Burt Reynolds Got Invited To Play Poker With Frank Sinatra After Defying The Famous Singer

On a night when Burt Reynolds was dining with Dinah Shore at Nicky Blair’s restaurant in Los Angeles, Frank Sinatra enjoyed a meal close by. After the singer seemed to indicate he wanted Reynolds and Shore to come over to talk to him, Reynolds balked and decided to wait until he was done eating. Sinatra was not pleased, but waited nonetheless.

When Reynolds and Sinatra did finally come face-to-face, the crooner invited the actor to a poker game in the kitchen of the restaurant. Reynolds took Sinatra up on the offer and, as they – plus several other associates of Sinatra’s – got ready to play five-card stud, a busboy named Hector dropped a tray of glasses. 

When Nicky, the restaurant owner, yelled at Hector, Sinatra stepped in and asked, “How much do those glasses cost?” Nicky replied “a few bucks apiece.” At that point, Sinatra had one of his handlers pull out cash to buy $3,000 worth of glasses.

When they arrived, Sinatra told Hector to break them, before looking at Nicky to say, “If I ever come in and don’t see Hector, I’ll never come back again. Understand?” Nicky agreed and Reynolds got up to leave. When Sinatra asked him “Where the hell are you going?” Reynolds simply looked at him and said, “Home… I got my Sinatra story.”