REGGIE

A GUEST AUTHOR’s HARVEST STORY

LARRY FLYNT’s LUCKY LADY GARDENA, CA

By: J. Eric Freedner

My story about the new Lucky Lady. I had been following the ups and downs of the Normandie Casino online - open, now closed, but actually still open . . . until news of Larry Flynt's purchase of the casino hit the news. But as you know, a big ruckus erupted between Larry and the City of Gardena which wanted a guarantee of $800,000 tax revenue per month in return for certain "favorable allowances." Mr. Flynt refused to cave in and kept the casino closed . . . for a few days. I recognized this as the classic poker-bluff.

Sure enough, the City caved in, and in a news release on July 19, it was announced that the Lucky Lady might open as soon as Friday, July 20. I read this on July 20 . . . and decided to drive down to Gardena to see for myself, with no great expectation that the casino would indeed be open.

But, surprise! The new Lucky Lady was open, in fact its grand opening, marked only by a workman hurriedly applying a new Lucky Lady decal to the front doors. It must have been hurriedly arranged - no balloons, flowers or that sort of thing. Just some dedicated gamblers playin' away . . . with new chips! Which, when I bought some at the Cage, turned out to have the naked lady on the inlay. Shocking, but fun! I had all of $65 with me at the time, and this went fast for 50¢, $1, and $5 chips. Walked around the tables and asked a dealer what those green chips were - $2 drop chips, she replied. Welllll . . . back to the cage for some of those, which the cashier graciously sold. But then - I spied some red chips in a rack and was told they were $3 drop chips - not currently on the tables. But, I asked the cashier, could I buy some as a collector? She shrugged and said it was all right with her. Next problem: no more cash!

Drove frantically around Gardena looking for a compatible ATM and sure enough, a block from the Hustler, the right bank appeared. So, with a newly-acquired $100 bankroll in my pocket, I raced back to the Lucky Lady and bought more chips, including those $3 ones.

Best chuckle of the night: seeing a patron approach the doors of the Lucky Lady, stop, and stare at the new decals. He did a double-take, as if he was on "Candid Camera." But the doors had a familiar look to them, so in he went. I can only imagine his surprise when he got a handful of naked lady chips for his game!

Anyway, that's one of the few casino grand openings that I ever attended, and pretty much all by accident.