Mike McDermott

– Hey, hey, why don't you warm up a seat for me. I'll catch up with you.
– What?
– Look. I got certain needs I gotta attend to, okay?
– Hey, good.
– I mean, I'm overdue.
– Good, man, hey, I was startin' to wonder about you. I thought, maybe, you know, the boys upstate brought about a few changes in you.
– Hey, in your dreams, lover!

– May I tell you a story?
– Please…
– For generations, the men of my family have been rabbis in Israel before that in Europe, it was to be my calling. I was quite a prodigy. I was the "pride" of my Yeshiva. The elders said I had a forty year old understanding of the Midrash. By the time I was twelve by the time I was thirteen I knew I could never be a rabbi.
– Why not?
– Because for all I understood of the "Talmud", I never saw God there...
– You couldn't lie to yourself.
– I tried. Tried like crazy. I mean, people were counting on me.
– You have a respectable profession.
– Not to my family my parents were devastated, destroyed by my decision my father sent me away to New York to live with distant cousins I eventually found my place, my life's work…
– What then?
– I amerced myself fully, I studied everything I could about the law I felt deeply inside that it was what I was born to do.
– Did your parents get over it?
– No, I always hoped that I would find some way to change their mind, but they were inconsolable, my father never spoke to me again.
– If you had it to do all over again, knowing what would happen, would you make the same choice?..
– What choice?... The last thing I took away from the yeshiva is this... We can't run from who we are. Our destiny chooses us.

– Hey, hon, can I take the Jeep tomorrow?
– Yeah, where?
– Uh, Worm's gettin' out. I was gonna pick him up...
– Tomorrow. Beautiful...
– I promised I'd be there, hon…
– I just can't believe you still know someone called 'Worm'.
– He's like my brother.

– I just want you to think long term, all right? Be smart. Every place in Manhattan, they all keep books, all right? If you get listed as a mechanic, then not only are you gonna get the shit kicked out of you, you're not gonna get a fuckin' game anywhere in New York. It's stupid. It's just bad business.
– Look, this is what I love about you. You think about the big picture. That's great, okay? But it's not me. I don't play the game straight up, and then if I lose, go get some real work or something, okay? I see a mark, I take him down… That's what I do. That's the way I live.
– I know. Listen, you're the guy who taught me all the angles. But I'm not the guy with my nose open right now.
– Aw, come on.
– I'm not gonna preach to you, but those two guys in there, they're not rabbits. Roman and Maurice? They're Russian outfit guys. Not as bad as KGB, but you don't want to be fuckin' with those guys.

– So, you have my money?
– I owe you that money tomorrow, right?
– Da…
– So it's still mine.
– For the next eight hours, it is yours. But if you don't have it all by then, then you are mine.

– Hey!..
– You look like hell.
– Ah, well, you should've seen me yesterday…
– Are you okay?
– Yeah, I'm okay. You?..
– Now I am… So, you're outta here, huh?
– Yeah, I'm. I figure there's nothing left for me here… Listen, um, will you give this to Petrovsky? I didn't want to wake him up. It's still a little early… Can I count on you to do that?
– You could always count on me, Mike...
– Thanks… Take care, Jo.
– Hey! Call me... If you need a lawyer.

– I'm down to the felt, Knish. I lost everything. Man, I lost my case money. I lost my tuition…
– It happens to everyone. Time to time, everyone goes bust… You'll be back in the game before you know it…
– I'm done! I'm out of it.

I met 'Worm' at Dwight Inglewood Preparatory Academy over in Jersey. We were the only two kids attending who didn't have a trust fund. My father's office was there. It said 'Custodian' on the door. That's why they took me.

Worm's dad did the grounds, when he wasn't too fuckin' drunk. That's when we did 'em. Of course, the grounds weren't all we did. 'Worm' put us into a scam a day on all the young aristocrats we went to school with selling 'em dime bags of oregano, nunchakus and firecrackers from Chinatown. Kept us in lunch money. Until the time we went for more than just pocket change and got caught. We had the starting five take a dive against Friends Academy. They hauled him up before the school board, offered him a deal. Tell us who else was involved, and we'll go easy on you. 'Worm' didn't say a fuckin' word. Got himself expelled. I stayed in school and graduated. Not many guys would stand up for a friend like that.

The poker room at the Mirage in Vegas is the center of the poker universe. Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Phil Helmuth. The legends consider it their office. Every couple of days a new millionaire shows up wanting to beat a world champion. Usually they go home with nothing but a story. Down here, the millionaires are scarce or they're playing craps, but there's still plenty of money for the taking. In fact, on the weekends you can't get a game in the city, because all the New York rounders are taking care of the tourists here.