Re: Las Vegas before.....
If he was the same guy I knew from Buffalo, then that was him...
Joe was from Atlanta and decided to run for President of The United States in 1976. Joe Rubino Jr. legitimately thought he was going to carry the vote in at least two states.
Joe was a huge man, weighing close to four hundred pounds. Joe Jr. and his dad Joe Sr. were from Atlanta but were Las Vegas and Churchill regulars. They both were extra sharp with numbers. Joe Sr. could sit in the book and make you a number on any pitch, any play, and any situation in any sport. They were, however, must bets (if you asked for a price, you were obligated to make a bet).
Joe Sr. owned a newspaper and hotel in Georgia. Joe Jr. was a decent handicapper and bookmaker in his own right, but he was certifiably goofy (so goofy he ran for president, not of the Rotary Club, but President of The United States). Even goofier, he bet on himself to carry two states. Bob Martin gave him some ridiculously long odds, and Joe Jr. actually bet his own money with some of the big guys around town.
Joe called his party the Peace Party. He had a Secretary of Defense and State picked out. His campaign headquarters was in the Casbah Hotel downtown. Joe campaigned quite a bit in Churchill where he handed out Peace Party sports schedules with the party’s logo on them. He had slogans and some of his platform on them also. During the campaign one day, he comes into Churchill, this huge guy, and he's wearing nothing but white boxer shorts, a white T-shirt, and a necktie.
He starts shouting, "They locked me out of my room." He was living in the Sahara Hotel at the time. "They locked me out. They won't let me in."
He was ranting and raving and went and took a seat in the back row—he was a back row guy. In a bit, Ray Vera shows up. Ray’s in his pajamas and bathrobe since it was basketball season. His regular attire till after the Final Four. Nobody thought anything of it.
So Ray, in pajamas and bathrobe, spots Joe in his boxer shorts, T-shirt, and necktie. It turned out Joe owed Ray serious money. Ray goes over to Joe and he says he wants his money. He ended up beating on Joe while Joe just lifted up one huge ham to try and fend him off, and Ray just kept beating on him. Joe was just hiding behind this huge, fat leg.
So finally we broke it up, and Joe, in all sincerity, said, "I’m a presidential candidate. You can't do that to me." He was dead serious. He went to the pay phones outside, called the Sherriff, the Feds, the Secret Service, everybody he can think of, saying, "I'm a presidential candidate, and I demand protection."
Soon, the trauma unit came. They saw Joe out front sitting in the grass, still ranting. So now it all made sense to them. It was a better comedy than Hollywood could produce.
"I'm a presidential candidate, and I demand protection."
They said, "Come on, Joe, let's go."
He gets in the front seat, no squawking, like all this is completely normal to him. He rests his arm out the window, riding shotgun in the ambulance like he's in a beer truck, and they drive off, his arm still hanging out the window. They took Joe to a psych ward somewhere, where he spent his stay booking. What a great cover. Joe didn’t get on the presidential ballot and lost the presidency and his money.
He paid off; he was dead serious. ....Hollywood couldn't produce this.