Don Eammelli at the Prima Donna

Don Eammelli was my Shift Boss at the Primmadonna in Reno in the late 50's. He was also a friend and a mentor of mine. I have often searched the internet for information on him, and the other day I found a telephone number for Janice, his daughter. Called and learned that he had passed years ago, we chatted a while, the highlight, she remembered my name. Brought back a flood of memories.

Not the Nevada Club, but just across the street. I went from working at the Nevada Club to the Primm. Actually, Don's wife once worked at the Nevada Club.

Don was from Steubenville, Ohio, so we had an immediate association that way. I'm thinking of men who have had a strong influence in my life, Don is probably in the top five. My Dad, Brother, Lincoln Fitzgerald and Don, would take me up through most of my life, maybe pit Danny Fagan from the Nevada Club in there too.

When I started at the Primm I immediately liked Don and admired him as well. He was perhaps one of the brightest and smartest men I have ever known. He was a gambler, had his own "count" system on cards, which had won him a great deal of money, he had invented a few items, had devised a more efficient monetary system than we presently use, and had come up with a "shot" on a crap table that he showed me, and one that I have used successfully on a few occasions. Janice told me that the state of Nevada had hired him to teach their people how to recognize "cheaters" and what they do.

I remember one morning we had a card "marker" come in the club. Don was sitting at the end of the bar drinking coffee. Don kept giving us the signal to not worry about it. He finally nonchalantly walked into the pit, got a new deck of cards out of the cabinet, and took them to the table the marker was playing on. Cards were changed on a regular basis, so no one thought anything. The marker went to another table and started working on another deck. Don, after a while, repeated that scenario. Before he got wise, we had relieved him of over $5000, all very quietly done, Don know what and how he was doing it, and at appropriate times, before he could win "big," changed decks. That was Don, very low key, and probably knew more than anyone who tried anything.

Don taught me a lot, showed me a lot, introduced me to some "right" people, gave me the opportunity to become a "box man," (supposedly, at that time, I was the youngest box man in Nevada), even let me take over the "pit" on a few occasions.

Talking with Janice about her Dad was a great link to my past, not many of them exist anymore, Looking back, Don Eammelli was a very important influence on my life. I could do a book on him, maybe I will do more, check back.