Richie was wrong, and Beansie was in a no-win situation (he lamented as such before Richie attacked him). Richie knew Beansie was kicking up to Tony, because he mocked Beansie only had his success by sucking up to Tony. And at that point, I think Richie was fresh out of prison and not spoken to Tony; their reunion was a few scenes later in front of Satriale's.
Like Richie, Feech LaManna had an extended prison term, and his revenue generators went elsewhere, notably the Executive Card Game (which at the time was Tony's). Unlike Richie, Feech went to Tony and asked for the game back.
Granted, there wasn't a store owner to lean on, but Feech showed the proper protocol in getting his earnings back. Had Richie taken the same approach, Tony would have been more amenable to giving Richie part or all of Beansie's tribute.
Exactly. Feech went to the boss, Richie still figured Tony was some dumb kid, his brother's sidekick, and treated him as such. In fact that was Richie's biggest problem. He came out of prison with a huge sense of entitlement because his brother was Jackie Aprile Sr and expected everyone to kiss his ass because of it. He never got it through his head that times change and that Tony wasn't some punk, he was the boss, and Richie should have respected that.
