Casino Roger Ebert
You have to make a choice in life: Be a gambler or a croupier. So believes Jack Manfred, the hero of 'Croupier,' whose casino job places him halfway between the bosses and the bettors, so he can keep an eye on both. He is a cold, controlled man, at pains to tell us, 'I do not gamble.' Casino Roger Ebert, slot dentistica, gouden slot 39, gra darmowa poker.
No-risk gambling. Ever hear of it?
It's sounds a lot like 'airline cuisine,' or 'head butt,' or 'boneless ribs,' 'government efficiencies,' 'civilized warfare' and 'Chocolate 'Nilla Wafers.'
You can find your own favorite oxymoron on lists on the Internet. Head butt was my favorite, next to boneless ribs, until no-risk gambling was adopted by the well-connected investors in the Rosemont casino deal.
They lost their investments when the Illinois Gaming Board rejected the casino license earlier this week, on the grounds the Rosemont deal was tainted by ties to the Chicago Outfit and other political shenanigans.
Casino Roger Ebert
'I feel like a victim,' investor Chaz Ebert, wife of Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert, told reporters after the Gaming Board voted 5-0 to kill the Rosemont deal.
'We're like innocent bystanders,' she said. 'I feel like I have been run over by a train. When IBM goes into business, do you call that a gamble? Simply because you're investing in a casino does not mean you're gambling. Believe me, I know the difference. It's foolish to say we're gambling.'
If it's foolish to say that investing is gambling, what should we call it? Hockey? Quilting? What? All this whining almost caused me to forget nagging questions that none of the investors has answered to my satisfaction:
Who was their political clout? Who brought them to the deal?
On 'Chicago Tonight' on Wednesday, Ebert was again complaining that gambling wasn't gambling, it was investment. And former Chicago Bear Shaun Gayle was complaining that he too was a victim especially since he wasn't brought into the deal, he just heard about it, somehow, and signed up for a casino like your average citizen.
A few weeks ago, I asked him: Who brought you in? He wouldn't answer.
A few days ago, just before the Gaming Board rejected the Rosemont license, some of the minority investors visited the Tribune to make their case. One was Connie Payton, wife of the late Chicago Bears great Walter Payton, and Al 'Cadillac' Johnson, a longtime political insider who, years before I got in the newspaper business, once sold my dad a car.
Who brought you in?
'I don't know,' said Connie Payton and I believed her. 'Walter handled that. And now, you know, he's gone.'
I told her she should contact the U.S. attorney's office. Then I turned to Al Johnson, who has been on the inside of Chicago politics for decades.
Who put you in this deal, Al?
'The legislature empowered minorities to become involved,' he said.
But who brought you in? Give me a name.
He shrugged his shoulders.
Did Tim Degnan bring you in?
Al Johnson looked at the carpet.
Degnan is the political brain of Mayor Richard Daley. Degnan's wife, Sandra, is one of the Rosemont investors. It's been my theory that minority investors--black women and black athletes--were brought in as unwitting cover for the Degnans and other political investors.
Al, was it Tim Degnan?
'Well, I, the legislature empowered us,' Johnson said.
How did Mrs. Degnan learn of the Rosemont deal? Did she hear about it at some butcher shop in the 11th Ward?
Al Johnson shrugged again. He didn't know
There are many people who've lost their homes gambling, and plenty of women who've confronted husbands after the grocery money disappeared on the craps table. Poor people gamble because they don't have the money to buy shares of IBM or invest in casinos.
And those who are the beneficiaries of political leverage have a hard time selling themselves as political victims. If any reporter buys the theory that these are victims, they might as well scrawl an oxymoron on their foreheads, like 'head butt' but in reverse.
Well, I guess Connie Payton may be a victim, because her husband got the family into the deal.
But the rest can't make that claim. Are the Degnans victims? Or Eugene Heytow, a white guy and boss of the politically connected Amalgamated Bank?
'Fifteen years there's been gambling in Illinois and all the profits have been made by white men,' Ebert charged the other day. 'For 15 years we've watched white men make money on this investment. The first time that minorities get a chance to invest, what happens? We get steamrolled. I mean, this is an outrage. And I think the citizens of Illinois should be outraged.'
The race card is always the last card. But I agree with the connected investors on the outrage issue. Citizens should be outraged.
Say the Rosemont casino had been built. And say you walked into the casino and foolishly lost your kid's college tuition. You might want to hold a press conference, or show up on 'Chicago Tonight,' whining and asking for a refund.
Casino Movie Review Roger Ebert
You know what the casino investors would call you?
Some kind of oxymoron.
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jskass@tribune.com
Brooklyn, NY11221
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Additional Info
Previously operated by:Loew's Inc., Shubert Brothers Theater Company
Architects:R. Thomas Short
Functions:High School
Previous Names: DeKalb Theatre, Loew's DeKalb Theatre
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The DeKalb Theatre was opened on December 18, 1911 with 2,500 seats. The architects were Harde & Short. It had a 40 feet wide proscenium and a 40 feet deep stage. There were 22 dressing rooms. It was closed in July 1913 for extensive alterations and improvements, and was reopened by the Shubert Brothers, presenting plays direct from New York’s Broadway theatres. In August 1915, it was taken over by Marcus Loew, and was renamed Loew’s DeKalb Theatre presenting vaudeville and movies. It was equipped with a Moller 3 manual, 16 ranks organ in 1917.
It was closed in 1930, and was unused for several years. It was renovated and reopened in the summer of 1936 as the Casino Theatre. Seating was now provided for 1,600 presenting burlesque. It was closed down by the city authorities on May 1, 1937, after having it licence denied.
The DeKalb Theatre reopened sometime later in the 1930’s presenting opera and ballet programs. Seating was now given as 2,600. The DeKalb Theatre was finally closed in August 1947, and was offered ‘For Sale’ in February 1947 with an adaptable use for manufacturing.
Casino Royale Roger Ebert
In recent years it has been converted into a high school.
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