A fascinating piece about New Orleans–A city where I lived for several years last decade. And where @RaginCajun has deep ties to, as well. The site of tomorrow’s Super Bowl, this article reveals one side of the city, entrenched in its rich history.
via The New York Times
NEW ORLEANS — There is a man living here named Michael. He is in his 30s, went to high school in the Uptown area and enjoys watching his two children run around and play. He is, in his own words, “a regular, boring family guy.” He has also had a bookmaker since he was 14.
Michael is not alone. While New Orleans is known to many for its food or its booze or its jazz or its mood, there is a deep history of underground bookies and bettors in this city’s underbelly, and the business of betting continues to thrive. After all, this is a city that lived through an era when everyone — including, allegedly, Lee Harvey Oswald’s family in the 1940s — seemed to either make bets or take bets, or was related to someone who did one or the other.
Even now, Michael said, finding a bookie in town to place a bet on Sunday’s Super Bowl might be only as difficult as locating a tavern that has been in business for a few decades.
“Just go to a place that has one of those signs that says, ‘Established in 1954,’ or something like that,” said Michael, who did not give his last name because of the illegal nature of sports betting in Louisiana. “If a bar has been around awhile, it’s a lock that the owner either takes bets or can point you to someone who does.”
Harry, a local bettor in his 60s, was even more blunt. “If the government wanted to round them up, they could fill the Superdome with bookmakers this weekend,” he said.
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Nothing like the film “The Cincinnati Kid” to get a flavor for the New Orleans gambling underground.
Anytime “The Cincinnati Kid” shows up in the channel listing for TCM, I’m watching. probably seen it 10 times.