Book review:
Gambler – Secrets from a Life at Risk
by Billy Walters, Avid Reader Press, 2023, 374 pages
What is the “Super Bowl” of sports betting? Duh! Of course, it’s the Super Bowl itself. The game three weeks ago was watched by over 123 million viewers and the American Gaming Association predicted a wagering record of $1.39B. And that doesn’t even count the millions and millions of dollars bet with illegal bookies.
Whether someone won or lost those contests may be because they did, or didn’t, follow the advice of Billy Walters. As Jack Binion says on the liner notes of this autobiography, “If there’s a Mount Rushmore of sports gambling, there’s only one face on the mountain, and that’s Billy Walters. No one else is close.”
While you may have heard of the giant bets placed by Houston’s “Mattress Mac,” he would be like comparing your local Pee Wee football team to the Philadelphia Eagles. By comparison, Walters is the pro, and Mac is a rank amateur with great social media. On a typical game day, Walters’ bets were in the $20M range.
When his book was released in 2023, it garnered a great deal of national publicity. That attention didn’t come because it was such an entertaining read (it is), or because it provides a rare glimpse into the world of high stakes sports betting (it does), but rather because of his controversial comments about his relationship with pro golfer Phil Mickelson. If you are only into celebrity news, just jump to Chapter 20 titled “Lefty and Me”. You may find that Phil’s gambling addiction borders on the Pete Rose category.
However, it is so much better to begin at page 1. It is an incredible “rags-to-riches” tale, maybe better described as a “ruination-to-respectability” journey. Reading the first 140 pages feels like you are a “looky-loo” on the freeway. You know you shouldn’t slow down and stare at the car wreck, but you just can’t help yourself.
He recounts his upbringing in tragic detail. His father died when he was just 18 months old, and his mother was a raging alcoholic (a gene that was passed on to Billy). Raised by a wonderful grandmother, his day care center beginning at four years old was his grandfather’s pool hall. He has been hustling others for high stakes on those green felt tables ever since (he’s now 77).
He lost all his lower teeth from a complete lack of youthful dental care and didn’t get them replaced until he was 40. He was charged with multiple crimes (on all but one, he was never convicted) and eventually spent 31 months in prison for insider stock trading (which he vigorously denies). His long sentence was shortened after receiving a presidential commutation.
At age 30, he had fathered three children and had two ex-wives. He details how he made and lost a fortune so many times it is hard to keep count unless you log the events on a spreadsheet.
The start of his transformation began when he married his third wife, Susan, but wasn’t complete until he went cold turkey on drinking and smoking at the age of 42. All of this is just a brief snapshot of his upbringing. The details in the book are simply unbelievable…unbelievable that he is still alive.
The redemption part comes when he starts using his betting skills, combined with some newfound discipline and self-control, to become wealthy. He used his talent and that money to bankroll golf course turnarounds, real estate projects, stock trades and very generous philanthropy.
Along the way, Walters drops the names of dozens and dozens of prominent players in the world of gaming from “Texas Dolly” Doyle Brunson and Jack Binnion to Steve Wynn (an archenemy) and Terry Lanni and even notorious mobsters like Tony “The Ant” Spilotro and Mo Dalitz.
From my perspective, one of the most important concepts he discusses are his few but excellent relationships with a handful of the country’s best legal bookmakers. For example, he mentions sports book operator Chris Andrews (still working at South Point in Las Vegas). He says that pros like Andrews welcomed the insights that Walters could provide and used that information to refine the casino’s own lines, thereby increasing the book’s profitability. This is in contrast to most sports books that want nothing to do with Walters.
(As a side note, Chris Andrews has written two books from the other side of the betting desk entitled “Then One Day” and “Then One Year”. They are both excellent.)
This is why I’m such an advocate for slot and table game operators to work with “advantage players,” rather than chasing them out. It is always better “to know your enemy” than to be caught unaware.
For those interested in becoming multi-millionaires like Walters, he explains just how easy it is to do:
- Start with a giant bankroll.
- Become one of the world’s best hustlers on golf courses, poker rooms and pool halls.
- Build a sophisticated computer algorithm to track athletes, weather, injuries, field conditions, schedules, stadiums, past performances, tendencies, and dozens of other details.
- Establish a system to instantly search and analyze the posted odds at sports books across the globe looking for any small advantage.
- Install phone devices that make your calls from the Caribbean appear to be from local area codes.
- Hire hundreds of “beards” to make anonymous bets for you across the country.
- Engage the best gaming attorneys to make sure everything you do is legal.
- Have at least 50 or 60 years of experience.
- Be willing to risk absolutely everything.
In other words, it is a piece of cake. Seriously, he does offer some great sports betting tips even for those of us in the more modest $10 to $20 range.
As the Amazon review of this book says, “Anybody can get lucky. Nobody controls the odds like Billy Walters. With an unmatched winning streak of thirty-six consecutive years, Walters has become fabulously wealthy by placing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in gross wagers, including one Super Bowl bet of $3.5 million alone. Now, after decades of avoiding the spotlight and fiercely protecting the keys to his success, Walters has reached the age where he wants to pass along his wisdom to future generations of sports bettors.”
The hardback cover price of “Gambler” is $35, but you can find it on Amazon for $17.50 and on Apple Books for $16.99. The Kindle version is $17, so I would opt for a physical book on your shelf.
The best sports betting tip I could give anyone is to read this book. The odds are overwhelmingly in your favor that you will love it. And along the way, you will discover some important lessons…even if you can’t look away during the early years of Walters’ life.
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Note: There is another book out there called: “Workbook for Gambler By Billy Walters: Your Marvelous Guide to Making Great Profits from Gambling Through Mastering the Secrets from a Life at Risk”. It is not endorsed by Walters. I have not read it, but the online reviews are pretty bad. I’d skip this one.
