The Monkey Whisperer

Art and monkey

Thursday in the satellite room I ran into Art, a longtime WSOP dealer. We\’re talking years into the Binion\’s regime long. The last time I encountered Art was while taking this photo in 2006. The scene was the Poker Share pre-main event party at the All-World Suite at the Palms. I was one of the site\’s 24 runners in the ME that year, and so had the priviledge of meeting Mikey the monkey, seen here in Art\’s arms.

You may recall the ruckus caused by Poker Share when the site attempted to entered Mikey into the main event. Jeffrey Pollack was not amused. Mikey was last seen throwing balls around at people in the expo during the main event that year, further validating the decision of Harrah\’s brass in excluding the primate from the competition.

When I told Art Thursday that the last time I saw him was when I took a picture of him holding a monkey he knew immediately what I was talking about.

\”The last I heard he was running for sheriff,\” Art joked.

Art said Mikey took to him immediately when he dressed him in his poker uniform.

\”I put my vest on that monkey and he wouldn\’t leave me alone,\” Art said.