you and vegas call it.. philly is one of the biggest cities and only ny an la have our suburban population density.. from south jersey to philly is apx 70 miles.. not to mention jersey surburbs in jersey like Washington twp.. in pa the deleware County and Bucks counties together are bigger than philly it self by farr.. And Remember the guy who wasn't in the mob that gentleman gambler? when the fbi raided his house they dug up plastic pvc pipes in his yard full of Big time $$$... I believe he was from blue bell pa.. all that money from one thing only gambleing... wow just sports betting and numbers prove to generate millions..
You're speaking of Joe Mastronardo and his son Joe Jr. All his clientele were high end, they didn't take bets that were below 10,000 dollars. They weren't in anyway Philly LCN affiliated and I don't think they were ever kicking up to anyone in that organization. They also never threatened their clients, if they were late or missed out on paying up. If a bettor with them couldn't pay up when he lost, they simply stopped taking their bets. That penalty alone was enough to keep most clientele upstanding, as once they were exiled from the Mastronardo's bookmaking joints, there was only one alternative and that was the cheaper, less reliable and more violent Philly Mob.
The Philly guys werent and still arent able to earn like the Mastronardo's did in bookmaking, they don't have the bank to cover those high end bets, I think. At least not in the Merlino era.
