Former craps dealer Phil Steinberg on point with ArdonneTales from The Curmudgeon – Title goes here
by Murray Brown
This column was originally meant to have been written three weeks ago, but the Lexington Select Yearling Sale was creeping up on us and I felt that the stallion previews of the trotters and pacers were more timely.
Three weeks ago, the story’s subject Phil Steinberg was basking in the glory of Ardonne’s exciting win in the Grade 1 William Wellwood Memorial. Less than a month later, the skies are not nearly as rosy for the colt or its connections.
Ardonne raced in the Mohawk Million last Saturday (Sept. 20). Despite coming up with an ulcer on his palate, he still managed to get a check. All this shows how glory can be short lived in this wonderful game of ours —first you are up, then you can be down. Grab the fun and glory while you can, because sometimes it can be slow in returning.
Steinberg’s sojourn in harness racing began as it has with so many others in the Catskill mountains in New York and its most famous racetrack Monticello Raceway.
How did you get started in harness racing?
“In 1969, I was working at the Concord Hotel near Monticello. The Maitre D at the coffee shop there was a degenerate gambler. He would send me to the track to place his bets when he couldn’t go himself. I watched the horses. I loved the whole scene, the horses, the drivers, the trainers and everyone involved. I said to myself if I ever had enough money, I’d own horses one day.”
When did that one day occur?
“In 1978, I bought a Down Under horse named Shadow Adios N. Herman Carbone was my trainer. Jimmy Marohn was the driver. He won his first race for us. I thought as many others have done before, ‘This is an easy game.” Shortly thereafter he foundered and his career was over. Within a very short period of time, I experienced both the highs and lows that come with owning horses.”
When and how did you get involved with yearlings?
“In 2000, I became involved with one of the characters of the sport, the notorious Jimmy Wheeler. We bought a couple of yearlings who ended up being pretty good horses: Ashlee’s Big Guy ($978,168) and Art Maker ($1,036,217). We did well with the horses, but as was the case with most of those who were associated with Wheeler, I ended up getting screwed.”
Through the years your stable has consisted almost entirely of pacers and usually with partners. Then you acquired Ardonne, a trotter, and you own him alone?
“I actually have had a few trotters in the past. I had owned one with Sonny Antonacci. I met Megan Scran at the Jug last year. I had known her partner, Scott Zeron, previously. Megan impressed me. She is a hard-working young lady who cares deeply about the horses in her care. I asked her if I were to buy a yearling at the upcoming Lexington sale, if she would train it for me. She said yes, but she wanted a trotter. She eventually persuaded me to go for a trotter instead of a pacer. She not only wanted a trotter, but she wanted one by Tactical Landing. Both she and Scott had had lots of success with Tactical Landings: Megan’s first big horse was the filly Tactical Mounds who earned $531,710 in three years with her and Scott drove Tactical Approach with which he won the 2023 Hambletonian.”
So, it was to be a Tactical Landing colt.
“There were some colts that met our criteria that sold in the early sessions but which brought too much money. From the first time we saw Ardonne, we loved him. We thought he had it all. The only question was could I afford him. I ended up buying him for $37,000. We all thought that in terms of what we were looking for, he was nicer than some of the yearlings which brought a lot more money. As Megan recounted in her story here a few weeks ago, he was good from the very beginning. All winter and spring the reports were encouraging. In his early races, he did well and Scott took excellent care of him. Then came the Wellwood. It was without a doubt my biggest thrill in harness racing. That was followed by a bit of disappointment in the Mohawk Million. We scoped him after the race and it turned out that he had an ulcer on his palate. That certainly had to affect his performance, but he still managed to get a check. I know that my team of Megan and Scott will do what is best for the colt and hopefully we will be a presence in the Breeders Crown this year and in next year’s classic trots.”
Your horse holdings aren’t entirely with Megan and Scott.
“Like many owners in the game, I probably have more horses than I need to own. I presently own three horses with Joe Bongiorno, two with Nifty Norman and one each with Jared Bako, Scott DiDomenico, Brett Pelling, and Chris Ryder. Those in addition to Ardonne with Megan.”
Let’s talk about the business that enables you to own horses. You are what is known as a junketeer. What is a junketeer and how did you become one?
“In 1980, I saw an ad in a newspaper that said, ‘Become a casino dealer.’ I thought to myself that sounds like it could be fun. Why not? So, I went to a casino dealer’s school near Madison Square Garden. The course lasted 14 weeks. I discovered that I loved dealing craps. I went to Las Vegas. While there, I dealt at the Lady Luck Casino, at the time my first craps dealing job. I then worked at Sam Boyd’s California Hotel, the old Imperial Palace, and six months at Benny Binion’s Horseshoe. I also spent a lot of time watching Donny Henson, the best craps dealer I’ve ever seen at Caesars Palace. Altogether I was in Vegas for two years.
“I then moved east to New Jersey and Atlantic City. I got my dealer’s license and started working at the Claridge for six months. I then auditioned and was hired at Harrah’s on the spot by Eddie Kaminski the shift manager, because he could hear my craps stick calls from the other side of the casino. Eddie eventually became my best friend. Within a year and a half I was promoted three positions up to pit boss where I stayed for about 12 years.
“My ex-wife convinced me that I was wasting my time and talent in the pit, so she sent her bosses from the Crystal Palace in Nassau to offer me a player development position in Florida for them. The Crystal Palace had just been purchased from Carnival by Phil Ruffin. They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. In September 1994, I resigned from Harrah’s and moved south to the Fort Lauderdale area with my new wife and young kids. In 2005, Baha Mar came along and purchased the Crystal Palace from Ruffin. One early May morning at about 9 a.m. they fired every executive. I was the executive director of player development and casino marketing. By noon of that same day, I had my own junket business up and running. It was called Winning Ways of Florida Inc. Now 20 years later the rest is history. Since then, it’s been onward and upward in what I do. We service somewhere in the thousands of people who enjoy going to casinos and spending some time and money there. In recent years it has changed so that 90 per cent or more of my business relates to the cruise ship industry. Just about all the major cruise lines have casinos on board. These casinos represent a significant part of their revenue. My job is to get casino rated players to occupy their rooms and play at those casinos.”
What exactly does a junketeer do?
“My job involves generating new players to spend time on these ships or in the casinos. I want them to have a good time on their cruise in the daytime and to also have a good time gambling in the casino at night (or day if they prefer). If the person generates enough play, the casino will reward him or her with ‘comps,’ which are in effect gifts for their action or play therein. Based on the amount of their play and their time spent in the casino, these comps will range from free room and board for a good player to sometimes exceptional gifts to those regarded as ‘whales,’ those who bet big money and spend lots of time in the casino. Various casinos might have different algorithms on which they base the comps with which they will reward the player. My compensation is based upon a combination of things, the anticipation of their losses based on their play, called the theoretical win for the casino or the theoretical loss for the player and in some cases their actual losses if those should occur.”
