50.840 because I started out using my left hand in my 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:52.440 right hand. I was a house painter, and I paint 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:53.960 with my left hand, and I used my right hand 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:56.160 to do like strong stuff, my left hand to do 0:07:56.320 --> 0:07:59.520 like delicate and like exact stuff. You know, they're basically 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:02.160 two different functions. But even if I go to throw 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:04.240 with my left hand, I have to basically work out 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:06.320 the mechanics before I do it, and then I can 0:08:06.320 --> 0:08:07.880 throw and I can hit whatever I want. But if 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:09.320 you just throw me a ball and ask me to 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:11.080 throw my left hand, it's probably gonna come out like 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:16.760 a shot put you know, its awkward. So Titanic Thompson 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:20.160 did not do that. He could, basically, without being ambidextrous, 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:23.960 perform as an ambidexter with he's pretty much yeah, he's 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:26.000 a switch with golf with And also this is the 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:29.680 kind of guy. He's a switch swinger. I'm just gonna 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:32.000 let that one go, which I don't even know where 0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:38.360 to take that. He's a switch putter. Well he okay, 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:42.920 Well just um switch potter. You know that just sounds 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:45.880 like like butter, Yeah, like switch butter. You know it's 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:48.920 just anyway, So Titanic Thompson he really likes to pick 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:51.600 on golfers. Another one of his like big scams was 0:08:52.240 --> 0:08:54.360 he wants bet a group of golfers that he could 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:57.960 basically drive a golf ball five yards, which is in 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:00.840 a phenomenal length of disc its right, it's just like 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:04.360 these days. Oh you know, you drive up a golf 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:06.840 ball five hundred yards, you put it in the passenger 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:10.319 city a car and you drive that. Literally is how 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:12.640 he wins bets. He once said he could throw a 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:15.560 ball up to the top floor of the Empire State 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:17.679 Building and he threw the ball into the elevator and 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.400 it just got sent up. So he's a big believer 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:22.199 in your way of winning a bet, and in this 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:24.920 case he did exactly that. Yes, he went out and 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:26.680 he bet these guys I hit it five into yards. 0:09:26.679 --> 0:09:28.520 He's like, okay, now, guys, getting my car. And then 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:30.800 he drove about to a frozen lake. He put the 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:33.000 ball down on the edge of the lake, hit it 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:35.560 and in golf, if it keeps skipping, that counts. So 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:41.240 he skipped it across the lakes. Wow, that's smarter than mine. Well, 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:44.200 Thompson said at the time, I could outsmart out, cheat 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:47.520 out cannive and roll higher than than I'm all in 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:51.040 my day. And that's no lie, and it really wasn't. 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:53.760 So Titanic Thompson was a lie. That was not his 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:57.760 birth name. His government name was Alvin Clarence Thomas. Now, 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:00.840 if you're a traveling gambler, it's good not to have 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:04.719 the losers know your government name. So therefore I was 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:07.360 willing to turn Thomas into Thompson and keep it rolling. 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:09.920 That's close enough. And it's like, yeah exactly, and people 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:11.840 are like, oh, they must have misheard me. Yeah, if 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:15.080 you missed state Thomas and they know you didn't hear me, right, 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:18.679 I said Thompson exactly. It's that reasonable duck kind of situation. 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:22.000 So there are two primary stories as to how my 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:26.040 man Titanic Thompson got his name Titanic. Now, the first 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:29.600 goes he was actually on the Titanic. Yeah, right, So 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:31.520 that doomed ocean liners out there in the Atlantic. It 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:34.320 hits the iceberg and starts to go down. Thompson's like, oh, man, 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:35.920 I gotta get out of here. So it throws on 0:10:35.960 --> 0:10:39.280 some women's clothes, hops in a life, just his voice, 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:40.800 and then he hops in a lifeboat and he's like, 0:10:41.040 --> 0:10:45.400 take us to America whatever he said, and they're like 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:48.120 all right, ma'am. So that was one way. The other 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:50.440 way that he got his nickname. The story goes he 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.599 was in a pool hall in Joplin, Missouri. Now, interestingly 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:57.320 both stories take place in the second story has nothing 0:10:57.320 --> 0:10:59.360 to do with that Titanic. He's just playing pool against 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:02.640 the guy. The guy, though, is a pool sharp. He 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:04.840 beats this other hustler, right, and it's just like pretty 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:08.480 much too, you know, gamblers basically, and he he beats 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:10.760 this guy and the guy's like, oh man, how was 0:11:10.760 --> 0:11:12.160 a good game. And Thompson is like, you want a 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:14.040 little side bet? Guys like, what are you talking about? 0:11:14.120 --> 0:11:16.240 I bet you I can jump over this pool table 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:18.120 without touching the table. And I was like, what are 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:20.360 you talking about? This is like a nine ft long table. 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:22.480 Was like, no, no, no, these sides you know, from 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:24.680 rail to rail. And he's like, I don't know even that. 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:26.520 I don't I couldn't imagine somebody being able to do. 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.000 I will jump over, I will not touch the table. 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:32.800 That felt nothing. So it's like, all right, I want 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:35.240 some of the money back. I'll take that but Thompson 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.920 then proceeds to jump over the pool table without touching. Felt. 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:42.679 I told you he's a phenomenal athlete. But he also, 0:11:43.000 --> 0:11:45.280 like I told you, he kind of like you know, 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:48.120 arranges his bets. So he had put a mattress on 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:50.320 the other side of the pool table, and he just 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:52.560 jumped up as high as he could and basically fell 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:54.920 onto the mattress. So he cleared the table, but in 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:58.040 a way that most people would never think to do. Wow. 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:01.680 So wait, the up of having a mattress to eat? 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:03.280 He just had a broad in He's like, go get 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:05.520 me a mattress right then. It wasn't like they were 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:09.400 playing around a mattress. Just don't mind the mattress there. 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:12.200 And this is not like a Seeley postropedic with springs 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:14.640 and a pillow top. This is just basically a bag 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:20.920 of straw. Mattresses were back, so it was a pile 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:24.960 of bricks, just feathers and bricks. So this dude's like 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:27.960 the guy who loses. He's like, someone's like, hey man, 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:30.440 that guy who just beat you and then embarrassed you 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:32.800 by jumping over a pool table. What's his story? What's 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:35.680 his name? And the guy who lost his Like, I 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:38.199 don't rightly know, but he must be Titanic the way 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:44.800 he's sinking everybody world star. So this nickname is fits, 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:48.320 and of course it sticks because you know it fits. 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:52.760 So the story goes that Titanic was known to always 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:55.079 be ready for a bet. In his car, he carried 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:57.800 a bowling ball, he had golf clubs, he carried a 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:00.480 hunting rifle, a pool queue, and a throw throwing rock, 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:06.280 A throwing rocket, right exactly, I saw, I saw this, bro, 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:08.120 what you gotta throwing rock for? But it turns out 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:09.920 I just like the idea that it's not just we 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:11.720 had a rock with him. It was a throwing rock. 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:15.080 It was like it was gonna have him win some bets. 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:17.160 This was like something he would use to you know, 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:19.040 It's like, oh, I bet you I can hit that 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:21.240 blossom on that tree. And so he would go out 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:23.560 there and get his rock and he would basically side 0:13:23.640 --> 0:13:25.719 arm it and hit whatever he wanted. But the thing is, 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:28.120 m I say, a throwing the rock, he had beveled 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:30.080 the edges so he could fit his finger in and 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:34.200 he basically would just like whip it around. Titanic Thompson 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:36.720 was committed to the bit right. Now. Of course, he 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:39.240 also kept dice on him because who doesn't want to 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:43.000 play craps with a gambler. Now, he had years of 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:46.320 practicing dice to the point that if you just set 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:47.760 him out in a hotel room and he had a 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:50.800 hotel bed, he could flip those dice in his hand 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:55.560 and get them to never almost never sit up a 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:58.320 six or a snake eyes. He wasn't gonna shoot craps, right, 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:00.920 he wasn't gonna get a seven. So he could pretty 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:04.760 much once every ten rolls uh six or a snake 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:07.800 eyes would come up. He could literally control the role 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:10.439 in the air of the dice. That's what I mean. 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:13.800 He loved the action. So this was the era of 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:16.360 the proposition bet. And this is when professional golfers and 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:18.959 gamblers and pool hustlers and card shops would challenge each 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:21.160 other to do these crazy feats of skill or luck. 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:22.800 And they would all do all of this for big 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:25.600 money like Titanic Thompson. And I'm not saying I'm talking 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:27.880 like thousands of dollars, not just like five dollars ten 0:14:27.920 --> 0:14:30.240 dollar bets. They would bet like hundred thousand dollars on 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:32.160 these things. There was this one time he's sitting out 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:35.840 with his friends Hickory McCullough and Beanie Benson, and they're 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:37.720 outside of Yeah, I thought you'd like these names outside 0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:40.760 of Joplin, Missouri and Titanic. Thompson tells the story this way. 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:43.000 He says, quote, that night, I dug up a sign 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:46.000 that said Joplin twenty miles, and I replanted it five 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:48.520 miles closer to Joplin. The next day, we were riding 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:50.360 along and I remarked to Hickory as we passed the 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:53.360 sign and said, those boys are crazy. It's not twenty 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.640 miles to Joplin. Hickory and Beanie they bet me five 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:59.920 hundred dollars each that the sign was right. This is 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:02.800 Hulls back then. That's a lot of a lot of 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:05.040 money on a sign, the placement of a sign. They're like, 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:09.120 I'll take So they're like okay, and so, continuing the 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:11.880 story with Thompson, he's like, of course I won that bet. 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:14.040 Now do you know how we won that bet? He 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:16.800 had moved the sign. So Hickory and Beaner were like, 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:19.640 oh man, Sandy. As Thompson tells it, Hickory and Beanie 0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:22.000 used that same sign to win plenty of bets. Later, 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:23.840 they're like, it's a good idea. It's a good idea. 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:29.040 It's now these names you you you commented on them earlier. 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:31.640 Hickory and Beanie are some of my favorites. What about 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:35.800 the Southern nicknames? Oh, they they're the masters Southerners and 0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:38.200 the masters of great nicknames. Yeah, you were in Carolina's. 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:41.520 I was in Georgia. I've traveled over the country. That 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:44.760 is possibly, I think the birthplace of some of the 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:47.280 best nicknames I've ever heard. I knew an old lady 0:15:47.360 --> 0:15:51.560 named punk. See this is what I'm talking about. I 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:54.960 know someone who has a family member called Stumper Thumper. 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:57.480 Oh my god, are you kidding me? How old is Stumper? 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:01.720 He's a grandpa now apparently as grandkids all him thump Daddy, 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:05.920 like granddaddy thumb dad. And then I know a guy 0:16:06.040 --> 0:16:11.920 named brother and uh yeah, nicknames and also just real names. 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:14.520 I mean like in the NFL, there used to be 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:18.080 a player named Peerless Price. Now you know his mom 0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:22.440 is from the South when he named the baby Peerless Prices. Right, 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:26.040 That's what I'm saying, on par with none. So we're 0:16:26.040 --> 0:16:27.920 going to take a little quick break and then I 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:29.880 will be back with more of this story, and I'll 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:32.440 tell you about a man with another great nickname, Arnold 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:55.840 the Brain Rothstein. Elizabeth, Yes, are you ready to meet 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:59.360 Arnold the Brain Rothstein born Ready? I like that about 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:02.360 you now. At fifteen years old, Arnold the Brain Rothstein 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:05.680 realized that he had natural limitations, as you know, don't 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:08.320 we all. But according to him, ever since that day, 0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:10.720 he's like, you know what, man, I'm never ever gonna 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:13.520 put a bet against a man that I am sure 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:18.840 can beat me the brain, right, I mean, you're smart 0:17:19.000 --> 0:17:21.879 if you can realize and recognize your natural limitations and 0:17:21.920 --> 0:17:24.640 then adjust in act accordingly. He's like, I ain't gonna 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:26.960 let me be the enemy. But don't you think everyone 0:17:27.040 --> 0:17:29.480 should say I'm not going to place a bet against 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:32.720 someone that I'm sure I can't beat. Um. Speaking for 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:35.480 the con artists of the world, no, I mean come 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:39.160 on now, I mean, obviously, yes, it would be best 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:41.040 if people are like, oh, but that's the whole point 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:43.199 of the confidence of the con artists. They make you 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:45.280 think like, oh, I can do this, and then they 0:17:45.320 --> 0:17:48.560 just take your pocket. Now, Rothstein. He also had this 0:17:48.640 --> 0:17:50.960 nickname the Brain because he basically had a calculator for 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:53.640 a brain. He could calculate the odds that you could 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:56.680 count cards. He can memorize angles of any con he'd 0:17:56.680 --> 0:17:58.680 been a part of. And in the world of the gambling, 0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:00.800 having a brain that is basically a calculator is a 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:03.639 money making right. So by the age of twelve, he 0:18:03.680 --> 0:18:07.960 was a professional gambler. Yeah, he's just imagining a twelve 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:10.320 year old sitting at a card table is incredible. Oh, 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:13.080 it gets better. Right. The dude's born in two so 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:14.840 we're talking like turn of the century. He was born 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:18.000 to an Orthodox Jewish family. His dad has this nickname, 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:20.959 Abe the just like he's deep in the community. Now 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:23.200 Abe the Justice Beloved, and he's like, you know, he 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:27.119 becomes a small time businessman and his son is like, 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:30.680 all right, we're Orthodox Jewish, which means on the Sabbath 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:33.679 on Friday night, we're gonna pretty much shut down everything 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:35.919 in my family and the household no power. I mean, 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:39.040 you know, they had electricity, but like that we're not doing. 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:41.320 I'm saying, yeah, but at that time they actually had 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:43.280 it as an option, you know, because it's like but 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:45.040 he's he's like, my family is not going to use it. 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:47.040 We're always gonna be, you know, pretty much chilling for 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:51.760 the Sabbat, right, And meanwhile, he's like, I don't feel 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:53.600 that way, So I'm just going to go out and 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:56.399 gamble while nobody's looking. So he would go in steal 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:58.480 money out of his dad's wallet on Friday night. He 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:00.399 would go gamble all weekend, and as long as he 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:02.480 got the money back in his dad's wallet by Sunday, 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:04.720 his dad would never know. So he made his dad 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:08.080 his credit line. At age twelve, He's down there gambling 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:11.560 with his dad's cash. Like, I just love this guy. 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:15.120 So in nineteen fifteen, this is exactly three years after Titanic, 0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:17.800 Thompson first earned his nickname. Either on an ocean line 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:19.720 or a pool hall in Joplin, Missouri, we don't know 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:23.800 Arnold Rothstein. Meanwhile, his living in New York, and he's 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:26.840 been super successful. He's been a professional gambler now for 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:29.520 five years. He opened his own gambling house in nineteen 0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:33.480 After that, he becomes a millionaire. But he notices that 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:36.399 his rivals, these other gambling houses, keep getting robbed. Now, 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:38.720 hold on a second, he's been a professional gambler for 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:42.479 five years. He's seventeen at this point. No, No, he 0:19:42.560 --> 0:19:46.160 was born in eighteen eighty two, so he would be 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:50.440 twenty eight years old. Yeah. So he's like a man 0:19:50.560 --> 0:19:53.240 at this point, like a full on, like and respected 0:19:53.280 --> 0:19:57.920 man of the community, right, but still a millionaire. Oh yeah, No, 0:19:58.000 --> 0:20:01.520 he's doing stuff right according to the American valuations. You know, 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:04.840 this gambling out city opens. He's like, this is a target. 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:07.560 So you know what, I've seen everybody getting hit, and 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:09.840 I'm gonna come up with something nobody else has done. 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:12.400 I'm ditching the permanent gambling house. I'm just gonna invite 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:15.040 people to my floating craps game. So he just let 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:16.560 them know where the craps game was going to be 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:20.240 that that night or that weekend. He pretty much invented 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:23.520 pop up gambling. Everyone's like, this is genius. Now, if 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:26.280 you ever heard of floating craps game. That is basically 0:20:26.320 --> 0:20:29.280 the major plot point of the musical Guys and Dolls, 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:32.520 and I had mentioned that earlier as they were inspirations. 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:36.080 Turns out, Arnold the brand Rostyn was a double inspiration, 0:20:36.080 --> 0:20:38.399 not only the intration for Boardwalk Empire, but also for 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:40.760 Guys and Dolls. And then we'll get more into that 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:42.840 in a second. But first let's get back to Titanic. 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:46.800