Even his greatest enemies — and he’s had significant ones — would admit that sports bettor and developer Billy Walters enjoyed one of the longest runs of luck in Las Vegas history.
Walters had three decades as America’s best-known sports bettor, a time during which the former Kentucky poor boy diversified and grew his personal fortune to an estimated $500 million, while prevailing over multiple federal and state indictments. That string of successes came to an abrupt halt on Friday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Walters was convicted on all ten of the felony charges in an FBI case linked to insider trading at Dallas-based Dean Foods and other companies.
Walters made $43 million in profits and avoided any losses in his stock trades, according to the government. The trial also included intriguing information about PGA champion Phil Mickelson, who received a timely stock tip from Walters and made nearly $1 million. Mickelson also happened to have gambling debts with Walters at the time.
After the verdict was read, the 70-year-old, known in Southern Nevada for his philanthropy and his audacious public-private golf course deals, expressed surprise to the reporters who were present. “If I had made a bet on this I would have lost,” he said. “I just did lose the biggest bet of my life. I’m in total shock.”
Apparently, the shock has begun to wear off. Former Las Vegas journalist Bethany Barnes reported on Twitter that she spoke with Walters over the weekend and that he’s already preparing an appeal. No doubt his longtime Las Vegas lawyer, former federal prosecutor Richard Wright, will have a substantial role as he works to save Walters from spending what could be the rest of his life in prison.
Trouble is, the outcome really wasn’t as much of a surprise as Walters expressed. It’s true that the government’s key witness, Dean Foods executive board member Thomas C. Davis, a former friend of Walters, had, shall we say, a problematic professional portfolio. But Davis managed to confirm much of the physical evidence compiled against his former golfing and gambling buddy.
Walters’ attorney Barry Berke attacked Davis repeatedly during the trial with accusations of everything from lying to a weakness for prostitutes. But that’s really beside the point. Davis betrayed longtime friends and associates at Dean Foods by leaking confidential and valuable insider information to Walters, to whom he’d become indebted through gambling.
That Davis turned on Walters when the heat was on doesn’t make Walters’ stock hustle any less egregious. The fact that a man who Walters once manipulated then testified against Walters doesn’t change the damning evidence, which included phone records and the presence of secretive “burner” phones, nicknames, and code words of the kind Walters is so fond.
Some who have known Walters in Las Vegas are bound to be elated that the man who has beaten the casinos at their own game for so long has finally been tripped up playing America’s greatest casino: Wall Street. Others are bound to rise to his defense, reminding everyone that Walters has donated millions of dollars to the Opportunity Village for adults with disabilities.
Walters the hustler and fixer is also the political player and charitable soft touch. When a longtime observer of the fallen Las Vegas gambler on Sunday called his story Shakespearean, he wasn’t far from the money.
John L. Smith is a longtime Las Vegas journalist and author. Contact him at jlnevadasmith@gmail.com. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith.
