Something that never really made sense...

I would say because they showed balls. Also, the fact that they did get away with it, that no one was allowed to retaliate, even though these were made men who were robbed, is proof that they were to be respected. People were given no choice other than to respect them.

Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

A. They got away with it, and for young men to show such balls really shows promise. If they would stand up to made men on their own side like that, what would they do to a rival crew?

B. Think of the times. All it would take is the Boss or Underboss (whoever that was at the time) to not like Feech to give them a pass.

C) They had strong connections to the family. Tony's father and uncle were capos. And Jackie's brother was a made guy.

D) No shots were fired.

E) The right people got most of their money back.

Like you I always understood how they "got a pass" considered that they were closely related to high up made guys but other than that yeah it never really made sense to me how it somehow raised their stock in a time when mob rules and traditions were more strictly enforced & compared to how lesser indiscretions from low level associates were handled throughout the show in an era where the mob is a disorganized, pale imitation of what it once was. If some random goons off the street would not be respected for having the "balls" to rob & threaten made men at gunpoint. It would be a great insult & an instant death sentence.

Important point to consider: Who told us that robbing this card made Tony and Jackie rising stars in the family.

RALPH

There are some pretty good reasons why we probably should take his recollection of these events with a grain a salt... aside from him being a complete psychopath. He had just recently been made a capo in the family, a spot he felt he deserved a long time ago. So being the narcissist that he is he has to come up a good reason he hadn't advanced in the family at the same pace as Tony and Jackie did. So he pointed to the card game robbery as the moment that fast tracked them to being made, and not the fact that they were just better at business and more respected than him.

Also, even if it was the card game that made Tony and Jackie stars in the family, we don't know the real reason Ralphie didn't go. He claimed it was because he got the clap from a hippie broad he was banging, but would it be a shock to find out that was untrue. Maybe Ralph chickened out at the last minute, and has been kicking himself for that ever since. Or even worse, Tony and Jackie didn't invite him along, for fear that he would go nuts and start shooting, thus sealing all their fates. So on top of not getting the respect from the robbery, Ralph has the embarrassment of his friends correctly leaving him behind. So it would make sense that he would change history just to save face.

Long Story Short: We don't know for sure that the card game robbery really made that much of a difference in the Mob careers of Jackie, Tony and Ralph. The only person who told us it did is unreliable at best.

Its a plot hole