Americana: Nickel-Dime Raid

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Nickle-Dime Raid

For Rocco Rago, an afternoon last month began as usual. He and six of the boys, ages between 56 and 77, gathered in the Sun Valley Village trailer park in Pacheco, Calif., for a little game of poker. The stakes never vary: nickels and dimes, with winners going home as much as $7 richer. Suddenly, two Contra Costa County sheriffs deputies burst into the room. "Freeze! You're under arrest!" they yelled at the gamblers. A tad hard of hearing, one of the boys shouted back, "Whaddid ya say? Whaddid ya say?" But Bob Tebo, 56, heard only too well: "It scared the hell out of me. I've got a heart problem, and I was afraid my heart would stop."

The police were tipped off by an elderly woman resident of the trailer park, who hinted that more than just Lawrence Welk music was being played in the community room. The raiders netted a whopping $13.60 and cited the highrollers on charges that could have won each six months in the slammer and a $500 fine. The folks at Caesars Tahoe casino in Lake Tahoe, Nev., decided to lend the boys a hand. A bus stocked with food and drink and staffed by a cocktail waitress brought them to the Nevada casino, where they were handed a few bucks each to play their game—without interruption. The biggest winner came away with a pot of $5, but Lady Luck smiled on all seven that day: back in Contra Costa, the district attorney folded and dropped the charges against the cardsharps.