Pody Poe

[papaOU]

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Naw Pop, that's what's made this thread work. Opinions are like a nose, everyone has one....We just don't get out of line very often....Remember all the others that were "griping" ABOUT THE MEMORIES THREAD? then they moved the forum and those same people followed us and the only time they get involved is when they get upset.....But hey, we're Old and we don't care....

I was not "griping" as much as asking a question or making a suggestion...

[RealJimbo]

Pody owned Hook N Slice mini golf and driving range. I decided to learn how to play golf. My golf-playing buddy said "get a bucket of balls and learn how to drive". So I did. There was only one left-handed driver there and when I couldn't concentrate well enough to swing the club and hold it too, I let it fly farther than any of the balls I hit. So I yelled for everyone to stop while I went out onto the driving range to retrieve my club - I still had a half bucket of balls. When Pody saw me do that he banned me from the range. I still don't play golf, 40 years later.

[gen70]

That's funny!

[kevinpate]

Pody owned Hook N Slice mini golf and driving range. I decided to learn how to play golf. My golf-playing buddy said "get a bucket of balls and learn how to drive". So I did. There was only one left-handed driver there and when I couldn't concentrate well enough to swing the club and hold it too, I let it fly farther than any of the balls I hit. So I yelled for everyone to stop while I went out onto the driving range to retrieve my club - I still had a half bucket of balls. When Pody saw me do that he banned me from the range. I still don't play golf, 40 years later.

yer lucky they dinna start dropping side bets on who could hit you where while you were retrieving the club

[Steve]

Well, I originally started to post this history on Pody Poe over the summer, and then we had some ISP issues and our www.okchistory.com site went offline for a few weeks. Since then we've been busy restoring copy, features, etc. But after this discussion here on www.okctalk.com, I went ahead and got the feature finally posted.
Pody Poe and the "Casino" in Nichols Hills

[RealJimbo]

Great article on Poe. I read it when it was first in the paper, again when Poe died and today. He was one of a kind.

[Prunepicker]

Steve,
Thanks! See you Saturday!
Same Bat place.
Same Bat time.

[Prunepicker]

Poe was sent to prison for laundering $300,000. That's chump change
nowadays. Not that I don't think he deserved it. I thought it was several
million dollars.

[Generals64]

I remember the stories and I remember being in Nichols Hills bank when they busted him one time.....

[soonergeezer]

I read Pody Poe's autobiography he wrote a couple of years before he died. He was an interesting character to say the least. I thought it was strange when he died there was no obituary in the Oklahoman but there was a short article mentioning his death. Does anyone know how he died? I know he was around 74 years old and had diabetes according to what he put in his book. I am sure he had dirt on a lot of people. That is probably why he was able to run a nationally known casino at his house in the Nicholls Hills area for 18 years. Did any of you know him? Any good stories? I am sure the statute of limitations is probably up.

Bigray in Ok

I knew him and was at his casino a number of times. Once they ran out of parking, so he had a guy that looked like Alex Karras(an "assistant") follow me to Girlie Pancake house and drop my car off in their parking lot. We had started back to Poe's house and he noticed a car following us. He pulls out the biggest gun I had ever seen and said I'm not going down without a fight. The car was a Nichols Hills cop and he turned on his lights, but went around us. Needless to say my blood pressure had risen rather high in a short time. and I was just a little tense. I always made sure there was plenty of parking from then on. It was always an experience going there. Once there was a pretty well known insurance agent gambling at Pody's and he had lost a lot of money. I looked around and he was on his knees begging Pody to give him credit, but Pody kept telling him he was going to do him a favor and send him home, which he did. Did you know another guy that had a casino in the area named Big John? He was kind of a tall black guy, very friendly. always smiling. He went to prison on tax evasion. I also knew a bookie that lived in the greens named Steve. There were a lot of gamblers in those days in that area.

[zookeeper]

I knew him and was at his casino a number of times. Once they ran out of parking, so he had a guy that looked like Alex Karras(an "assistant") follow me to Girlie Pancake house and drop my car off in their parking lot. We had started back to Poe's house and he noticed a car following us. He pulls out the biggest gun I had ever seen and said I'm not going down without a fight. The car was a Nichols Hills cop and he turned on his lights, but went around us. Needless to say my blood pressure had risen rather high in a short time. and I was just a little tense. I always made sure there was plenty of parking from then on. It was always an experience going there. Once there was a pretty well known insurance agent gambling at Pody's and he had lost a lot of money. I looked around and he was on his knees begging Pody to give him credit, but Pody kept telling him he was going to do him a favor and send him home, which he did. Did you know another guy that had a casino in the area named Big John? He was kind of a tall black guy, very friendly. always smiling. He went to prison on tax evasion. I also knew a bookie that lived in the greens named Steve. There were a lot of gamblers in those days in that area.

I am pretty sure that "Steve" wasn't really "Steve." Steve was actually a young Teddy Mitchell. No kidding. Teddy Mitchell learned everything he knew from Pody Poe. Poe trusted him with his life and his money. Teddy Mitchell and his sons finally were convicted last year of money laundering and various gambling crimes. The 2010 murder of Julie Mitchell, Teddy's wife, is still unsolved. But the link with Mitchell and Pody Poe is undeniable.The 2005 book that Bigray mentioned about Pody Poe has Pody himself talking about Teddy Mitchell as his young partner.

[RadicalModerate]

I never met the man. I am confident that I would know him.
He lived on the outskirts of Historic Nichols Hills . . .
At least as far as "Nichols Hills" was defined in the time. =)

Perhaps a reason why NicholsHillsisans and possibly a few Gallardians
still feel, unto this very Day
That it is necessary to put up flashing signs to remind motorists
that they are, indeed, passing through "Hallowed Pavement"
In the vicinity of the Inbred Retard^ Zone?

(I keed . . . I keed . . .

^Inbred Retard . . . Steer clear of Tapirs. Don't mourn the loss of Stage Center.
(geez) (louise) . . . =)

[RadicalModerate]

I am pretty sure that "Steve" wasn't really "Steve." Steve was actually a young Teddy Mitchell. No kidding. Teddy Mitchell learned everything he knew from Pody Poe. Poe trusted him with his life and his money. Teddy Mitchell and his sons finally were convicted last year of money laundering and various gambling crimes. The 2010 murder of Julie Mitchell, Teddy's wife, is still unsolved. But the link with Mitchell and Pody Poe is undeniable.The 2005 book that Bigray mentioned about Pody Poe has Pody himself talking about Teddy Mitchell as his young partner.

Great, yet perhaps a bit . . . melodramatic?
(steer clear of tapirs . . . =)

Edited to Add:
Let's do the time warp again regarding time stamps. =)

[zookeeper]

Great, yet perhaps a bit . . . melodramatic?
(steer clear of tapirs . . . =)

Edited to Add:
Let's do the time warp again regarding time stamps. =)

Melodramatic? Just the facts. It's a fascinating story.

More tapirs comments? Time warp and time stamps? I don't work around tapirs, I don't even work around animals. Trying to decipher your riddlemainia can be sooo trying.

[BBatesokc]

I am pretty sure that "Steve" wasn't really "Steve." Steve was actually a young Teddy Mitchell. No kidding. Teddy Mitchell learned everything he knew from Pody Poe. Poe trusted him with his life and his money. Teddy Mitchell and his sons finally were convicted last year of money laundering and various gambling crimes. The 2010 murder of Julie Mitchell, Teddy's wife, is still unsolved. But the link with Mitchell and Pody Poe is undeniable.The 2005 book that Bigray mentioned about Pody Poe has Pody himself talking about Teddy Mitchell as his young partner.

Yeah, most likely Teddy. I know Teddy well. He's a great guy with a heart as big as they come if you're in his circle of friends. Teddy and Poddy's link has never been denied - Poddy was definitely his mentor. As much as the feds tried to villainize Teddy as Oklahoma's John Gotti, he was simply a guy who ran poker games out of his home.... No loan sharking, no breaking of knee caps, no larger criminal conspiracy..... the guy even had a gambling stamp and paid his taxes on his earnings. Those facts (and not the feds fantasy) is why he received such a light sentence (in light of the charges and sentencing guidelines). IMO they did him wrong and because they relied on the primary suspect in his wife's death as a prosecution witness, they will most likely never charge her killer with the crime.

[soonergeezer]

I never met the man. I am confident that I would know him.
He lived on the outskirts of Historic Nichols Hills . . .
At least as far as "Nichols Hills" was defined in the time. =)

Perhaps a reason why NicholsHillsisans and possibly a few Gallardians
still feel, unto this very Day
That it is necessary to put up flashing signs to remind motorists
that they are, indeed, passing through "Hallowed Pavement"
In the vicinity of the Inbred Retard^ Zone?

(I keed . . . I keed . . .

^Inbred Retard . . . Steer clear of Tapirs. Don't mourn the loss of Stage Center.
(geez) (louise) . . . =)

Okay, now that I think of it, there were a few tapirs running around back then!! Just kidding! You do get maximum exposure out of a minimal post.

[soonergeezer]

I am pretty sure that "Steve" wasn't really "Steve." Steve was actually a young Teddy Mitchell. No kidding. Teddy Mitchell learned everything he knew from Pody Poe. Poe trusted him with his life and his money. Teddy Mitchell and his sons finally were convicted last year of money laundering and various gambling crimes. The 2010 murder of Julie Mitchell, Teddy's wife, is still unsolved. But the link with Mitchell and Pody Poe is undeniable.The 2005 book that Bigray mentioned about Pody Poe has Pody himself talking about Teddy Mitchell as his young partner.

Your connection could be true, the person that introduced me to Pody also turned me on to "Steve".

[RadicalModerate]

Melodramatic? Just the facts. It's a fascinating story.

More tapirs comments? Time warp and time stamps? I don't work around tapirs, I don't even work around animals. Trying to decipher your riddlemainia can be sooo trying.

I guess that the highly touted and promoted "reality game" called Escape OKC, over there on The 23 wouldn't be your cup of tea, then? =)
Try, try again . . . as they say . . .

Here's a hint: "Time Stamps" = This thread lay dormant from 2009 until yesterday. =) I wonder how many other obscure topical treasures are hidden in the archives . . . =)

[bluedogok]

I never met the man. I am confident that I would know him.
He lived on the outskirts of Historic Nichols Hills . . .
At least as far as "Nichols Hills" was defined in the time. =)

Guilford Lane isn't exactly on the "outskirts" of Nichols Hills.

[Prunepicker]

Guilford Lane isn't exactly on the "outskirts" of Nichols Hills.

In fact it's in the middle.

[RadicalModerate]

Guilford Lane isn't exactly on the "outskirts" of Nichols Hills.

You and Mr. Picker, are, of course, correct. I once saw a photograph of Pody Poe's old house--the way it looked back in the day, maybe in his wonderful autobiography--and I had it pegged as a house I've driven by many times just off of May Avenue. If houses had doppelgangers, the one I was mistakenly referring to would have been it. I apologize, sincerely for any misunderstanding in this regard due to my gaffe.

[biznesschic1959]

Back in the early 80's, I went to Pody's house late at night, with a guy I was dating at the time. It was an unassuming house in Nichols Hills. You would be surprised of the diversity of people who were there to gamble, from preachers to teachers.