In 1963 the gambling was all but closed in Newport. The old operators were running bingos in the bigger old joints.
I was operating a bingo in the Sportsman Club for Screw Andrews while he was on a federally funded vacation in Terra Haute. Martin Miller, Red Masterson, and Joe Berman were running a bingo in the Merchants. My bingo caller and I decided to see what the competition was doing one night and went to the Merchants to play bingo. I hit the coverall for $2,000 and recieved some very close scrutiny from the 3 old legends on Newport gaming. The coverall was in 50 numbers (not hit often) and my brother in law was calling the game for the 3 legends. When I yelled bingo he almost sh*t his pants. He invisioned both of us floating face down in the Ohio river. Eventually the boys were satisfied it was a legitimate bingo.

Information for new BB readers. Martin Miller was a real gentleman and turned out to be a good friend until the day he died. Red Masterson was a hit man for the Cleveland Syndicate. Joe Berman was Martin Millers brother and not a nice man. When Chequers gets back on line, you can read a little about Joe in my Arrowhead columns.

Bingo Information: There were many people in Newport that made a living taking off bingos up and down the east coast. Story for another day, "The trials and tribulations of Bingo Betty."