The Big Razz Game: 1959. Johnny Moss versus
Sarge Ferris

I was traveling with one the best all-around gamblers in Texas, when it came to cheating, playing, booking, prop bets, golf, pistol shooting,dice. In the Cadillac going from West to East Texas, he had a shot-gun, rifle, .38 caliber snub nose, and a .22 caliber semi-automatic. Sand was going to meet his old friend from Dallas, Johnny Moss.

Sand's long-term friend stopped us on the dirt road up to a gambling joint outside Lufkin, Texas. The two Cadillacs pulled along side each other. "Those big spot dice are all right. Edge work." he said. That meant the edges of the dice were shaved to give the faders a five per cent edge, rather than the one point four per cent that square dice afforded.

There was an open shoot and fade dice game, and an open no-limit, seven-five draw low-ball game. That meant anybody off the road big enough to carry money would get played with. I faded a few bets on my short bankroll, and lost. Sand faded and played in the big low ball game. They played with stacks of paper currency. There was a lot of moving in. However, it was a square, honest game.

We went to some horse races with no betting window. You just bet with anyone standing on the rail. Sand laughed at me because I blew some dough on a "two-horsed race." He said I was the only one in East Texas to bet on the loser. I faded dice in this old barn. Then we went on to Longview, Texas for an Elk's Night Stag, with lots of gambling. I played seven card stud, five-dollar limit, and got cheated with an overhand stack. Sand let me get cheated as part of "your education."

There were five dice tables, and the dice ran to the shooters big time.

The big poker game was upstairs. I sat up high on a shoeshine stand and watched what was mostly a duel between Johnny Moss and Sarge Ferris. Both were later inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. That was the one and only time I ever saw razz being played by professional road gamblers. The two games you saw everywhere in Texas were Texas Hold 'em and Seven-Five low ball.

The razz game was full with big stacks of paper money in front of some of the players. Sarge and Johnny were the only really aggressive players, moving in when they were ahead or even. Other players I knew in the game were Pat Renfro, who had been Johnny Moss's partner as early as 1928, and Sand. With the biggest bankroll, Sand had staked Johnny Moss and Pat Renfro. He quit the game. Back then, by custom, no one would watch a big game, unless they were waiting for a seat. Since I was with Sand, I was fine.

Sand was kind of famous because he was busted running a large dice game, with a full layout, at the Democratic Convention in Oklahoma City. 52 or 56. He had on a delegate's badge. An AP wire service story with pictures showed his Cadillac trunk with boxes of dice, and a dice shaving machine. It was in newspapers all over the country.

I was twenty and had never seen anyone slink big stacks of money like that. There were $1000 dollar bills and $500 dollar bills in some stacks, so it was hard to estimate how much was in front of folks. Johnny Moss and Sarge were trash talking and challenging each other in a certain way. They were dominating the game, and the conversation. When a gambler would get busted, he and pals would whisper in the corner, pool their money, and get back in. During a long night, many seemed to get busted. The minimum buy-in of $500 didn't have much meaning. Moss got off big loser, which meant Sand made pull-outs to get him back in action. If one guy was staking another, and both were in the game, nobody cared.

Along about sunrise, Moss ended up with a big stack, and they made money for the night. I wasn't around while they cut up.

I heard, but am not sure, that razz was Sarge Ferris' road game. Johnny Moss often said a gambler should be able to play any game. Sarge had insisted on razz in Longview. I also heard it was Sarge Ferris that introduced razz to Las Vegas.

Sand had been friends forever around Dallas with Johnny Moss, Benny Binion, and Titanic Thompson. Johnny, Benny, and Sand lived into their eighties and remained close friends.

Sand never attended the World Series of Poker. Benny Binion told him the IRS and the FBI were "on the rail."

Johnny Hughes writings available here www.JohnnyHughes.com and in The Poker Forum archives.

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