Out of all the poker players it has been my pleasure to meet in Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City, California and the Caribbean, the happiest one has to be Walter 'Puggy' Pearson.
Good ol'e Puggy always had a smile on his round, bulldog-shaped face. And when he wasn't puffing on a big cigar, he was singing, 'I am a roving gambler....i've gambled all around...whenever I put my money up,' and so on.
I got to know Puggy on a friendly basis when I lived in Las Vegas and even after I moved to Lake Elsinore, CA. Peggy practically lived in a Pokermobile, a colorfully decorated van that he drove around in from casino to casino.
Most people didn't know it, but Puggy was writing a book about his life as a roving gambler. Peggy let me look at the manuscript. I suggested some changes and helped him with the editing.
Puggy was generous with his money and paid for the work. He also shared some of his gambling stories with me.
'I remember once when I was driving through West Texas looking for a game,' he said. 'I called a friend and it just so happened a game was about to start just outside Amarillo.
'Well, i had me a bankroll of around $6,000,' he recalled. 'I didn't know all the folks who were gonna play in the game, so I decided to protect myself in case we got hijacked. i had this empty Prince Albert tobacco can and stuffed half my bankroll into it. Then when I pulled up to the house where the game was gonna take place and nobody was looking, I just backed my rear wheel over the tobacco can.'
Peggy swaggered into the large ranch style house and commenced to play poker. About two hours into the game, doors suddenly swung open and two masked men with shotguns entered the place. The poker players were forced to surrender their bankrolls at the point of a gun and the hijackers made their escape.
Peggy left the ranch house, moved his car, collected his $3,000 and rolled down the road.
'You can take the kid out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the kid,' he said, winking.
Peggy got his book published. it was a goof one, honest and as true as the generous player who wrote it. I have nothing but kind words to say about Puggy Pearson, one of the best of the redneck gamblers. I know when I had some financial problems, he came through, and I know he refused to let Stu 'The Kid' Ungar die broke. That is high style, players, and Puggy Pearson deserves four gold stars.
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
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