Before Michael “Roxy” Roxborough became America’s preeminent oddsmaker in the 1980s and 1990s, he was a sharp bettor who beat up Nevada sportsbooks on baseball totals.
He was getting the best of Cal Neva in Reno on a regular basis when sportsbook director Chris Andrews started asking him for his totals.
“I wanted to bet them first,” said Roxborough, 72. “But I made a deal with him that when I was done betting, I’d tell him what I thought they should be.”
Andrews eventually started paying Roxborough for his lines on all sports, and so did several other shops in Northern Nevada. Las Vegas books soon followed.
“I didn’t want to get paid because I wanted to bet,” he said. “My whole life changed when Scotty Schettler asked me to be the oddsmaker at the Stardust.
