Reddit community dedicated to the HBO hit TV series, The Sopranos, and movie, The Many Saints of Newark.
How is it these amateurs run a card game out of a broken down motel six hotel room and manage to get Frank Sinatra Jr to fly in, pric doctors and lawyers to deal with Sil meltdowns, psycho Richie Aprile strangling Davey, and call it a success? Can someone please explain how this was profitable? Other than sinking Davey of course.
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Johnny sopranos realized the credit card companies were making a killing off interest… everyone at the game borrows money to play and is juiced on their loan… Mr frank. Sinatra. Jr. sir. Says I’ll settle up next game meaning he will take care of the vig and what he owes then.
It makes enough money livia has a Virginia ham under her arm crying the blues because she’s got no bread.
Plus probably had a rich person exclusive cool kids vibe playing with actual mobsters like when Tony's neighbor kept inviting him to golf.
With shit like this there’s one or two figureheads that get to slide a bit because they provide legitimacy. Same way if you have a 200k car a detailer might cut you a break because when he’s done your RS8 is about to be in all his marketing material. (This is an example my buddy in that business literally just told me about today.)
Same way J Cole used to brag how he always wears the same jacket because he gets paid for it.
Among other rappers Gambino has had a lot of references to getting shit for free because he’s so visible.
Back in the day I was at a party with a certain member of the editorial staff at Complex magazine and dude had a box of unreleased street wear he was literally handing out for free because companies were just sending him shit. Which is why to this day I have a t shirt depicting a baby in a onesie drinking lean out of a sippy cup.
He was gay, Puff Daddy?
I don’t know all the psychological ins and outs but if raping men is gay then yes, Puffy is gay
The sudden weight loss….
You sound demented.
I used to drive a black car for Conde Nast magazine in NYC about 15 years ago. I would shuttle models and helpers to different shoots all day long. There would be days where I would spend the whole day with a single person driving around the city to pick stuff up from tailors, designers, etc. for a specific shoot. They used to just leave designer stuff in the car sometime and would tell me to toss it or keep it. One time, a model just outright gave me two as yet unreleased ladies Prada watches because she "didn't have any more room for more watches".
lol 4 Times Square?
My dad used to work in that building. Probably just missed overlapping with you. He didn’t work for Condé Nast though. Said he used to see 10/10s walking in the building every day though.
Still going this asshole...
Or other interesting characters. Where else could a prick doctor hang out with Frank Jr, Larence Taylor, and David Lee Roth
Well it wasn’t the fresh lox that’s for sure!
Box up enough for 16 people
The lady loves her meat.
Allllll of meeeeee
Go Wayne Newton
His brother Johnny was one keen motherfucker.
😂
Great post, great comment
Big ideas, little sprinkle of references. A hit in any man’s chit chat room
Take it easy we’re not making a western here…..it was just boxes of ziti.
Fuck Eckle
He left her a package that could CHOKE A FUCKIN’ MULE
To be fair, ham prices ARE through the roof 🕺
Kings rule the realm
How they do things is all fucked up. There's no big blind/small blind markers on the table. The dealers finger doesn't get pricked. It either has meaning or it don't.
Have a breadstick.
It's the provolone in my socks. it makes me emotional.
I thought I smelled OP's sister's crotch.
He’s a prick doctor. Get it?
Lefty Ruggiero vouched for him. Sorry , wrong bunch of mobsters. LOL
He’s got cancer of the prick. He’s in the record books.
Another POS criminal, but a small part of me felt bad for that POS criminal.
Well in light of recent humiliations, it would be an honor to play against men. And faggot cornholin cocksucker like what married my cousin.
Edit: I meant NOT faggot cornholin cock suckers!
You just revealed your own ignorance
You're speaking shit to me!
You 🤟 me 🤙 a little bit of the gabagool 🤌 what do you shay?
Turn that off
We knew what you meant...
They were playing for Ziti so no big deal.
THAT’S KAREN’S ZITI
The last ziti she ever made 😩😩
So no fucking Ziti now?
You gotta wait for that
I always wondered why they had to double speak in a private environment, but who’s going to listen?? Why not say 5 grand
More fun this way
Never know if someone's wired up
Too many guys doin a simulcast
Guys these days have no room for the penal experience. Everyone turning govt witness.
WRAT
And it doesn’t take much to figure out their “code” like some Polyglot genius
It’s not that kind of code, it’s just enough to not work for the feds in court.
Shotgun mics, potential for someone to be on WRAT.
Sharp as a fuckin’ cue ball
You must be the top of your class!
What? No fucking ziti now?
Ohhhhhhhh
I always felt the constant ziti references to be a big heavy handed. Like we get it, you can’t say “xx dollars”.
Because if someone was wearing a wire (and a lot of characters were at different times), you have plausible deniability that they were playing for noodles, not cash.
IS THERE ANY WAY THE PACKAGE COULD SURVIVE? levels of subtlety here.
I just rewatched that scene. The camera cutting to different angles of Tony losing his shit in the empty kitchen, AJ glancing over his shoulder in confusion at one point. A work of art
I suppose you dont know how poker works.
This is illegal backroom Poker, The place is never that fancy, Idc who you play with, its all about privacy, right hotel to pick, right jurisdiction to pick if shit goes south.
They play for more than 12 Hours. How it works is that every time the game starts and ends, the dealer gets tipped 0.1%-30%. Depending on the rules.
Davey alone owes 45k$ to Tony. So that means from the card that davey involved, lets say 10% come to the house, 4.5K. Theres 6 other player. Thats the minimum that they got from tipping. And trust me, Davey is the poorest mf out there.
Not to mention they put Sil, And Paulie at the table, which means they had no reason to lose.
The Hawking of David Scatino was the pinnacle portrayal of how slippery organized crime truly is.
The way that whole game in particular worked was a very thorough & elaborate scam, all the way from the fact that David Scatino in particular hears about it in the first place, to him showing up to the game already almost $10k in debt to another violent mafioso
”I knew you had this business here, Davey” — quote, Tony fuckin Soprano
”This kids father.. he’s a degenerate fuckin gambler” Tony knows & knew about this guy’s habits before Davey even takes a piss in the stall next to him at the start of the episode
”I heard through the grapevine you’re taking over your uncles game” — grapevine was the bait, set out there through one of Tony’s tendrils
David Scatino was the Executive, at the executive game.
Guy walks into that place and there’s a celebrity, renowned mafiosos, prick docta’s.
He also walks in on Silvio losin his balls ova hea. At no other game, for the rest of the entire show, is Silvio like that while gambling. He’s actually the polar opposite.
He starts taunting Davey, and then he starts saying he’s slow rolling him. All kinds of shit before/during Davey’s first win. He’s easing the guy in, and giving him an image that if anybody’s losing at that table it’s going to be Sil.
”His money’s good. If he wants to sail, it’s his business” — The boss has his back. After all, they went to school together right? And for fucks sakes, their kids go to the same school together. Davey’s made to feel untouchable at that table (funnily enough, ‘it’s his business’ was an absolute fucking literal in this instance)
Tony juiced the guy 35k overall, and knew that was enough to sink him. Chrissy allowing another 10, was a fuck up, and Tony accounts that as a loss because of it.
But going back, Davey is already sunk into Richie for another 8. He’s utterly fucked, guy owes almost 60k to loan sharks at the end of the day.
Tony most likely got word about this guys comings & goings, what he was like at the table, etc… through Vito, and whoever else. Vito’s pushing him to up the amount with 2 players left. Knowing he’s Tony’s ‘good buddy’, they wouldn’t have allowed it.
It’s spelled out in the other people there too: (something Chase did masterfully when writing the series)
Richie: Him being out of the loop. Thinks this guy is Tony’s actual friend, that’s all he hears. He tries to maneuver Davey away from getting fucked.. something a mobster, let alone him of all people who’s in need of all the cash he can get his hands on. He would’ve never done that otherwise
Artie: Leaves the table on the up. He was never the target to get fucked, he’s Tony’s actual friend. And let’s address it too — of course Artie left the table while he’s up.
Artie, to some degree, probably knows what those games are all about. He’s been hanging around mobsters almost his entire life. If he’s up, he knows he has to get the fuck outta there by any means possible.
Once again, Vito: As I said, the guys all but pushing Davey to go for more. And again, Vito is a tendril of Tony directly. He’s the eyes, ears, and embodiment of him of at that table. More then likely given order to lure this guy, and have him as primed as he can be to ensure his role as the Executive
Silvio & Paulie: Not only did they ensure Davey got rolled at the table. One guys taunts him, while the other eases him into comfort by such notable antics as introducing him to the Prick Docta.
Tony: And last but not least, the brains behind the hawking — junior varsity athlete, Antony Zoprano.
He’s acting like Davey’s his good buddy. Shootin the shit. Telling him not to get involved, it’s against his best interest.
That whole act was a stunt, designed to get David Scatino to be swayed into thinking & believing that Tony was a good friend that had his best interest at heart.
So in the end, the guy would start coming around. As having a degenerate gambler with a successful business within his circle, is exactly these guys bread & butter. Another quote from the man himself.
And it’s no irony that Tony does this all within time frame of the Executive game, just as much as it is that ‘grapevine’ that informs Davey, his good buddy Tony — the guy he bailed out of being barricaded in his car from a bunch of Guido’s by chuckin that rock and hitting one of em in the eye — is now running the big game.
Because that’s what mobsters do, and that’s how they ensnare their happy wanderers.
David Scatino was the epitome of that: A frail, weak, non-threatening guy. He had the makings of a family man, who had a successful business that allowed him to live in a nice house. Drove a Mercedes, lived in a good neighborhood.
The guy wasn’t the type to be around gangsters, or really any underworld activities.
Him forgetting that these people are murderers at the end of the day, was all apart of the illusion mobsters cast when they’re juicing their soon to be victims.
The first payment collection attempt: Davey dodges Tony’s guy with a sudden doctors appointment. In Davey’s mind Tony’s his friend, he’ll let it slide for a year, right?
Then, like clockwork, Tony’s time to lunge on him is finally here. He switches tempo; beats him & threatens him in his own office.
Davey is probably stunned, balling his eyes out as Tony is out the door. That instance got Tony his son’s car.
Next time, two guys go down there to his joint. They’re honing in on this guy at his own home, while Davey’s in his bathrobe & flip flops.
Somewhere in there, he gives him his Mercedes.
And after all the collateral is gone, and Davey’s got nothing left to give
Squeezing into his business is like cutting into warm butter with an axe.
At that point, this guy will give him his fucking soul. As long as the dead eyes quit coming to his business, his home, and wherever else.
•
Again — Absolutely fucking masterfully written & presented by David Chase
Still goin this asshole
This is a great write-up but wow it's wrong on so many fronts. It wasn't that deep.
They wouldn't have let it happen knowing he was Tony's "Good buddy"? He specifically waited until Tony was asleep and spoke on behalf of Tony, everyone else was surprised but rolled with it.
Did you miss the part where Tony was pissed after finding out and tried to discourage him several times beforehand? The part when he woke up where he asked Chris privately about how much extra did Davey take and his outrage hidden away from the rest of the table?
The fact that Silvio wasn't just acting based on what Chris says to Matt & Sean specifically beforehand with no one else to witness it? "Stay away from Silvio, he can be a mean fuck when he gambles"
Tony's switch-up was because he had to crack down on him, showing Davey kindness would be mistaken for weakness and it was too public at that time. Remember when Artie borrowed money for the French guy and tried to kill himself? Tony SPECIFICALLY asks him who else knew about the borrowed money before forgiving him because again, showing any kindness to friends would be mistaken for weakness.
Finally, I'd say* Davey WAS around these guys since he was a kid - he grew up with Artie & Tony and the neighbourhood was chock full of these guys as Tony explains it. He's in Richie's game before the executive card game takes place. It's not a regular game in a shop/casino that you just walk into, it's all on a referral basis.
It wasn't a set-up from the beginning, Tony just took advantage of it when shit hit the fan. It wasn't supposed to go that far but I reiterate, Tony couldn't make exceptions for Davey.
That's only half the analysis, don't get me started cause I yap worse than 6 barbers
Edit: Added a say*
Edit 2: Corrected CHOCK* (ty u/Revolutionary_Box582)
This. I actually found Tony to be as candid and straight up as he ever was with anyone in the hall. 'Don't say short if you don't mean short." Only on Reddit can a degenerate gambler lie hos ass off, gets balls deep in debt to the mafia, and there's a grand- level 99 lizard people conspiracy as to how it happened.
I swear bro. Must be Eric, still upset about the truck. Shouldn't have gone off-road, the fucking imbecile.
I never once thought about everything being specifically setup just for Davey. I mean, I did believe that Tony kinda teased him, but didn't even realize how Sil's behavior changes during the game with Davey, Tony defending him from others actually being more than just that, etc.
Well thought out.
EDIT: I get it, it is mostly theorizing and not what actually happened, but what else is there to do over a show so long ago?
Havent thought about it because its not the case lol. The point was the interest they make off the money people borrow, Tony says this explicitly.
Not to mention the rake on a high stakes game that only they have the capacity to provide assurances of privacy and security for.
That's because it wasn't.
This guy did put a lot of effort into his conspiracy theory, though, so that's super.
This is completely wrong. This was not set up for Davey to be scammed lol. I mean its nice fan fiction and a good write up but it's just a poker game where Tony makes money off the rake. Tony didn't even know Davey was going to be there
That's exactly right. What it does though is highlight how quick they are to spot and most importantly, exploit an opportunity. Tony could easily have refused to allow Davey to play, knowing he would likely get in over his head, but as he said himself; "I knew you had this business here Davey, it's in my nature." The game wasn't to ensnare anybody in particular, but why waste a golden opportunity, the bust out made them so much more than the game did on that one occasion so it was doubly successful!
He did try to turn Davey away at the door. He should have insisted, but he did give him an out.
All the permutations at like internet speed. Tony leads the world in computerized data collection.
I’m in awre of you
Think on this, bergeh boy
That’s Real? I saw it, Thought it was Bullshit
He never had the makings of a varsity athlete.
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Conspiracy theories now? What is Tony? Some kinda toxshick person??
I think your writing is nice but your analysis and conclusion are wrong.
We weren't given anything near enough evidence in the actual show that this was all an elaborate scheme to nail Dave Scatino. He happened to fall into the vortex as a degenerate gambler, and David Chase used him as a morality tale on how gangsters make money as loan sharks.
The first we hear of this game is when Tony asks to take it over from Uncle Junior in the doctor's office. Are you seriously suggesting that Tony had Dave fucking Scatino in his head?
No - Junior outlines precisely why the executive game started and why it was a cash cow. It was the accumulated interest you get from the high-rollers when they lose money. Tony & crew spot them the cash (at interest) and the high-rollers pay up next time.
Guys like Dave Scatino were never meant to be in the game to begin with.
Damn amazing coment
Holy hell. What an argument and what a post. What you do for a living my man? Lol
Listen to him. He knows everything.
Wow, love it, but wayyy too much credit to Chase on this. I give the credit to you, cause he did not think all that out.
Alright tough guy. That’s why I fucking asked the question
You jumped out of the tree and came at maxithepittsP with a chainsaw. He had a right to defend himself.
He didn’t have to steal his lawn mower though.
Hey don't get cute
Send that prick out here so he can pay me my money!!!
the rake, the rake.