and winning over friendsJoe DeLellis would bet on most anything, even who might fumble in a Super Bowl game, said his wife, Donna.
DeLellis, who spent almost 30 years selling tickets at the greyhound track in Pueblo, making thousands of friends with other gamblers, died in a hospice Jan. 15 after a long battle with cancer. He was 53.
It was just days before he was to go with his buddies on a regular trip to Las Vegas where he could, yes, gamble.
He bet on horses, dogs, football, basketball, baseball and hockey and played poker online. Given the chance, he could gamble for 15 hours a day. “He did fairly well,” said his wife. “He was pretty lucky.”
Sometimes he’d have two TVs on so he could watch different games, while keeping an eye on his computer to find the stats. “He did everything 100 percent,” said his brother-in- law Dave Caporicci of Pueblo.
DeLellis would help anyone, said a friend, Scott Gronquist. “If someone lost all their money, he’d give them money to get home,” he said.
His memorial service was at the track, now called the Southern Colorado Gaming and Event Center, which was what he had requested. Guests heard Sinatra recordings, ate a Dutch Lunch (cold cuts, a trademark at Gus’s Place) and drank two-for-one beers. More than 400 people showed up.
Tiffany Gradishar, a co-owner of the event center, said a permanent marker will be placed above the betting window DeLellis always used.
DeLellis was a big, gregarious man who loved to joke with customers and made up nicknames for many people, some of which “were not so flattering,” said his wife.
“He could be edgy and made fun of you, but before you knew it, you were laughing at yourself,” she said.
“He was a human computer with sports statistics,” said Caporicci. “He loved all sports, but betting was betting.”
The live dog races, which started at the track in 1948, ended in 2007, when simulcasts began. At one point, DeLellis became very ill, but he “wanted to keep busy,” said Gradishar, so he volunteered to keep working as a ticket seller for 10 hours a week. “This was his second home,” said Gradishar.
Joe DeLellis was born in Pueblo on June 27, 1957, and graduated from Central High School. He married Donna Venuto in 1992.
In addition to her, he is survived by his daughter, Anna DeLellis of Pueblo; two sisters, Donna Caporicci and Paula Patino, both of Pueblo; and one brother, Dennis Kendall of Pueblo.
