From W.C. Fields in the movie Tillie and Gus
From the book: Missouri & Me

“Your honor, we were having a friendly game of poker…yes we were… and I don’t mind a man having four Aces when I have four kings… no, no I don’t. But, I do mind when it happens when I dealt and I knew what I dealt him.”

About Johnny Moss
From the book: Missouri & Me

I remember drawing the same tournament table as Johnny Moss, then a living legend fondly known as ‘The Grand Old Man of Poker.” I sat across from poker royalty as we waited for the game to begin. Mr. Moss asked to see my antique pocket watch I had set on the table and as he admired my watch he shared the story of the pocket watch his father bequeathed him long before I was born.

Big Hand in the Big Game: The Call
From the book: Missouri & Me

It wasn’t the size of the pot that made this hand so significant; for in the ensuing years there would be countless pots that would dwarf this one. No, from my lens, the $26,000 then sitting in front of Dave afforded him an important cushion, which would allow him to maneuver and take control of the game like only a focused, non-drinking Missouri Dave could. Furthermore, he had momentum, a momentum that from the moment Tom’s hand hit the muck, Missouri Dave rode to become an unstoppable force in the future of The Big Game, a game that was destined to become much, much bigger.

From Missouri & Me, the Book:
Who were some of the ‘old school’ players…

You would play with Cajuns from Louisiana whose accents were so thick you’d require an interpreter, the very best players from New York City, Texans who’d spit their chew into coke bottles, the hustlers from everywhere, the cowboys, the grinders, the romantics, the rounders, the road gamblers and all the great legends and folk heroes of the game.

On Cocaine
From the book: Missouri & Me

Cocaine, for the most part, had a devastating effect on the poker economy. An untold amount of money was withdrawn from that economy, one gram at a time.