Wiseguy wrote:I don't think Merlino has ever been a brokester himself. At least not since he's been boss as there's always been plenty of guys willing to kick up to him. It's more a case of him not being very sophisticated, though that extends to the Philly mob as a whole, it being basically a street operation that doesn't extend much beyond gambling at this point.
Loan Sharking, Gambing, Dealing Coke that's really about it. NY mob has evolved into Healthcare Fraud, Stock Fraud, Mortgage Fraud etc. Philly kinda never really evolved the way NY has. Maybe because of all the internal strife or just lack of talent really. Even a small Family like the Decav's had evolved into other rackets like Stock fraud. Philly Mob's gambling rackets are small potatoes too. The NJ Luchese Crew took in 2.2billion in bets in 15months. Philly mob as a whole couldn't even touch that.
Ligambi video poker machines were taking in over a billion a year... There's more to Phillys rackets then what you have claimed here... People def aren't dealing coke in philly anymore it's deader then dead
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That's total bullshit Phat. Who was your source for that information? NO WAY IN HELL his machines were ANYWHERE close to a billion per year. If the machines generated that type of money, no OC family would have to deal in any other rackets.
I'm trying to remember where I read it I could be wrong it's not totally impossible for those machines to generate that much.. Would that be the entire take? No that's not what I meant there was one here at a local bar that paid out through the cash register to locals only... And I've easily seen just that one machine take in thousands in a night
phatmatress777 wrote:A lot of the time bar owners pay to have those machines in there... Perhaps I was wrong about the billon I thought they had a lot more machines like upwards in the thousands
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They pay to put the machines in there but they also take a chunk of change for doing so. Otherwise, what would be the reason for them installing the machines in the first place? I guess in the old days they'd just be bullied into putting the machines there but even then there was a sense of "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." The families need the bar owners to play ball so they throw them a bone. It's not like sports gambling where the families have their own guys who can run book; they need the "legit" guys who run the bars and establishments where these machines are.
From big trial in just one case of machine there were 4300 winners ... So if there was that many winners there was prob double that in losers..that's a lot of people pLaying one machine...in redoing my math I was prob off with the close to a billion but I gurantee those machines were bringing in Atleast a million ...
Your a great guy jcb but for some reason it's very hard to talk to you about anything merlino or the philly family I don't understand your hatred for those guys
phatmatress777 wrote:Your a great guy jcb but for some reason it's very hard to talk to you about anything merlino or the philly family I don't understand your hatred for those guys
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I love Ligambi, Bruno and the rest of the old timers. Your statement makes no sense to me at all. My response to "a billion" dollars had nothing to do with Merlino, did it? My response was to the source who told you that they were clearing a billion dollars. The largest poker operator in Pennsylvania was doing $15 million per year, so I have to question the source who gave you that bullshit. I don't even believe that I mentioned Merlino in that response. And if you go back to Philly threads, I've always stated that Ligambi was a stand up guy, a class act.
"I figure I’m gonna have to do about 6000 years before I get accepted into heaven. And 6000 years is nothing in eternity terms. I can do that standing on my head. It’s like a couple of days here."
Wiseguy wrote:I don't think Merlino has ever been a brokester himself. At least not since he's been boss as there's always been plenty of guys willing to kick up to him. It's more a case of him not being very sophisticated, though that extends to the Philly mob as a whole, it being basically a street operation that doesn't extend much beyond gambling at this point.
Loan Sharking, Gambing, Dealing Coke that's really about it. NY mob has evolved into Healthcare Fraud, Stock Fraud, Mortgage Fraud etc. Philly kinda never really evolved the way NY has. Maybe because of all the internal strife or just lack of talent really. Even a small Family like the Decav's had evolved into other rackets like Stock fraud. Philly Mob's gambling rackets are small potatoes too. The NJ Luchese Crew took in 2.2billion in bets in 15months. Philly mob as a whole couldn't even touch that.
Ligambi video poker machines were taking in over a billion a year... There's more to Phillys rackets then what you have claimed here... People def aren't dealing coke in philly anymore it's deader then dead
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That's total bullshit Phat. Who was your source for that information? NO WAY IN HELL his machines were ANYWHERE close to a billion per year. If the machines generated that type of money, no OC family would have to deal in any other rackets.
I'm trying to remember where I read it I could be wrong it's not totally impossible for those machines to generate that much.. Would that be the entire take? No that's not what I meant there was one here at a local bar that paid out through the cash register to locals only... And I've easily seen just that one machine take in thousands in a night
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Construction and Narcotics would be the only rackets more lucrative than gambling. The Philly family or any other family for that matter isn't even close to taking in that kind of money per year. Maybe in the mob's heyday, but not in this day in age. Take all the rackets in the entire Philly area and the total take is probably less than $30 million a year in 2016. New York's 5 five families aren't taking in anywhere near a billion per year "combined." That's all I was saying. And for the record, I believe that Ligambi was the best Boss Philly had since Angelo Bruno, even though he was only acting boss.
"I figure I’m gonna have to do about 6000 years before I get accepted into heaven. And 6000 years is nothing in eternity terms. I can do that standing on my head. It’s like a couple of days here."
Wiseguy wrote:I don't think Merlino has ever been a brokester himself. At least not since he's been boss as there's always been plenty of guys willing to kick up to him. It's more a case of him not being very sophisticated, though that extends to the Philly mob as a whole, it being basically a street operation that doesn't extend much beyond gambling at this point.
Loan Sharking, Gambing, Dealing Coke that's really about it. NY mob has evolved into Healthcare Fraud, Stock Fraud, Mortgage Fraud etc. Philly kinda never really evolved the way NY has. Maybe because of all the internal strife or just lack of talent really. Even a small Family like the Decav's had evolved into other rackets like Stock fraud. Philly Mob's gambling rackets are small potatoes too. The NJ Luchese Crew took in 2.2billion in bets in 15months. Philly mob as a whole couldn't even touch that.
Ligambi video poker machines were taking in over a billion a year... There's more to Phillys rackets then what you have claimed here... People def aren't dealing coke in philly anymore it's deader then dead
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That's total bullshit Phat. Who was your source for that information? NO WAY IN HELL his machines were ANYWHERE close to a billion per year. If the machines generated that type of money, no OC family would have to deal in any other rackets.
I'm trying to remember where I read it I could be wrong it's not totally impossible for those machines to generate that much.. Would that be the entire take? No that's not what I meant there was one here at a local bar that paid out through the cash register to locals only... And I've easily seen just that one machine take in thousands in a night
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Construction and Narcotics would be the only rackets more lucrative than gambling. The Philly family or any other family for that matter isn't even close to taking in that kind of money per year. Maybe in the mob's heyday, but not in this day in age. Take all the rackets in the entire Philly area and the total take is probably less than $30 million a year in 2016. New York's 5 five families aren't taking in anywhere near a billion per year "combined." That's all I was saying. And for the record, I believe that Ligambi was the best Boss Philly had since Angelo Bruno, even though he was only acting boss.
Not a big deal my point in being was that the video game poker racket was lucrative and not just bringin in nickels and dimes like someone else implied.
phatmatress777 wrote:Your a great guy jcb but for some reason it's very hard to talk to you about anything merlino or the philly family I don't understand your hatred for those guys
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Do you need to understand my disdain for Joey the shrimp? Or the punks that followed him? The truth is, I prefer the old school racketeers/gangsters, I don't care for Joey's generation...at least not him and his crew. Nothing more, nothing less. If you want to talk about Angelo Bruno or the Scarfo years, I'm fascinated. However, I do have high regards for Mazzone. If Merlino and Borgesi were spending many many years in jail, I'd love to see that because their celebrity lifestyle puts a target on ALL of LCN across the country. Joey would have been dead had he pulled his shit in the 1970's, NY never would have allowed that to happen.
"I figure I’m gonna have to do about 6000 years before I get accepted into heaven. And 6000 years is nothing in eternity terms. I can do that standing on my head. It’s like a couple of days here."
What irritates me a bit is that people salivate over Joey Merlino. I'll give Joey credit, he did his time and kept his mouth shut (for all we know). But like a ***** rich asshole, he does the interviews, borrows a Rolls Royce to drive and flaunts his shit to America. If that's the kind of LCN member that so many fan boys admire, that's sad. I nver viewed him as a Boss because he barely sat in the chair. Say what you want, he wasn't running shit from prison. He has a gang, not a family. Or as Carmine Lupertazzi from the Sopranos once said, "They're a glorified crew." The entire time Joey was lockewd up, did you see Ligambi flaunting anything or antagonizing the FBI? No. And that's the way this thing was set up and why it carried on for so long. Since RICO and the new generation of mobsters who are mostly American have come into the spotlight, they have ignored the rules set up so many years ago. And that is why LCN will eventually go away, at least the families and the structure of it. The U.S started with 26 mafia families and we are down to arguably 9. Eventually, the U.S will be down to zero...it's just a matter fo time.
Last edited by JCB1977 on Thu Sep 08, 2016 1:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"I figure I’m gonna have to do about 6000 years before I get accepted into heaven. And 6000 years is nothing in eternity terms. I can do that standing on my head. It’s like a couple of days here."
Ligambi flaunted plenty and also gave an interview to the press.
Pogo
It's a new morning in America... fresh, vital. The old cynicism is gone. We have faith in our leaders. We're optimistic as to what becomes of it all. It really boils down to our ability to accept. We don't need pessimism. There are no limits.
Pogo The Clown wrote:Ligambi flaunted plenty and also gave an interview to the press.
Pogo
Philly was pretty low key while he was at the helm Pogo, hence the decreased number of indictments
"I figure I’m gonna have to do about 6000 years before I get accepted into heaven. And 6000 years is nothing in eternity terms. I can do that standing on my head. It’s like a couple of days here."
Merlino invites trouble. While most of you think he may be only hurting himself, the fact is that he's drawing attention to all of LCN across the country. Ligambi and Merlino aren't even in the same strosphere as far as bringing LE attention.
"I figure I’m gonna have to do about 6000 years before I get accepted into heaven. And 6000 years is nothing in eternity terms. I can do that standing on my head. It’s like a couple of days here."
