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A Life On The Line: How Billy Walters became sports' most successful bettor
Posted on 2/6/15 at 11:40 am
Posted on 2/6/15 at 11:40 am
This guy is the frickin man. There was a 60 Minutes on him a few years ago.
LINK to 60 Minutes segment
LINK to ESPN Article
Dude wins at everything
LINK to 60 Minutes segment
LINK to ESPN Article
quote:
For almost four decades, Walters, now 68, is thought to have bet more money more successfully than anyone in history, earning hundreds of millions of dollars. Federal and state investigators sniff around his operation regularly. Scores of bettors and bookies have tried to crack his methods so they can emulate him. Even Walters' employees, like Rubalcada, have tried to figure him out so they can win alongside him. Walters has outrun them all.
What's clear, according to dozens of interviews and thousands of pages of legal documents, is that Walters beats the odds everywhere -- in the stock market, real estate, criminal proceedings and his true wheelhouse, sports gambling. His talent brought him from a life of poverty in rural Kentucky to one of wild success. He owns a fleet of car dealerships, several high-end golf courses, a private jet and fabulous homes in places like Palm Desert and Cabo San Lucas.
Dude wins at everything
7
Posted on 2/6/15 at 11:42 am to Carson123987
I wish I was him.
Just 40 years younger.
Just 40 years younger.
Posted on 2/6/15 at 11:45 am to Carson123987
He has a time machine. Only plausible answer
Posted on 2/6/15 at 11:47 am to Jakesonaplane
he has biff's almanac 
Posted on 2/6/15 at 12:09 pm to Carson123987
quote:
Even Walters' employees, like Rubalcada, have tried to figure him out so they can win alongside him.
quote:
The voice would tell Rubalcada, known as Lubbock, how many thousands of dollars to place on which games -- immediately.
Am I missing something here, Rubalcada?
Posted on 2/6/15 at 12:12 pm to Carson123987
Came here to post this. Really fascinating story and man.
Posted on 2/6/15 at 12:15 pm to Carson123987
Interesting that he says Wall Street is shadier than Vegas. I've always believed that. But it needs to be known. Sports gambling should absolutely be legalized.
Posted on 2/6/15 at 12:16 pm to SwaggerCopter
I doubt many people have illusions that Wall Street is completely on the up and up these days.
That's interesting. I guess it makes sense but I didn't know that books had hard limits like that.
quote:
The voice would tell Rubalcada, known as Lubbock, how many thousands of dollars to place on which games -- immediately.
That's interesting. I guess it makes sense but I didn't know that books had hard limits like that.
Posted on 2/6/15 at 12:19 pm to Walking the Earth
quote:
I doubt many people have illusions that Wall Street is completely on the up and up these days.
Tons of people with hundreds of thousands to millions invested in the stock market are anti-gambling.
Posted on 2/6/15 at 12:21 pm to SwaggerCopter
quote:
Tons of people with hundreds of thousands to millions invested in the stock market are anti-gambling.
Are you really comparing investing to gambling?
Posted on 2/6/15 at 12:22 pm to Walking the Earth
quote:
Am I missing something here, Rubalcada?
I guess I should have read further into the article. He intentionally makes losing bets to manipulate the line and cash in on the other side.
I downvoted myself for jumping the gun.
This post was edited on 2/6/15 at 12:23 pm
Posted on 2/6/15 at 12:23 pm to Walking the Earth
quote:
Am I missing something
Read further. Walters would have his runners place phony bets on teams to manipulate lines to his advantage. Once the line got to the number he wanted, he'd load up on the other team. Rubalcado would try to figure out which bets were legitimate and tail him, but he got buried
Posted on 2/6/15 at 12:31 pm to KosmoCramer
quote:the middle man takes juice in both with no guarantee of leaving with more money than you started with. One is regulated by the government.....the other is illegal.
re you really comparing investing to gambling?
Posted on 2/6/15 at 12:32 pm to dante
So you are too?
Posted on 2/6/15 at 12:38 pm to KosmoCramer
quote:are you telling me there is no risk in buying stock? In fact when you buy stock, you are gambling the stock will go up. When you short sale you are gambling the stock will go down.
So you are too?
In both illegal gambling and buying stocks you are looking to get a return on your money and in both cases you can loose everything you bet.
Now if you want to say the stock market is a safer bet than the Super Bowl...go right ahead. Stock brokers are nothing more than legalized bookies.
Posted on 2/6/15 at 12:40 pm to Carson123987
Couple questions...
Do y'all think he does some illegal stuff with his sports gambling? Or is it just because he's wildly successful that he's always being investigated? What type of illegal information is the dude wagering?
And, when people have a successful system going like he does with gambling and trading stocks, why don't they clean their act up after they've hit a point where they're insanely rich. I know for a fact that if I'm a millionaire 1000 times over, the last thing I wanna do is jeopardize my freedom.
Do y'all think he does some illegal stuff with his sports gambling? Or is it just because he's wildly successful that he's always being investigated? What type of illegal information is the dude wagering?
And, when people have a successful system going like he does with gambling and trading stocks, why don't they clean their act up after they've hit a point where they're insanely rich. I know for a fact that if I'm a millionaire 1000 times over, the last thing I wanna do is jeopardize my freedom.
Posted on 2/6/15 at 12:40 pm to Carson123987
These stories are my favorite. Awesome read.
Posted on 2/6/15 at 12:43 pm to dante
quote:
In both illegal gambling and buying stocks you are looking to get a return on your money and in both cases you can loose everything you bet.
Not technically true unless the business disolves.
If the stock goes down, you still hold shares. If you lost a bet, you lose. End of story.
quote:
Now if you want to say the stock market is a safer bet than the Super Bowl...go right ahead.
No shite. And by an extremely high margin.
They aren't even comparable.
Putting your money in the bank is like gambling. You can put it all in there and you can lose everything, just like gambling.
Idiot.
Posted on 2/6/15 at 1:01 pm to Carson123987
Interesting story.....thanks for the links. 
Posted on 2/6/15 at 1:03 pm to ReauxlTide222
quote:
Do y'all think he does some illegal stuff with his sports gambling? Or is it just because he's wildly successful that he's always being investigated? What type of illegal information is the dude wagering?
I'll be the naive one in the group and say, while he may or not be involved in shady activities, the gambling itself may be on the up and up (mostly).
Beyond being one of the first ones with a proprietary algorithm, it seems that his tactic is to bet on below the radar type games that the books may not research heavily or watch like hawks.
I'm sure he has received inside information before but I doubt he moved on to things like point shaving.
quote:
And, when people have a successful system going like he does with gambling and trading stocks, why don't they clean their act up after they've hit a point where they're insanely rich. I know for a fact that if I'm a millionaire 1000 times over, the last thing I wanna do is jeopardize my freedom.
In the article, he claims to spend only 7 percent of his time on gambling with the rest on varied other business interests.
As for jeopardizing his freedom, I guess if he's fairly clean and can afford top lawyers, he's fine with the occasional investigation. Worst case scenario, he writes a big check.
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