Dick Cheney, the Cardsharp and the Judge

Reading reviews of the Cheney memoir link, link, link, I remember the story--I could swear it is in Damon Runyon but I can't seem to track it down--about the cardsharp and the judge on the Staten Island Ferry.  The judge wasn't really a judge; he was an old judge who spent most of his time asleep in a swivel chair on the aft deck.  The cardsharp would play poker with all comers and most of the time, he'd just clean 'em out.  Every once in a while--very rarely--the cardsharp would find a taker who couldn't be taken.  Then they'd bring in the judge and he'd beat him honestly.


Translated: it isn't enough to win, you have to win with taunts and catcalls.  It isn't that you need torture for victory, it's that victory without torture just isn't any fun.