Winners At Winnipeg Casinos - tatianaanderson.com

The North Stars, you all know what happened, Norm Green moves the team to Dallas, because he was a pervert. Well there was a lot more that went into them moving, than simply just “Norm’s wife told him to move the team or else”.
March 11, 1965, NHL President Clarence Campbell announces the NHL will expand to twelve teams, from six. With that the era of the Original Six, the “Original Six” weren’t even that, they were just six teams that managed to survive throughout a chaotic league. A group led by, Walter Bush, Jr., Robert Ridder, and John Driscoll, sought to bring the NHL to the Twin Cities, in Minnesota. The NHL awarded this group one of the six new franchises, with the other five going to Oakland(Seals), Pittsburgh(Penguins), St Louis(Blues), Philadelphia(Flyers) and Los Angeles(Kings). The as of yet unnamed franchise held a naming contest, as you typically do with a new team and the name “North Stars” was selected, which was derived from the states motto "L'Étoile du Nord" or Star of the North. Work quickly began on their new arena in Bloomington, with the arena eventually being named “The Metropolitan Sports Center.”
Honestly? There’s not much chaotic about the early North Stars, unlike the Blues who had to deal with the NHL’s bullshit(Norris Jr and his merry band of fools), or the Seals who were a mess to begin with, the North Stars were...stable. Game 1 of their first season was an entertaining one, playing against fellow expansion team, the St Louis Blues, they tied in their first game, with Bill Masterson scoring the first goal in franchise history. It was an exciting time to be a hockey fan. All was not well though, on January 13, 1968, the North Stars faced the California Seals, in what would be Masterson’s final game.

• The incident:

Masterson was skating the puck across the Blue Line, his skates got tangled in the stick of Larry Cahan or Ron Harris(it’s unknown as to which, but they were both close to him), Masterson lost his balance, pitching forward, he didn’t see the defendor coming up on him, who delivered a clean check to him, knocking him backwards. Masterson was not wearing a helmet(as was normal), as he smacked his head on the ice, going unconscious instantly. Masterson never recovered, he died a few days later. Teammate André Boudrias described the hit "It sounded like a baseball bat hitting a ball.” Boudrias helped the team trainer onto the ice, the team doctor joining them soon after. They carried Masterson off on a stretcher and into an ambulance to Fairview Southdale hospital, seven miles away. "His eyes were gray at the time -- it was like a horror picture," Boudrias says. "I knew he was done." Doctors did what they could, treating him with steroids and diuretics, but the swelling in his brain was too swift and severe. His Wife and Parents, who had flown in from Winnipeg to watch him play, had made the decision to remove Bill from life support.
Hours later, at 1:55AM, Bill Masterton was pronounced dead at the age of 29, he was survived by his wife Carol. Unfortunately this didn’t do much to make the NHL decide to make helmets mandatory, not for another decade when they finally made helmets mandatory. However this did spark a change among players, as more began to adopt helmets. Players before this had worn helmets, but most chose not to for “Vanity Reasons”(To quote Brett Hull). Bruins player Ted Green had become the first Bruin to wear a helmet, since Eddie Shore. Shore had suffered major head injuries as a result of a massive hit he laid onto Ace Bailey, Shore in turn had his head hit the ice in retaliation. Doctors described Masterton’s death as the result of “a massive brain injury”. After news of Masterton’s death spread to the team, the North Stars lost their next six, but also retired his Jersey. Masterson’s death opened many eyes to the realization that helmets were needed in a fast moving game such a hockey. Following his death, hockey writers announced the creation of the “Bill Masterton Trophy”, to be given annually to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. Basically the player who best overcame adversity for that season, such as Bobby Clarke, who overcame Diabetes to play in the NHL.

• I cannot state this enough as to how awful the NHL has been about head injuries, their official position is to deny concussions are an issue, I get why, but it’s annoying as hell. Their official stance with head injuries has always been to shrug and pretend it’s not an issue. I fully believe Masterson would have survived, had he had a helmet.

The North Stars finished fourth in the West Division(the one with all the expansion teams), in their first playoff run, they beat the Kings, advancing to the West Finals, where they lost to the Blues in a Game 7, in double overtime. The Blues proceeded to get swept by the Canadiens, in what becomes a recurring theme for the next 2 finals, Original Six sweeping the expansion Blues. This is by no means because the Blues were awful, it was because the odds were stacked against them and the rest of the “New Six”. They weren’t given great players and the GMs had no idea what they were doing, not to mention they were given their own division so the Original Six had a punching bag. Even in a “new era” the NHL was awful. The next few years were mostly uneventful for the North Stars, missing the playoffs once, but only posting one winning season in their first four seasons, it wasn’t looking great. They were better than their WHA Rivals, who folded four seasons in, but not by much. By ‘78 attendance had fallen so sharply that there were fears that they would fold due to how bad things were, they’d posted 2 whole winning seasons and out of the last six seasons, making the playoffs only once, it didn’t look good. But there was a worse team, the Cleveland Barons, formerly the Oakland / California Seals, who relocated to Cleveland due to a new arena being out of the question and the minority owners(George and Gordon Gund) convincing the majority owner Melvin Swig(wanted to move them to San Francisco, more on this at the end) to move the team to Cleveland. The Barons weren’t much better and then this happened.

• The Merger:

Essentially the wealthy owners of the Barons, George(III) and Gordon Gund, would become the new owners of the North Stars, merging them with the Barons. The Barons would in turn merge with the North Stars, giving them the good parts of the team. The North Stars would not relocate, they would keep their name, logo, color, everything, but would be moved to the Adams Division, since now that division would be down to three teams. Most notable of the players the North Stars would get were Goaltender Gilles Meloche and forwards Al MacAdam and Mike Fidler. During the draft that year they had drafted future Calder winner, Bobby Smith, who helped to bolster an actually decent looking team now. They weren’t cup favorites, but they were an improved team, this merger is what saved the North Stars from folding and making the NHL’s expansion look like even worse of a joke. The season that followed was nothing short of incredible, suddenly the North Stars looked like a real team, everyone looked to be firing on all cylinders, leading to a historic game:

• January 7th, 1980, the North Stars Hosted the Philadelphia Flyers who were on a historic streak, 35 games UNDEFEATED in that span they won 25 out of 35 games, tying 10 of them. The fans at the Met Center had come in droves, over 15,962 fans showed up to see this monumental game, a new record for Minnesota Hockey. The North Stars shelled the Flyers non-stop, one goal after another came, eventually two hat tricks came, finally the buzzer had sounded, the North Stars had won it. The Flyers lost 7-1, ending the longest win streak in sports, effectively showing that these new North Stars were something serious and much less disorganized. That same year during the playoffs, they went in against the reigning champions, The Canadiens and beat them in 7, before falling to the Flyers in 4 games to 1, effectively a gentleman’s sweep. Nonetheless, this season had been one of their best, even if it ended far too early.

The following season proved to be an improvement over the last, with them finishing only a point lower than the previous year, but their playoff run was magical. The North Stars got through the Bruins, Sabres and finally the Flames, to reach the Cup Final. ...Where they promptly got beat 4-1, but it didn’t matter, because by all accounts the North Stars were doing much better now, people paid attention to them, the building was usually full. The next few seasons were the same, despite one early round exit, they made it to the Conference Finals, once more with two Round 1 exits and Round 2 exit. That was it for the Cinderella story of the North Stars though, 85-86 was the final time the North Stars would have a winning season. The 80’s were almost over and attendance was..dropping, despite everything, the North Stars were in trouble. They finished 87-88, just barely out of the playoffs, but allowed them to draft one of the greatest American-Born Players, of all time. Mike Modano.
Drafting Modano was great, but ownership kept threatening to move the team to San Francisco, the Gunds' didn’t exactly like Minnesota and with the fans not showing up, relocation become a threat, here you have a team that was close to folding just a decade ago, back to having trouble and it doesn’t look good on the NHL, despite them vetoing any attempts by the Gund’s to move the team. The NHL eventually gave into the Gund’s threats to move the team to San Francisco. This is where it becomes complicated.

• The Gunds' wanted a team in San Francisco, but former Whalers owner Howard Baldwin, former Penguins owner Morris Belzberg and former Flames(minority) owner Norm Green led a group to get an expansion team in San Jose. So the NHL proposed a compromise: The Gund’s would sell their stake in the North Stars to Baldwin’s group and in exchange they would be awarded an expansion team in San Jose. A successor to the Golden Seals in many ways, since they played their first two seasons at the Cow Palace, in Daly, which was just outside of San Francisco. In addition, the new Sharks would be formed with a dispersal draft, first taking players from the North Stars and then the rest of the League.

Enter Norm Greed: Norm Green, former minority owner of the Flames, had joined Baldwin’s ownership group and purchased a 51% stake in the team. Green then purchased Baldwin’s stake in the team, gaining more than 75% control of the North Stars. He then went and bought Belzberg's share in October of 1990, giving him all the power he wanted, making him the owner of the team.

• The Norm Green Era:

The 91 season was...odd for the North Stars. They finished with a losing record(as was the norm at this point), but had barely made the playoffs. This is where it gets weirder, they went on a cup run, beating two of the NHL’s best teams in the Blackhawks and Blues, steamrolling through the defending champions in the Oilers, finally facing off against Lemieux’s Penguins, who had just acquired Ron Francis, not too long ago. This Final didn’t go their way, just like the last one, but they fought hard in it, losing 4 games to 2. That was all she wrote for the North Stars though.
It was a strange offseason, in what could be called foreshadowing the North Stars got new uniforms. Gone were the Green uniforms and Stars on the pants, replaced with a simple Black and Green jersey, the new logo ditching the “North Stars” for just “Stars” The uniforms would literally just be the one’s later used in Dallas for most of the 90’s with minor changes. New uniforms weren’t it though, behind the scenes it was chaos. Green was trying to move the team to LA, to play in the still being built Honda Center(Yes, that one), where they would become the “L.A. Stars”. As Disney was in the middle of negotiations(the 90’s were fucking weird) to place a team there(they also owned the Angels), the North Stars would instead move to Dallas, Texas.

• The relocation and everything that went into it:

Dallas, Texas. In 1992 Greed announced the North Stars would move to Reunion Arena, in the heart of Dallas, Texas, becoming the Dallas Stars. Why did this happen? Variety of reasons really. Green was a massive pervert and couldn’t keep his hands to himself, or his junk in pants, so he faced a sexual harassment lawsuit, with his wife threatening to leave him, if he didn’t move the team. Why couldn’t they just play at Target Center, with the Timberwolves? Target was Coca-Cola, while the Stars advertised with Pepsi, which created issue. Issue I’m sure could have been solved, but hey, what do I know? Another reason was the dwindling attendance, it has been an issue for the past few years(minus the cup run), combine that with a team who can’t put together a winning season and people just weren’t having it. The on-ice product wasn’t good and they had no interest.
Another factor involved the Gunds’. Yes, they were out of the picture, but their stink still lingered. The Gunds’ had tried to build a shopping near the Met Center, after demolishing Met Stadium(Twins and Vikings played there), well it was looking like they would get their wish...until they didn’t. Instead the Ghermezian brothers, got the land and built The Mall of America. The Gunds’ had felt the Metro Sports Commission had cheated them over this and in turn demanded the MSC renovate the Met Center to the tune of $15 Million, adding close to 40 suites and expanding the concourse. None of that happened, the MSC laughed in their faces and told them to go away. However, North Stars GM Lou Nanne had been the one to actually do something. He persuaded the MSC to instead spend $3.5 Million and add only 20 suites.
The Gunds’ were incredibly frustrated with their situation in Minnesota. And fans were too. Years of failed drafts, trades, no talent and bad seasons, left many fans thinking ownership only cared about money. ...Which they did. Some even called them “No Stars”, because of how true it was, the North Stars had no stars, for most of the Gund era. With the Target Center being built, the Gunds’ took this as a sign, it was time to demand the MSC renovate the Met again, asking for money to do so, with the MSC again, laughing in their faces. It just so happened, Art Savage(friend of the Gunds’) was trying to get a team in San Francisco, so they decided to join forces and move the North Stars to San Francisco.
It wasn’t that easy though. GM Lou Nanne(voice of reason somehow) warned them the NHL wouldn’t allow it, but they went to the Board of Governors to get permission to move. Bill Wirtz was head of the BoG and pretty much denied them on the spot, but granted them a team in San Jose on the condition they sell the North Stars, to an owner who would keep them in Minnesota(Ahahaha). This left the Gunds’ split as George was fine with selling, but Gordon felt that they worked too hard to just sell now(what work did they do? The world may never know!). Eventually they did sell to the aforementioned group involving Norm Green however and they got their team in San Jose.

• Could they have stayed in Minnesota despite everything? Probably, but the Timberwolves ownership didn’t help things either. At the time, the Timberwolves were sponsored by Coke and Burger-King, while the North Stars were sponsored by Pepsi and Mcdonald’s. This led to the question “who will advertise on our boards?”, well Harvey Ratner(part-owner) okayed the proposition of the North Stars playing at Target and felt the advertising issue could be worked out. Marv Wolfenson however, disagreed and that killed the idea of the North Stars moving there. It’s hard to place the full blame on them in the long run though, because let’s face it, the Gunds’ wanted any excuse to leave Minnesota.

Norm and the sexual harassment allegations against him. Norm was being sued by some of his former secretaries for sexual harassment, he’d look down their blouses, and demand they kiss him, he was a creep in every way possible. His wife demanded he * move the team, to get rid of mounting media pressure on them, due to the aforementioned lawsuit. Norm made attempts to keep the North Stars in Minnesota, but as the MSC had just finished building the Target Center, they weren’t about to build another arena. The Target Center deal fell through, as did a deal that would link the Met Center to the Mall of America, via Skyway and would include a casino that Green would own. That proposal was shot down because it was almost the same cost as a new arena, that the MSC refused to pay for. He renovated the Met with his own money during his short tenure as North Stars Owner, but that was about it. Apparently it was thanks to former Cowboys Quarterback Roger Staubach that the Stars moved to Dallas, as he had convinced Green, Dallas was the perfect market for hockey.
The fans were as you can imagine angry. Bringing “Norm Sucks” signs and chanting that during games, even calling him “Norm Greed”(Accurate really). It was a horrible time to be a North Stars fan, hell a sports fan in Minnesota in general. Their final season was again, normalcy, sure they made the playoffs, but it was another losing season and this was it for them. They lost to Detroit in 7 games, playing their final game in Detroit, losing 1-0 in Overtime. It was also the first time the NHL tested video replay. The legendary Al Schaer final call goes as follows:

• “It’s Ludwig, giving it to Dahlen … 4, 3, 2, 1 … and it’s all over. The Stars lose it here, 5-3, and now it’s pack-’em up time and on to Dallas. We wish them good luck. And to all the North Stars over the past 26 years, we say thank you, all of you, for so much fine entertainment. It’s been a pleasure knowing you, Minnesota’s loss is definitely a gain for Dallas – and a big one. We thank you, though, from the bottoms of our hearts, for all the wonderful nights at Met Center, when you’ve given us so much entertainment and you’ve been such a credit to the community in which you played. We will still remember you as the Minnesota North Stars. Good night, everybody. And goodbye.” (This was for their final regular season game, where they lost to the Blackhawks 5-3. Unfortunately I can only find a transcript of the call, not the call itself. So have Pat Foley and Dale Tallon discussing the pending move instead.)

In many ways the Stars were what the NHL wanted, an experiment in the Southern US, to see if Hockey could work. Dallas, Miami, Tampa were experimental, the NHL wanted to expand into an untapped market, but in doing so alienated fans in Minnesota. They quelled this by announcing “The Twin Cities would get a new expansion team in the near future” the Minnesota Wild.

• Norm Greed owned the team for about 2 more seasons before having to sell, to Tom Hicks, at the time the owner of the Texas Rangers(MLB), Mesquite Rodeo and later 50% owner of Liverpool FC. He sold all of these in 2010, to satisfy creditors, sending the Stars into Bankruptcy, forcing him to sell to current owner Tom Gaglardi, thanks to Bankruptcy Court.
  
• The Wild joined the league in 2000 and have sadly been mediocre for most of their existence. I’m not sure why they didn’t play at the Target Center, since it can support Ice Hockey(It currently has Disney on Ice)
  
• Greed wrote an article about his time an owner for DMagazine.
  
• The North Stars ‘91 Cup final, had arguably some of Lemieux's best goals of his career, while cementing his place as one of the greatest of all time.
  
• Al Shaver went on to call Minnesota Golden Gopher(NCAA), eventually returning to hockey, for the Wild’s first season. He retired for good after that, with the XL Center Press Box being named after him.
  

In the end, the North Stars were unstable for most of their existence, due to horrible ownership. The fans deserved better, but instead got people who didn’t want to spend much, instead. Even in the early years, things weren't good, the merger is what saved them, but in a way also killed them. The fans have every right to still despise Green, but I believe they should despise the Gunds' as well.

[Note to this sub: Here are two gambling stories involving Haralabos Voulgaris. Two things you should know. 1) I originally wrote this for a completely different, anonymous audience and not for all the wonderful "Shoe Fitness Architects", "Pizza Delivery Engineers", Overnight Security Enforcers, and DMV Workers that I've gotten the pleasure of meeting on here during my time on /billsimmons. Instead, it will seem like I'm talking to a room full of strangers, and for the first time. So if you read something that you've already seen me say on this sub, you know the reason. I also sound “different” in this.
2) It's long. You've been warned, I don't want to hear shit about it being so damn long. Think of this as a throwback to the Page 2 days, when you knew a guy was going to take a huge, extended shit because he just printed out Simmons' latest article and ran into the bathroom. You know, the “glory days”.
If you read this on Friday, you can save this for your afternoon work shit. Read it on your phone though, because it's got a short YouTube clip in it that helps tell the story.
If you read it over the weekend, I suggest smoking a bowl beforehand, especially to our Canadian friends up North. Doesn't have to be Top Shelf, just something to buzz you going in.
That's it. Enjoy.
The recent news of the Dallas Mavericks hiring Haralabos Voulgaris as Director of Quantitative Research and Development recently blew my mind. I knew it was Bob's goal to be an NBA GM, and this job isn't quite on the GM level, but I still can't believe he's made it onto a real NBA organization. I still think of him mostly from his early 2000's poker and sports betting days, and I never imagined he'd be able to hold down a real job someday. I didn't think anyone from the gambling world ever could.
I was heavily into sports gambling and poker at the same time as Bob was ascending as a sports gambling force, from the late 80's until well into the 2000's. I didn't know Haralabos well, yet I heard about or saw him all the time. This pretty much describes all relationships in gambling to be honest. But I did make sure to hear all the stories about Haralabos back then, because they always made the gossip rounds and were usually funny.
I'm here to share two of Haralabos' famous gambling stories, to give you a little insight into the man. If you are an Old School gambler, you've already heard them. But they are now 15 years old, and I couldn't find a good telling already on the Internet, so new people might get a kick out of these. Sources are at the bottom of this post.
People need to understand that, back then (early 2000s), Bob was best known for two things: betting the NBA, and being a smart ass trash talker at the poker tables. Bob was a world class needler that people highly resented because he had “Fuck You” kinds of money and he sure lorded that fact over everybody. He found everyone in the gambling world incredibly stupid compared to himself, and wasn't afraid to let people know it. I guess that's not much different than his Twitter in 2018, except he's learned to be more polite about it.
It was amusing being in a poker room with Bob in it, unless you were the focus of his remarks. He did not have any boundaries and was merciless, and really went after people “Micheal Jordan style” with the ferocity of his put-downs. Asked to describe him, I'd say 98% of players back then would call him an “arrogant dickhead” (including me at that time), while 2% would say “really sharp guy who doesn't tolerate fools” (including me now). We would all agree that he could be hilarious.
With that set-up, here are two Haralabos Voulgaris gambling stories that let's you know what he was like back in the early 2000's.
Story #1
My favorite Haralabob story, which long time 2+2ers have already heard about and whose legend has grown over the years, is the infamous Freddy Deeb story. If you know it, you are already nodding your head. But hopefully it's new to you. It's a classic.
Freddy Deeb was a rich business man from Lebanon, but a lot of people thought he was Egyptian (close enough for poker players). “Fast Freddy” was a decent if unspectacular poker player who pre-dated the poker boom. So Freddy was a legit and well known regular even before TV got involved with the game, and parlayed that “real, genuine poker player” label into appearances on TV when the poker boom happened. He had strong credibility.
Freddy is probably most famously remembered for being accused of “Going South” by Johnny Chan on an episode of High Stakes Poker. Freddy handled that accusation in typical Freddy fashion – making a big deal about this small joke insulting his integrity, aggressively confronting everyone about it and challenging them to heads-up poker matches to prove his manhood. The dude could be a hothead. (“Going South”, which was more commonly called “rat-holing”, is when a player sneaks high denomination chips off the table undetected after winning a big pot, so he has no possibility of losing them back in a later big hand. It's a unethical way to play “hit and run” if you win big quickly, without the “running” part being as obvious as picking up and leaving immediately.)
The two things you needed to know about Freddy: 1) He was short. I mean really short, like 5'1” or less. Not to play Freud too much, but you can probably guess that the reason he spent all his time in poker rooms was because of this physical limitation. Poker attracted the social rejects like no other activity in the 1990's, and welcomed the physically and mentally defective in droves. It was a haven almost exclusively for nerds and losers, before TV made it cool for everyone to play No Limit Texas Hold'em, The Cadillac of Gambling Games (so hip!).
2) Stemming from #1, Freddy could have a short temper. If you are jumping straight into a “Napoleon Complex” accusation for Freddy, well, in this case you're the heavy favorite. Freddy was a quiet, nice guy for 90% of the time he played. But Freddy was quick to act like a gangster you didn't want to fuck with if you ever gave him the chance, with that persistent shoulder chip that will never go away. Everyone let him play gangster without comment as long as he still had a bankroll to gamble with.
Here is a YouTube video that illustrates both points perfectly. Watch the whole thing to the end for maximum comedy – it's fucking hilarious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqwQiIy1b48
Here's Freddy acting like a super tough guy, and – in the moment - you can believe it too. Until the camera pulls back and shows the other players at the table, and then you get a height perspective of the whole scene. It's unreal funny at that point. Gus Hansen sitting next to him looks like Yao Ming by comparison.
So when this first HBob story happens, poker is just about to really take off. My guess is that it was around 2003-4, so the hype around poker was growing fast but still not close to the peak yet. The first Season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) had already aired, and it was a cultural phenomenon. Poker players were speculating already that WPT tournament champions were going to be as famous as top professional athletes, and with the same kind of ultra-lucrative sponsorship opportunities and endorsement deals. A very common topic at the table was how much getting to the final table at a televised WPT event was worth in fame, above and beyond any of the listed prize money. Perhaps a few million? It was a crazy time, and being on TV was all anyone cared about back then. Seems a bit silly now.
Freddy had been on TV a few times with some respectable runs in some bigger tournaments. The WPT and ESPN featured him in a few “flavor of the game” clips during their early poker broadcasts, and that seemed like a pretty big deal, especially to Freddy. TV Poker was grooming narratives and trying to create presentable, relatable stars in the poker world and weren't above adding in some artificial flavor to an otherwise unremarkable cast of characters.
Being a legit long time poker player was enough for Freddy to get some screen time – the TV producers could take it from there. I think the narrative was along the lines of how anyone – all ages, ethnicity, shapes and sizes could find a home in the poker world, and Freddy exemplified all that. It all went directly to Freddy's head, and he was not alone during this time.
Anyway, the story goes like this. Haralabos is playing in a very juicy high stakes poker game in a California casino, most likely the Commerce. The game was already full with 9 players, which is the max in most California rooms.
Haralabos himself was very new to poker at this time. He dabbled previously, but only started playing for big stakes in the past year or two because of the huge influx of new poker players, who watched the WPT on television and flooded into casinos, chasing riches. Thus there was easy money to be made. Before then, of course, he was focused on his NBA gambling. He was very near the height of his powers as an NBA sports bettor, and known pretty damn well in the sports betting world, if not the general public yet. Far more people in poker knew about Bob than he knew about them, though. He was just starting to get serious about playing poker. Bob knew about some of the bigger poker names he gambled with betting sports together in the past, but knew almost none of the newly (and artificially) created TV “poker stars” that ESPN / WPT had chosen to promote.
So Freddy walks into the Commerce one day and sees the high stakes poker table, and eyes the line up. Freddy knows this “Main Game” is incredibly juicy, and wants in – immediately. He calls the floorman over and insists they create an extra space at the table for him and for the game to be played 10-handed. 10-handed was actually the common number of players in Las Vegas poker tables at the time, and Freddy was usually based there. Freddy is sort of 'big timing' the floorman, reminding him how much he's played there over the years, how much rake he's given that casino, and how all these new poker players want to play with someone like himself, a big-shot, old school, now famous poker player.
There is nothing that poker players like more than poker room drama (except maybe comped food), so this commotion has drawn the attention of every table within earshot. Everyone near by was focusing on the Main Game with Haralabos in it. Drawn from many accounts, here is a recreation of what happened:
Freddy (accented, slightly broken English)(to Floorman): Johnny, there's no board. Just put me in big blind right now and we can play with ten.
Floorman Johnny: Table's not big enough for ten, Freddy. This isn't Vegas. Our players will object. Everyone wants their space.
Freddy: Just ask then. If there are objections then Freddy will wait. But no one will object! C'mon Johnny, how much action I give to you? Freddy is “action player”. Everyone wants to play with Freddy. They see me, they know “That's Freddy” and they want to play.
[Yes, Freddy was talking about himself in the Third Person. What can I say?]
Floorman Johnny (reluctantly, to Main Game): Guys, Freddy wants to sit and play 10-handed. There is no board an he doesn't want to wait around for nothing. Any objections?
Haralabos (immediately): I object. Who the fuck is this guy? [To Freddy] Buddy, you're not special. What makes you think you control this game? If more people come, then you can start a “Must-Move” game and play in that. Otherwise, wait your fucking turn like everyone else. Ok, buddy? [To Floorman, incredulous] What the fuck?
Freddy (heated at Haralabos): Listen, buddy. Everyone here know Freddy. Floorman. Dealer. Players. All know Freddy, love Freddy. Who the fuck are you? In Vegas, Freddy wants a game, the manager come running to help Freddy! They bring in best table to start new game for Freddy! They get best dealer on break to come deal! They bring in new chips, new cards for Freddy! They bring special chair for Freddy to sit in!
Haralabos: Oh yeah, Freddy? Is it a high chair?
A thunderclap of uproarious laughter rang out from all who were listening in, perhaps fifty people or more, all rubberneckers from other tables drawn in by the drama. There was no denying the spontaneity, no denying the reason, and certainly no denying the focus of who the laughter was directed at. Fast Freddy, all five feet zero inches of him, with the hair-trigger anger and never lacking words, was truly stunned and humiliated into silence. His eyes became squinted and his face was stuck in a wince of pain, his whole head turning as red as a stubborn, two-week old pimple that just wouldn't pop. He rocked back and forth as if recovering from a physical punch, not knowing what to do as a second, smaller wave of laughter began because it was just that funny, and now the story was being instantly re-told.
The few that were present and could actually feel sympathy quickly stifled their laughter, feeling the guilt of knowing the guy just got hit in his most sensitive area in front of a very large audience, and was truly wounded. They were hoping Freddy would finally say something, anything, to show that he wasn't completely crushed inside, that he wasn't as hurt as he seemed. Instead, Freddy walked away silently, his decades of “bluster armor” built protecting his sensitivity about his height laid on the ground, smashed.
Souls are crushed all the time in poker rooms. You think you've seen it all, and you just grow immune. But this one stood out, as almost a warning. You just don't want to get into a verbal war with Haralabob.
There is an addendum to this story.
A year or so later, and strictly by chance, Freddy and Haralabos found themselves at the same table during a big tournament. Neither man had forgotten their previous encounter (how could they?). By this time, poker was being covered in real-time by a fleet of new poker reporters and journalists, and, by all accounts, Haralabos was riding Freddy hard that day, with verbal put-downs and jokes at Freddy's expense non-stop. Freddy tried to play it cool, knowing he was no verbal match for HBob.
Until this happened. There was a Random Guy sitting directly on Freddy's left hand side who was new, didn't know anyone at the table (or their past history with each other) and who politely told Freddy this (recreation):
Random Guy (to Freddy): Hey man. You need to protect your cards better. I can see your hole cards flash sometimes when you look. I saw you had paint last hand. You need to learn to peek without flashing.
Freddy: Buddy, do you know who I am? I'm playing this game since before you were born! I win more money this year than you will have in your whole life! They ask me to write new poker book, that is kind of player I am! Buddy, I'm writing now, next time I see you I bring you a signed copy of my poker book!
Haralabos: Next time you should bring a phone book instead so you can sit on it and see your cards better.
Well, Freddy was playing it cool with HBob until then, but that last comment instantly set him off. Again, by the written accounts of the poker reporters live blogging the event, Freddy shot straight up out of his chair (though you probably couldn't tell...) and challenged HBob to a fist fight, screaming expletives at him and demanding a duel. Haralabob just sat in his chair laughing, saying he didn't want to go outside and fight Freddy because he didn't want to get arrested for child abuse.
Famous poker player Daniel Negreanu witnessed this incident live, and blogged about it at the time. I remember that he thought that Freddy would be a decent favorite in a fight between Freddy and Haralabos. But I have my doubts about that. Negreanu disliked Haralobob personally, like many poker players who ever faced him at that time, because HBob could be so vicious. So he was biased in his fight assessment, IMHO.
HBob was not a figher at all - more of a jester than a knight – but I thought he could always just stiff-arm Freddy by the forehead and then Freddy would be left with that cartoon 'swinging of the arms trying to reach him' thing while HBob could just jab him with his other arm. I would have made Haralabos the -200 favorite.
Story #2
This happened in the early 2000's, during Season 3 of the World Poker Tour, just a year or so after Story #1.
Haralabos had played in one of the WPT's big televised tournaments and made the Final Table. Not only that, but he ultimately came in Second Place, meaning he was going to get a LOT of TV time, which, again, most players thought was worth more than the actual prize money. Poker by now was white hot in America and was bringing so many people instant overnight fame. Players were resorting to obnoxious table antics and hyper displays of “personality” just to get a few seconds of screen time. Everyone was trying to create a “brand”.
Not to belabor the point, but before television made poker cool and respectable, it was filled with 95% scumbags and degenerates with almost no white-collar, working professionals. But TV poker didn't want to portray that sordid image. In the very early days, the WPT actually had a “dress code” for appearing on the televised Final Table, where a sports jacket and collared shirts were required and would be provided for you if you didn't own them yourself (in other words, for everyone).
Even the long time “Old School” gamblers were cleaned up and presented as daring adventurers instead of leather-assed angle-shooters they (we) really were. Known broke degenerates like T.J. Cloutier was turned into worshiped, heroic figures instantly, romanticized by television producers as sharp equity traders who practiced at the table instead of on Wall Street. The reality was that guys like Cloutier were hanging around poker rooms mostly to shamelessly beg recent winners for a buy-in, or even just a meal.
Under this ethos of “cleaning up poker players' images”, players were allowed to manufacture any kind of image they wanted if they were going to be on the WPT TV show. Producers for the WPT would ask each finalist for a biography, but did absolutely no fact or background checking at all intentionally, mostly out of fear of what they might find if they actually did do so. So with all that in mind, here is the official bio for Haralabos that appeared on the WPT website before his televised event, almost certainly written by HBob himself:
"Haralabos Voulgaris is a 29-year-old professional sports bettor from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. This poker tyro brings a lot more to his first WPT final table than meets the eye. He is a playwright, holds a degree in philosophy, and his goals reach far beyond the green felt. His plans for the next 5 years include learning to play the piano, to have one of his plays performed on Broadway, and to win a WPT title."
I'm not sure how much of this was an inside joke, how much was just the pressure to appear white-collar in order to attract advertisers (remember, poker players were all thinking about future endorsement deals at this time), and how much of this was HBob's ego run amuck.
BUT COME ON! “Playwright”? Has Haralabos ever gone to a play yet, even in 2018? But that wasn't enough; he wanted to have one of his many, many written plays performed on Broadway very soon, because that's how dedicated he was to this art form! Just remember, this is the guy who widely known throughout the poker world for using his mastery of language to mercilessly torture midgets and other unfortunates at the poker table. Not exactly Tennessee Williams. Add in the piano lessons and the PhD in philosophy (philosophy!), and the fact that the WPT didn't bat an eye in putting this up as his bio, and the unintentional comedy is off the charts.
Haralabos claimed to friends at the time that it was mostly a joke, but as we will now see, he seemed to really care about this false image.
As you probably well know, there is a gap between when the WPT Final Table was played, and when the show based off of it is actually aired. By the time Haralabos' episode was about to air, he was staying as a guest in the house of a former poker pro named Paul Phillips, who only the most dedicated and old players will remember. (Paul Phillips won 2 WPT titles in the very early seasons, took the prize money, and pretty much disappeared from poker, going on to live a “normal” life. One of the few gambling success stories, IMHO).
Well, Paul was a practical joker himself, and he had found a way to hack his DVR and change the description of recorded programs, including Bob's WPT episode. Knowing that Haralabos was coming back soon to watch it, Paul changed the description on the DVR to fuck with him. The original show description was something like this:
“Six new players vie for the title of Champion of the LA Poker Classic Tournament. Players include movie star John Smith, astronaut Mark Hunt, playwright Haralabos Volgaris, undercover international spy Chris Jenkins, the crown prince of Wakanda Jerome Jones, and the inventor of the Internet Joe “Man Tits” Mande.“
Obviously the other names and titles were made up by me, but you get the picture. Anyway, Paul made one small adjustment, knowing Haralabos would see it:
“Six new players vie for the title of Champion of the LA Poker Classic Tournament. Players include movie star John Smith, astronaut Mark Hunt, uptight playwright Haralabos Volgaris, undercover international spy Chris Jenkins, the crown prince of Wakanda Jerome Jones, and the inventor of the Internet Joe “Man Tits” Mande.“
Paul then waited for Haralabos to return so they could watch the episode together, leaving up the modified description of “uptight playwright” on the TV and making sure HBob was in the room alone for a few minutes before starting the show, so he had no choice but to stare at the phony description.
Bob noticed it immediately. According to Paul, HBob started to get really worried, thinking that the show was going to portray him in a terrible light and edit him to look dumb and foolish, just because of that one word “uptight” in the description. Before even starting the show, HBob was already making excuses, telling Paul that he forgot they kept his microphone on at all times, and he said some critical things about the WPT's production crew, and now they were getting their revenge by calling him uptight. He kept bringing up ways he might have acted uptight during the Final Table and was pre-rationalizing them for Paul, who was enjoying it all.
This went on for the first 15 minutes or so of the show, with Haralabos worrying and moaning non-stop about being called “uptight” and wondering how they were going to edit him to look that way, until Paul finally let him off the hook. According to Paul, Haralabos didn't believe it was a practical joke and kept worrying and griping longer, until he saw for himself that it was just a standard WPT show with no unfair editing involved.
I'm not going to put too much on Haralabos for being so worried about his portrayal. Players really did believe that a good edit was the difference between a lucrative endorsement deal with Budweiser or Nike and getting nothing. The sky seemed to be the limit. BUT... the notion that Bob was just playing an inside joke and didn't really care about being known as a “playwright, piano player, and philosopher” didn't quite match up with his defensive and concerned attitude that day.
Sources:
Source for Story #1: This is a very famous poker story that was talked about amoung players live and on 2+2 (the dominant, high-traffic poker forum back then and perhaps now) a lot when it happened. You can find snippets and references on twoplustwo.com. I'm sure other long time and knowledgeable players will verify hearing a version of this story before.
An account of it was given by Haralabos himself on the podcast “Big Poker Sundays” which he used to co-host with Scott Huff, but has long since disappeared. It was a part of Poker Road Radio, which was run by Barry Greenstein's asshole son before closing. As this story is now close to 15 years old and poker media is on life support, many previous accounts from blogs and recording are now gone, and thus a lot of it had to be reconstructed from memory. Part of the reason I'm re-telling it is because it was gradually being lost in time, and that is a motive to re-tell it now, for a new generation.
Source for Story #2: I got the exact WPT description of Bob's bio from the 2+2 Archive (http://archives1.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=5504109&page=0&fpart=all&vc=1). The story of the altered DVR description and Paul Phillips came from the memory of Paul's old blog on LiveJournal (“extempore”), which has long been deleted, and from my own correspondence with Paul Phillips at the time (we were pretty good “online friends” before the invention of Social Media. Anyone remember r.g.p. on Usenet?). Again, unfortunately memory had to play a large role.
I by no means want to pretend Haralabos and I were close. I knew about him and tracked him more than most poker players due to my sports betting background, but Bob was just one of a hundred different and strange characters in the gambling world that you'd recognize daily, none of whom you'd want to spend a lot of time with. We had some mutual friends, that's about it.
Both stories were written under the Geneva Convention rules, which explicitly states that all gambling stories worldwide may contain up to 15% of exaggerations in order to make the story more entertaining or dramatic and still be called “truthful”. Like all good gambling stories should be told. But the core elements are as faithful a retelling as I could make it, including the WPT description, and the key dialogue by Bob that was quoted the most at that time. It's the dates and locations I'm least sure about.

NHL 16 Information Hub - Updated 9/14

Release date

North America: September 15 International: September 17
NHL 16 will be released for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. The 360 and PS3 will be getting a simple update in the form of "NHL Legacy". Information in this post is for the NHL 16 release only.

Cover Art

Instead of a cover vote this year, EA debuted the new cover at the NHL Awards in June. For the 'Play Together, Win Together' aspect, the cover featured 2015 Cup winners Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
Following reports that Kane was a person of interest in a rape/assault investigation, EA Sports released a statement on August 12:

In light of the ongoing investigation involving Patrick Kane, he will no longer be a spokesperson for the launch of EA SPORTS NHL 16.
He will not appear on the EA SPORTS NHL 16 cover nor participate in other EA SPORTS NHL 16 promotional activities.

The new cover features Jonathan Toews skating with the Cup. He's the first player to be featured solo on two separate NHL covers.

Demo

There is no demo planned due to the EASHL beta.

Early Release

EA Access (Xbox One exclusive): NHL 16 Early Access is available now via EA Access. The download is 17 GB and gives you 10 hours of the full game.
(In addition to early access, membership includes a 10% discount on all DLC AND digital downloads, as well as downloads of full games in The Vault. EA Access is $4.99/mo or $29.99/yr (US pricing, other regions vary))

Pre-Order Info

• All regular pre-orders come with "$15 worth of HUT content": 1 gold pack per week for 15 weeks.
• Digital downloads include 10 gold packs immediately on entering HUT for the first time.
• GameStop/EB pre-orders include "$25 worth of HUT content": 1 gold pack per week for 25 weeks.
• Deluxe Edition pre-orders include "$50 worth of HUT content": 2 gold packs per week for 20 weeks.

Some of these may be stackable but you may want to check with the vendor to confirm.
Links below are US links, other regions available through EA's pre-order page.

Retailer	Regular	Deluxe	Notes
Amazon	PS4 : XB1	PS4 : XB1	Prime members save up to $5 (visible during checkout) (Promotion expired)
Best Buy	PS4 : XB1	PS4 : XB1	GCU members save 20% and receive a $10 GC for pre-ordering
GameStop	PS4 : XB1	PS4 : XB1
Microsoft Store	XB1	XB1	Includes $10 MS/Xbox gift card
XBL	XB1	XB1	10% off if you have EA Access
PSN	PS4	PS4
Dell	PS4 : XB1	PS4 : XB1	Includes $15 Dell eGift Card (90-day expiration), no pre-order bonuses

Marketing Features

The big marketing features for this year's release are:

New ways to compete as a team

• The New EASHL (pre-set builds to provide equal footing, no more chasing legend cards)
• 6v6 Online Team Play (NHL players only at release)
• Online Couch Co-op (up to 4v4)

A way to play for every hockey fan

• Be a GM: Player Morale (your management affects morale, and morale impacts player skill and teammates)
• Be a Pro: Shape Your Legacy (how you play determines which attributes improve)
• HUT: Single Player Seasons
• Visual On-Ice Training (new guides and markers to help players of all skill levels)

Complete control from every position

• Precision skating (a hybrid of Vision Control and the mess that was NHL 15's skater controls)
• Seamless puck pickups (additional animations and range to improve puck collection and pass reception)
• Control the crease (revised and improved goalie controls and animations)

Unrivaled game day authenticity

• Distinct Team Arena Atmosphere (fixed bench layouts, team- or arena-specific items, etc.)
• Story Driven Commentary (additional commentator dialog including lines relevant to in-mode season and player progression)
• Superstar Authenticity (more player faces and improvements to gear designs and colors)
• Playoff Beards

Gameplay Modes & Features

Confirmed gameplay modes UPDATED 9/9

• Play Now
• Be a Pro
• Be a GM
• Season Mode
• Practice Mode (solo and team, offline only)
• Offline Playoffs/Tournament mode
• Online Versus
• Hockey Ultimate Team
  • Play a Friend added back in
  • Offline Seasons added in
• NHL Moments Live
• EASHL (full 6v6)
• Online Team Play (with NHL skaters)
• Drop-in Games (with your created pro)
• Offline Shootouts
• Online Shootouts

Source: NHL 16 Full Feature Set
Additional source (posted 9/9): NHL 16 Update

EASHL Changes

The EASHL mode in NHL 16 has been revamped to use stock classes with no customized attributes or height/weight. You customize the look of your skater then select a build at game time. Builds have their own pros & cons and an average height/weight for that type of player. Attributes are based on an average second liner, though speed and acceleration are the same across the board.
Club customization is limited to existing logos and jerseys - no custom color schemes or jerseys at this time. You can select your home ice and team play-by-play name.
On 9/9, EA announced a badge/prestige system for EASHL where players advance from Level 1 through Level 50 based on points, milestones, and other tasks that award XP. Once players hit level 50, they advance one prestige level and go back to level 1. Badges show up on leaderboards and in the dressing rooms & side select screens.

HUT Returning User Bonus

On August 28, EA confirmed that the returning user bonus is in the form of gold packs. This year, returning users will receive up to 10 mega packs based on coin balance, number of games played, and collection size for your NHL 15 team.
Packs contain 25 untradeable gold items, 4-8 rare, with a minimum 7 players.
By comparison, NHL 15 was up to 30 packs, 12 cards (including some silver cards), 4 rare with 3-4 players per pack.

Additional Articles & Videos

• NHL 16 Update - the first content update will be available when early access begins 9/10.
• Hockey Ultimate Team Features - Short videos and descriptions of HUT with no significant year-over-year changes]
• Hockey Ultimate Team: Ultimate Guide - placeholder link posted August 27, content TBD.
• Be a GM: Player Morale (Video)
• Be a Pro: Shape Your Legacy
• NHL 16 Edit Player Update - full player editing is back in, available from the main menu as well as in the usual game modes (Be a GM, Season, Playoffs)
• Mascots - all of the NHL mascots have been added for additional realism.
• EASHL Dev Diary & Gameplay - includes video interviews with GameChanger members
• Gameplay Series: Control The Crease - info on updates to goalies and controls
• E3 Gameplay trailer

"Ask EA"

EA invited players to submit questions to the dev team. Answers are posted on an irregular basis.
Of note:

• The Action Tracker system for replays and stats has returned
• Players will drag a skate or perform other animations to avoid offsides\
• Many teams will have licensed authentic goal horns & songs
• No mobile app for HUT
• HUT will no longer have duration cards for skill boosts
• You will be able to swap goalies in HUT games
  
• AHL team management and games return to Be a GM
  
• Be a GM also gains back sim intervention for individual games
  
• EASHL returns to a monthly playoff system
  
• There will be free post-release content updates similar to last year, but info remains TBD.
  
• Licensed goal horns songs are in for some teams:
  
  • Anaheim
  • Arizona
  • Boston
  • Columbus
  • Calgary
  • Chicago
  • Detroit
  • Los Angeles
  • Minnesota
  • Montreal
  • New Jersey
  • NY Islanders
  • NY Rangers
  • Ottawa
  • Philadelphia
  • Pittsburgh
  • St. Louis
  • Toronto
  • Winnipeg

Arena Atmosphere

NHL 16 improves on the arenas from last year with unique elements and bug fixes. The team is continually updating an Arena Atmosphere page with screenshots of some of the changes and additions.
PNC is confirmed in, as is the Islanders' home ice (Barclays Center) in Brooklyn. United Center is not (yet) in. United Center confirmed in as of 9/9.
Due to certain rules/regulations relative to gambling-related materials in E-rated games, Arizona's Gila River Arena will not be in the game (taken from the Ask EA page above):

Gila River Arena will not be in NHL 16. Due to certain laws, rules and/or regulations in various jurisdictions, EA restricts the appearance of brands that pertain to gambling across all of its E or E-equivalent games and titles. Accordingly, due to the association with Gila River Casino, the Arizona Coyotes will be playing in a home arena called Arizona Arena not Gila River Arena in NHL 16.

Top-5 Player Ratings

	Goalies
1	Carey Price	94
2	Henrik Lundqvist	93
3	Jonathan Quick	93
4	Tuukka Rask	92
5	Pekka Rinne	92
6	Braden Holtby	91
7	Sergei Bobrovsky	90
8	Cory Schneider	90
9	Semyon Varlamov	89
10	Fredrik Anderson	89

	Defensemen
1	Shea Weber	94
2	Duncan Keith	93
3	Drew Doughty	93
4	Ryan Suter	93
5	Erik Karlsson	91
6	P.K. Subban	91
7	Victor Hedman	91
8	Ryan McDonagh	90
9	Roman Josi	90
10	Alex Pietrangelo	90

	Right Wingers
1	Corey Perry	92
2	Patrick Kane	92
3	Vladimir Tarasenko	91
4	Jakub Voracek	90
5	Marian Hossa	90
6	Phil Kessel	89
7	Rick Nash	89
8	Blake Wheeler	89
9	Kyle Okposo	88
10	Jiri Hudler	88

	Left Wingers
1	Alex Ovechkin	93
2	Jamie Benn	92
3	Taylor Hall	90
4	Zach Parise	90
5	Max Pacioretty	89
6	Gabriel Landeskog	89
7	Patrick Marleau	88
8	Andrew Ladd	88
9	Alex Steen	88
10	Patrick Sharp	88

	Centers
1	Sidney Crosby	96
2	Jonathan Toews	94
3	Steven Stamkos	93
4	Pavel Datsyuk	93
5	John Tavares	92
6	Evgeni Malkin	92
7	Anze Kopitar	92
8	Henrik Zetterberg	92
9	Ryan Getzlaf	91
10	Tyler Seguin	91

	Top 50 Players
1	Sidney Crosby	96
2	Jonathan Toews	94
3	Carey Price	94
4	Shea Weber	94
5	Alex Ovechkin	93
6	Duncan Keith	93
7	Drew Doughty	93
8	Steven Stamkos	93
9	Henrik Lundqvist	93
10	Pavel Datsyuk	93
11	Ryan Suter	93
12	Jonathan Quick	93
13	John Tavares	92
14	Jamie Benn	92
15	Corey Perry	92
16	Patrick Kane	92
17	Evgeni Malkin	92
18	Anze Kopitar	92
19	Tuukka Rask	92
20	Pekka Rinne	92
21	Henrik Zetterberg	92
22	Braden Holtby	91
23	Ryan Getzlaf	91
24	Tyler Seguin	91
25	Patrice Bergeron	91
26	Erik Karlsson	91
27	P.K. Subban	91
28	Victor Hedman	91
29	Vladimir Tarasenko	91
30	Claude Giroux	90
31	Taylor Hall	90
32	Nicklas Backstrom	90
33	Jakub Voracek	90
34	Zach Parise	90
35	Marian Hossa	90
36	Sergei Bobrovsky	90
37	Joe Pavelski	90
38	Ryan McDonagh	90
39	Cory Schneider	90
40	Roman Josi	90
41	Alex Pietrangelo	90
42	Kevin Shattenkirk	90
43	Jeff Carter	90
44	Max Pacioretty	89
45	Ryan Johansen	89
46	Mark Giordano	89
47	Phil Kessel	89
48	Ryan Kesler	89
49	Oliver Ekman-Larsson	89
50	Frederik Andersen	89

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to give you all a heads up, I received a very strange yellow scratch card that says "casino cash $10,000 grand prize!" in the mail today.
Thought it was strange that it didn't mention much other information than the company's name "Atlas Air Industries" and to call 204-800-1160 if you win. Of course I scratched the card, and it said I was a winner.
Thanks to google, it turns out these cards were circulating back in 2015 when the company was under a different name. There have been multiple BBB complaints against them. The link to that reddit thread is here:
https://www.reddit.com/Winnipeg/comments/2uwxr8/lottery_slots_card_in_the_mail_atlas_ai
So beware! Make sure you don't have any family members who gets scammed this time around!