Ed Walters was born and raised in New York, New York. Walters was a pool and card hustler in New York when he was in his twenties. In 1959, he was asked by a major crime boss to go to Las Vegas, Nevada to find out if a card dealer was cheating. Ed did figure out that the dealer was cheating, so the crime boss got him a job learning the Western card games at the Fremont during the day and being a pit boss at the Sands at night. He worked at the Sands until 1967 and then at various other casinos until approximately 1981.