Yes, great speaking with you as well. The guys who think the Outfit is stronger than ever, etc. are crazy.
I would definitely agree about it being "wide open." I once asked Fosco how, if you don't have guys like Harry Aleman running around killing people every 10 minutes, the Outfit prevents other people from starting books, etc. My exact question was: "Why can't a kid with a cell phone just set up a book?" He said that there are people who do that but that nobody gets paid, which is what keeps the Outfit bookies in business. (ie the other guys are amateurs and don't have a big enough bank.) I suppose that sounds plausible.
Ha... it would be an interesting experiment, to see if you could just set up a book somewhere around town, or put money on the street. I would guess that nobody would f**k with you, but who knows.
I have no way of knowing but I would guess it would be like, if you tried to open a book in Bridgeport, you would hear from someone. If you tried to do it in Lincoln Park? Probably not.
