The dark side of internet gambling

[magicnight]

I don\'t have time to read this yet, but the Times just dropped a big investigative piece on internet gambling and fantasy sports.

Walt Bogdanich, as some will recall, was the heavy reporting chops behind the NYT\'s horse racing expose of a few years back.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/15/us/sports-betting-daily-fantasy-games-fanduel-draftkings.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

[Boscar Obarra]

Reading it now. Good stuff.
 
 Frontline usually does top notch work, so we can expect that here.

[TGJB]

Personal note-- one of the guys pictured in the story (Tomchkin) is the one who \"moved\" my action when I was back with Ragozin, and bet along, making a whole lot more than I did. He was known at that time as the best backgammon player in the world, was one of the first guys banned for counting cards, and was a very smart all around gambler. Supposedly he later was involved in that college basketball betting ring that got a lot of attention. He eventually went on to found Pinnacle with two other guys.

But back then he was just starting, moving Richie Schwartz\' action, then mine. Judging from the photo I have aged better than he has.

[Topcat]

TGJB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Personal note-- one of the guys pictured in the
> story (Tomchkin) is the one who \"moved\" my action
> when I was back with Ragozin, and bet along,
> making a whole lot more than I did. He was known
> at that time as the best backgammon player in the
> world, was one of the first guys banned for
> counting cards, and was a very smart all around
> gambler. Supposedly he later was involved in that
> college basketball betting ring that got a lot of
> attention. He eventually went on to found Pinnacle
> with two other guys.
>
> But back then he was just starting, moving Richie
> Schwartz\' action, then mine. Judging from the
> photo I have aged better than he has.


The ring which gained \"fame\" from the BC business . . . or the Arizona State business?

[TGJB]

The college basketball thing the National ran the expose on, where they were pushing the line one way, then coming in late the other way. To be clear, I just heard Stanley was involved, no inside knowledge. But I was his guy for horses, and I know he had top handicappers for other things.

Back in those days everything was BM\'s, not pari-mutuel, and the idea was to have someone who mixed my action in with others and spread it around, so nobody would know which bets to lay off. (The way I met Stan was that with my previous guy my plays were getting crushed, so Richie hooked me up with Stanley. And Richie bet along).

Stan\'s job was to gets the bets down and guarantee I got paid. So one day I went to collect (he was living on the Upper East Side), and he paid me in a room that was not well lit, but I could tell he didn\'t look right. Richie later told me that when he went to collect the guys told him he was fixing races (nobody but us was betting maiden races at Laurel, and they had no other action on those races to offset ours), beat the crap out of him, and stiffed him. Stan paid me for those bets, and didn\'t say a word.

Anyway, I won for 18 straight months, and it turned out where I was betting what for a kid in his 20\'s was a lot, he was betting ten times as much. And another big bookmaker a) didn\'t like getting burned with our plays, and b) wanted to be in Stan\'s spot. So he went to Ragozin and told him how much Stan was making, and that he would give Len a 2% rebate on all the handle from Len\'s office (at that point sheets were a private club), but it had to include me.

There\'s more to the story-- like Ragozin\'s jealousy of anyone who could win betting, and breaking every deal he ever made with me-- but the upshot is, that was it for Stanley. I\'ve never seen him or talked to him since.

[Molesap]

Damn you are an interesting man TGJB. Love hearing these stories. You should write a book - seriously.

[Boscar Obarra]

Sounds like the makings of a great screenplay.

[TGJB]

I wrote a pretty good screenplay, and had an Oscar winning producer and a name actor attached. Nobody wants to touch racing, especially after the HBO disaster.

Re a book, I tried to get my girlfriend, who is one of the great writers on planet Earth, interested in doing a colorful historical one on horseplayers, and obviously there would have been a lot on that time and place. She yawned.

She did do an oral history with Connie Merjos, however, and that was really something. As those of you who know him know.

[Molesap]

Yes, perhaps those interested would be a somewhat limited demographic.

[NoCarolinaTony]

Would have to throw in Mafia and Govt and you have a \" Law and Order \" script... Taken from real life story.....

[BitPlayer]

TGJB -

Stan Tomchin is written up / interviewed in Gambling Wizards.  In there, he says:

"A friend of mine was a horse handicapper. He had a system that clocked the true distances the horses ran around the track. After doing his handicapping, he'd come back and say, "This horse really ran a number that's better than what shows on the form."

I'm talking about handicapping six East Coast tracks, every race. He would go into his office at eleven o'clock at night and go over the results for the day. He'd finish at three o'clock in the morning and call me with his work. I would add a substantial amount to his order and I would bet the horses. "

Excerpt From: Richard W. Munchkin. "Gambling Wizards." iBooks.

Think that\'s you?

[TGJB]

Didn\'t know about the book and he\'s conflating making and using the figures, but yeah, that was pretty much my schedule. At that point Ragozin was only doing hard numbers for about six tracks, I would handicap all of them. I found there was direct correlation between how much coffee I drank and how many bets I found-- second cup greatly increased action. Books weren\'t taking exotics, so it was win/place, about 4-6 plays a day.

Keep in mind this was before the Racing Times, and Beyer figures were not publicly available-- the game was way easier. I made about 150k over the 18 months, more money than I had ever seen in my life. Stanley made a whole lot more, and I wasn\'t complaining. Ragozin definitely was. Which was okay too.

[Topcat]

TGJB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The college basketball thing the National ran the
> expose on, where they were pushing the line one
> way, then coming in late the other way. To be
> clear, I just heard Stanley was involved, no
> inside knowledge. But I was his guy for horses,
> and I know he had top handicappers for other
> things.
>
> Back in those days everything was BM\'s, not
> pari-mutuel, and the idea was to have someone who
> mixed my action in with others and spread it
> around, so nobody would know which bets to lay
> off. (The way I met Stan was that with my previous
> guy my plays were getting crushed, so Richie
> hooked me up with Stanley. And Richie bet along).
>
>
> Stan\'s job was to gets the bets down and guarantee
> I got paid. So one day I went to collect (he was
> living on the Upper East Side), and he paid me in
> a room that was not well lit, but I could tell he
> didn\'t look right. Richie later told me that when
> he went to collect the guys told him he was fixing
> races (nobody but us was betting maiden races at
> Laurel, and they had no other action on those
> races to offset ours), beat the crap out of him,
> and stiffed him. Stan paid me for those bets, and
> didn\'t say a word.
>
> Anyway, I won for 18 straight months, and it
> turned out where I was betting what for a kid in
> his 20\'s was a lot, he was betting ten times as
> much. And another big bookmaker a) didn\'t like
> getting burned with our plays, and b) wanted to be
> in Stan\'s spot. So he went to Ragozin and told him
> how much Stan was making, and that he would give
> Len a 2% rebate on all the handle from Len\'s
> office (at that point sheets were a private club),
> but it had to include me.
>
> There\'s more to the story-- like Ragozin\'s
> jealousy of anyone who could win betting, and
> breaking every deal he ever made with me-- but the
> upshot is, that was it for Stanley. I\'ve never
> seen him or talked to him since.


As many here already know -- but for those who might not -- the activity described in your first graf still goes on, of course, in every sport where a spread\'s involved, and where the markets are sufficiently large to make it worthwhile.

[Halo Fire]

Wow...you struck a nerve with the name Connie Merjos.

Gentleman through and through. Smooth as silk.
Haven\'t seen him in years, haven\'t kept in touch unfortunately.

Anyone who is not familiar, may I suggest \"googling\" Connie Merjos.