The Bookie

A gritty, no-holds-barred, behind the scenes look at the inner workings of the gambling industry and memoir from the legendary Las Vegas oddsmaker Art Manteris. Diving deep inside Art’s four decades running the books for the biggest events in sports, The Bookie reveals the inner workings of sports betting for the more than fifty-million people in the U.S. now laying down sports bets. Sports betting is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, with more than fifty-million people in the U.S. now laying down bets in person or online. Legendary Las Vegas bookmaker Art Manteris knows better than anyone how we got here. Manteris spent his illustrious forty-year career running the largest Las Vegas sportsbooks, taking bets from crazed gangsters, icons of industry, Hollywood celebrities, and sports legends, as well as some of the most duplicitous and criminal figures in sports gaming history. If Billy Walters was the gambler, Art Manteris was the sheriff. In the spirit of Kitchen Confidential, The Bookie is a lively, cinematic narrative of the life and career of a legendary bookmaker who has seen it all.Donald Trump, Phil Mickelson, Don King, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao: The Bookie takes us inside the fast paced world of high stakes sports betting, from Art’s early days in the 70s when he landed in Vegas tasked with handling wads of money stuffed in paper bags for his bosses at the mafia-run sportsbook to his role of setting the legal odds for every major professional sports event in the U.S.—Super Bowls, World Series, NBA Championships, Triple Crowns, Prizefights, and Stanley Cups. Manteris’ job was to make his book big money while also keeping patrons entertained enough to keep coming back. He also had to protect the book from illegal threats and fixes, and more than a few times in his career Manteris thwarted this activity. His battles with Billy Walters were legendary but here he reveals the many times the fix was in and he snuffed it out. Manteris pulls back the curtain to reveal the secrets of sports gambling, how it works, who wins and who loses, and why. Along the way, he offers insider tips and tricks that will be catnip for gamblers and those casually interested in getting in the game. Rife with never-before-told stories, The Bookie will be a primer on the art and science of sports gambling that will help create winning strategies while offering caution as we navigate this new wild west that is legal sports gambling.