>Michael Pitt's character was right, you can't be 'half a
>gangster', not when you're dealing w/REAL gangsters.

I wouldn't consider Nucky a "half a gangster" and it just showed how much Pitt still had to learn about the game, as well as his youth.

Nucky, IMO is the smartest gangster of them all because he actually has political power and influence in the local government. He has rigged the game so that he can't lose and everyone in the local government, from the mayor down is in on it and getting paid.