THE BLACK HAND FORUM

They were

1. Good for the money.
2. Ethical in the sense that betting with such a courteous and professional bookie was a clubby privilege of sorts so they didn't want to appear to be a deadbeat in front of their friends.
3. Discreet in that they didn't want to have to deal with anyone who even had a whiff of impropriety.

Some businessmen get a rush from being around OC. Not these guys.

It's kinda the same principle of the elite high end escort services.

So who took over the book once Joe died? His son isn’t running it now is he? I saw he was interviewed in a few news articles, so I assume he wouldn’t be that high profile if he was still involved.

Mastronardo takes bets from people all over the world not just Philly. I have a lot of interesting shit on him and The Animals

Tony Monte wrote: ↑Tue Feb 19, 2019 6:43 pm The high level clients would be Dr’s, Lawyers, businessmen. People that could lose 5-10k and not go running to Feds for help.

Bingo. They did not want to deal with the threats and BS from the mob. They feel more comfortable with how they do business than south philly boys

The high level clients would be Dr’s, Lawyers, businessmen. People that could lose 5-10k and not go running to Feds for help.

I don't understand the "high level clientele" thing. that has to be more than just high level rollers, right? we're talking about possibly political people, public figures, big businessmen, etc...? because if we go by any random, typical bookmaking indictment involving LCN, simple high rollers seem like a dime a dozen. but also maybe high rollers to me, means something totally different.

bookmaking operations are fascinating to me. the level of logistics and strategy involved. its not easy. the Perna book breakdown was posted on the FBI Files section...they had a kid working at a car dealership placing 6 figure bets like it was nothing. while it may have been fake for the show, they had Frank Pontillo's operation on one of those CNBC shows filmed over March Madness, where everyone was banging out that MSU game and Frank decided to not lay anything off; you could feel the stress through the screen.

cant imagine all of the moving parts involved in the Genovese NJ mega-book. the Perna operation seemed pretty big and frankly, a stressful operation. so i cant imagine something like the huge consolidated operation the NJ Genovese are alleged to have...they basically have a whole micro-economy based around that operation. i wonder how many actual bookmakers and package holders that operation employs, and how many made guys are getting paid off of it

Yeah he married her while he was in the can. I believe she was his Goomah prior, I could be wrong though as I’m not 100% sure.

Did Borgesi marry that chick while he was in the joint? Be interesting to know how they hooked up

The Main Line Suburbs of Philly and South Philly while extremely close geographically are worlds apart.

Borgesi is the only one of them who lives in the Main Line Suburbs and he’s only been there since he got out of Prison with the new wife.

I think you are right JMack. Caramandi said they reached out and made some bets and lost. The guy just disappeared and went underground after they demanded he pay instead.

Wiseguy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 18, 2019 9:15 pm

Mikeymike12 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 18, 2019 8:40 pm Joe Mastronardo, remember him getting busted few years back and they found over million dollars Buried in the yard. His family seemed to ruining a book for decades with huge numbers, he was running in phillys back yard basically . ( maybe an agreement with someone high up in philly or NY.?To be in business that long with the amounts of money he was dealing with I’m sure he had some kind of deal .

I recall one poster saying something to the effect of, since they were related to one-time Philly mayor Frank Rizzo, they were untouchable. Always has a hard time seeing that, especially with Scarfo. We've also heard some claims they serviced a higher level clientele, whatever that means. In their last bust they were working with a Genovese associate to launder money.

You’re right about their clientele. They service the Main Line which is some of the wealthier suburbs surrounding Philly. They did have some level of protection since Mayor Rizzo was Joe’s father in law. I believe there was an attempt to shake them down in the 80’s, I want to say by Caramandi. I think their indictment put a stop to their efforts.

Mikeymike12 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 18, 2019 8:40 pm Joe Mastronardo, remember him getting busted few years back and they found over million dollars Buried in the yard. His family seemed to ruining a book for decades with huge numbers, he was running in phillys back yard basically . ( maybe an agreement with someone high up in philly or NY.?To be in business that long with the amounts of money he was dealing with I’m sure he had some kind of deal .

I recall one poster saying something to the effect of, since they were related to one-time Philly mayor Frank Rizzo, they were untouchable. Always has a hard time seeing that, especially with Scarfo. We've also heard some claims they serviced a higher level clientele, whatever that means. In their last bust they were working with a Genovese associate to launder money.

Joe Mastronardo, remember him getting busted few years back and they found over million dollars Buried in the yard. His family seemed to ruining a book for decades with huge numbers, he was running in phillys back yard basically . ( maybe an agreement with someone high up in philly or NY.?To be in business that long with the amounts of money he was dealing with I’m sure he had some kind of deal .