Gambling With an Edge

Elizabeth Reichelt seems to choose the riskiest professions. I don't mean dangerous, I mean the chance of success is tiny, but the payoff can be huge. She went from dancer, to stand up comic, to television writer. Show Notes [00:00]  Introduction of Elizabeth Reichelt [00:38]  High risk and high reward professions [03:09]  Identity crises [06:10]  Moving to Los Angeles [08:25]  Passion for social...

Our guest today is Jake Jacobs, on to talk about his new book, "Have Bets Will Travel." The book is an autobiography focused on his 40+ years as a professional gambler. Show Notes [00:00] Introduction of Jake Jacobs, author of Have Bets, Will Travel [00:53] How did Jake start gambling?  [05:02] Writing about gambling adjacent experiences [07:56] Deciding on the title of Have Bets, Will Travel  [09...

Our guests today are Ben Rosenthal, author of the new book, "Breaking The Slot Code," and Anthony Curtis, the publisher of the book, and the new website slotslayers.com. The book, and the site teach players how to actually get an edge at some slot machines. Show Notes 00:00]  Slotslayers.com and contact info [00:42]  Introduction of Ben Rosenthal, author of Breaking the Slot Code [01:22]  When did...

Today our guest is Dan Abrams.  He's on to talk about his new book, "Sharp Money". The book is about poker, sports betting, and investing. Show Notes [00:00]  introduction of Dan Abrams, sports bettor, poker player, and author of  Sharp Money [00:34]  Dan’s start in poker [01:35]  Studying Razz  [05:58]  Razz coaching and educational teaching videos [09:38]  Poker players famously losing money bet...

My guest today is Andrew Wimhurst, author of the new book, "Thieving Bastards True Confessions of the World’s Greatest Cheats."   Show Notes [00:00]  Introduction of Andrew Wimhurst, author of Thieving Bastards: True Confessions of the World’s Greatest Cheats [00:57]  Thirty years of book planning, interviews, and similar books [07:32]  Transcribing and editing interviews [11:42]  Changes in the c...

Our guest today is Kit Chellel, author of the new book, "Lucky Devils: The True Story of Three Rebel Gamblers Who Beat the Odds and Changed the Game."  The book profiles three legendary gamblers, Bill Benter, Rob Reitzen, and Bill Nelson. Show Notes [00:00]  Introduction of Kit Chellel, author of Lucky Devils [00:41]  Kit’s background in journalism [03:25]  How did  Lucky Devils  come about? [05:4...

Our guest today is Antonino De Rosa, also known as "Ant."  Ant went from professional Magic the Gathering player to working for Pinnacle sports book and from there became a professional sports bettor. Show Notes [00:00]  Introduction of sports bettor, Antonio De Rosa [00:42]  Playing Magic The Gathering professionally [04:56]  Comparing Magic variance and skills to gambling? [08:29]  Getting a job...

We have 3 guests today. Blair Rodman, Anthony Curtis, and Frank B. They are coauthors of the new book All About Sports Betting. Show Notes [00:00]  Introduction of Blair Rodman, Anthony Curtis, and Frank B., authors of  All About Sports Betting:  The Definitive Guide [00:42]  What makes this book so unique? [01:55]  The genesis of  All About Sports Betting [05:59]  Prop bets, parlays, same game pa...

Charlie is a sports bettor, slot player, and influencer. Charlie got scammed while making bets at a DraftKings kiosk at the Golden Nugget in Biloxi. It's a crazy story, not just the scam, but the way the casino, and Gaming Enforcement reacted. Show Notes [00:00]  Introduction of advantage player Chuck’s Lucks [00:40]  How did Chuck become an AP? [04:14]  Chuck’s second trip to Vegas and a $2500/sp...

This week we talked with long-time Vegas bookmaker Art Manteris.  We discussed his new book, "The Bookie." Show Notes [00:00]  Introduction of Art Manteris, author of  The Bookie [00:47]  Bookmakers from Western Pennsylvania [01:47]  Legendary bookmaker Uncle Jack Franzi [05:21]  Working at the mob-controlled Stardust [08:27]  Why did Art move to Las Vegas? [09:46]  Billy Walters stories [11:57] ...

Bob and Richard sit down with Gary Kondler to talk about taxes for gamblers after the big beautiful bill.  It may not be as bad for some of us as we all thought. Spoiler alert - but some gamblers are just screwed. Show Notes [00:00]  Introduction of gambling tax expert Gary Kondler from Kondler & Associates [01:36]  W2Gs under the new tax law [05:24]  Reconciling W2s with session win/loss [09:...

Today I speak with Norm Beck, a professional bridge player, magician, and friend about a bet he won, that turned out to be a big loser. Show Notes [00:00] Introduction of Norm Beck, bridge player and magician [00:37]  Norm’s biggest gamble [06:40]  Clever pre-surgery research strategy [13:07]  Hiring another doctor to translate information to family [14:49]  Getting into the gambling business [20:...

Buzz Marconi moved to Las Vegas in the 1960s, and somehow transformed from an Italian kid from the south side of Chicago into Cowboy Buzz. It's a wild story.  Check it out. Show Notes [00:00]  Introduction on of Cowboy Buzz [02:07]  Moving to Las Vegas, working at The Stardust [20:53]  Brilliant mob casino strategies [23;10]  Tony Spilotro and Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal [27:19]  Becoming a shift boss...

Bob is off playing the secret game, so I get together with Max Rubin, and Colin Jones to discuss the 2025 Blackjack Ball. Show Notes [00:00] Introduction of Max Rubin and Colin Jones to discuss The Blackjack Ball [00:45] Colin’s induction into The Blackjack Hall of Fame [01:26] Changes to voting for The Hall of Fame and BJ Traveler discussion [06:55] Costume party and best costume [13:20] Ed Thorp...

Jon Rogers was an old-school bookie.  He started booking baseball with his classmates in 6th grade, graduated to parlay cards in high school, and went pro after high school.  He lived, and booked through a seismic change in the bookmaking industry.  He went from the old days of taking bets over the phone, writing on slips of paper, to moving offshore, and the rise of internet betting. Show Notes [...

Our guest this week is Anthony Curtis. We discuss the upcoming football contests, the big Vegas downturn, and upcoming books. Show Notes [00:00]  Introduction of Anthony Curtis, owner of The Las Vegas Advisor and Huntington Press [01:12]  NCAAF and NFL football contests [04:04]  Grandissimo [06:03]  Did tax law changes affect participations in football contests? [08:15]  Contest pricing and strate...

Mac King has been performing his comedy magic in Las Vegas for 25 years.  His show is hilarious, and thoroughly entertaining. [00:00]  Introduction of magician Mac King [00:50]  What’s the first magic trick that Mac remembers? [04:39]  When did Mac start doing magic? [06:06]  Mac’s paid performance [08:19]  Mac’s career plans after high school [12:36]  Working with Lance Burton [14:47]  “It’s Magi...

Our guest this week is tax expert Russell Fox.  We talk about the terrible new taxes on gamblers in the big beautiful bill.  What's a gambler to do?  Is Richard going to retire.... again? [00:00]  Introduction of gambling tax expert Russell Fox  [00:48]  How does the tax bill affect gamblers? [02:25]  Session method logging [03:56]  Sports betting logs and session definition [09:14]  Advantage slo...

 Bob and Richard are back to talk with Michael Kaplan about his new book, "Advantage Players." Show Notes [00:00]  Introduction of Michael Kaplan, author of  Advantage Players [00:43]  Michael’s background in gambling and writing [04:18]  Finding people to write about [06:46]  Definition of “advantage player” [07:21]  David Philips, the pudding guy [09:57]  Cheating, breaking the law, and advantag...

My guest on this episode is Nigel Eccles, co-founder of Fan Duel. [00:00]  Introduction of Nigel Eccles, co-founder of FanDuel [00:48]  Nigel’s background and first company  [02:04]  Nigel’s educational background and interest in gambling, selling variance [06:59]  Joining Flutter and prediction markets, exchange models [10:04]  Founding FanDuel, fantasy sports, sports betting [14:31]  Sports bett...

Bob and I are back with an interview with Buddy Frank to talk about how casinos are now using AI to evaluate players. [00:00] Introduction of Buddy Frank [01:10] The evolutions of AI in casinos, falling costs, data analysis [03:52] Using data to assess how player ADT changes with hotel stay  [08:58] Analyzing player performance [11:55] ChatGPT, large language models being used to finetune offers ...

Bob and I sit down at the end of 2024, and talk about what we have been doing gambling wise for the last year.  Both of us seem to be working harder than ever. [00:00]  Introduction [00:42]  Is Richard still retired? [05:19]  The U.S. sports betting market [07:52]  Betting partnership dynamics [10:39]  Successful bettors making fundamental gambling mistakes [12:33]  Bob’s sports betting [17:58]  B...

My guest this week is Elihu Feustel.  He is on this week to talk about his new book, Beyond The Odds, which you can pick up here https://amzn.to/3Behcxf

Bob and I are back after a long hiatus to talk about this years blackjack ball. We are joined by John Chang, former head of the MIT team, Max Rubin, the host and creator of the blackjack ball, and Rick "Night Train" Blaine who was this year's inductee into the blackjack hall of fame.

Bob and I are back to talk to Dennis Rappaport. Dennis was a boxing manager, and promotor probably best known for managing Gerry Cooney. He also was a brilliant PR man, and has some crazy stories from his years in "The Sweet Science."