Life Of A Professional Gambler

Born	July 15, 1946 (age 74)
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Net worth	US$100 million (2014)^[1]

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William T. Walters (born July 15, 1946)^[2] is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and retired professional gambler widely regarded as among the most successful sports bettors in Las Vegas, having a winning streak which extended for over 30 years.

In 1987, Walters stopped all gambling other than sports betting and returned to his roots in business. As of 2016, his holding company owned interests in eight car dealerships with one under construction, one golf course on the Las Vegas Strip, a rental-car franchise, and a number of commercial properties.^[3] In 2014, his net worth was estimated at more than $100 million.^[4]

Many of our leaders in business, industry and professional life have attained great success without knowing one card from another or which way the horses run around the track. In the area of social relationships, the newcomer will soon find a keen appreciation of the many pleasant and stimulating activities available - far removed from anything.
Walters (born July 15, 1946) is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and retired professional gambler widely regarded as among the most successful sports bettors in Las Vegas, having a winning streak which extended for over 30 years.
The gambler. Byrd's ability to incur such a vast debt before his 30th birthday is difficult to explain. Gambling was certainly a major factor: He reportedly lost £10,000 to the duke of.

The professional career of a gambler is a high-risk business. Trends suggest that by 2020, the U.S. Gambling industry was worth about $ 50 billion, making it a very profitable business for everyone involved, especially for those who win. Once gambling was just a hobby to attract money, this is no.

Early life[edit]

Walters grew up poor in the rural town of Munfordville, Kentucky. His father, an auto mechanic, died when Walters was 18 months old. His mother, who was an alcoholic, walked out on her son and two daughters shortly after his father's death. He was raised by his grandmother in a home with no running water or indoor plumbing.^[5]

Walters credits his grandmother, a devout Baptist, with instilling a strong work ethic. She worked two jobs cleaning houses and washing dishes while raising seven children. At the age of seven, Walters secured a $40 bank loan for a power lawnmower to start a grass-cutting business. At age nine, he secured a second loan for $90 to start a paper route. His grandmother arranged both loans for Walters.^[5]

His grandmother died when Walters was 13, forcing him to move to Louisville, KY, to be with his mother. There he worked two jobs, one in the morning at a bakery and the second at a gas station in the evenings. He rented a room in the basement from his mother. He married and had a child before graduating high school. The marriage was short-lived.

Business success[edit]

In 1965, Walters went to work as a salesman at McMackin Auto Sales, a used-car lot in Louisville. Each time he sold a car, he mailed a self-promotion letter to 10 people living on each side of that customer's home. He would peruse the daily newspaper for car ads, inviting the ads' sellers to do trades with him. He went through the phone book and cold-called people. Walters sold an average of 32 cars a month and earned $56,000 a year in 1966, equal to about $400,000 today.

Walters worked 80 hours a week selling cars and setting dealership records. In 1967, he was hired as sales manager at Steven's Brothers Auto Sales, a competing dealership. He worked at Stevens Brothers until 1972, when he started his own business, Taylor Boulevard Auto Sales, wholesaling cars to other dealers throughout the southeastern United States.

During that time, Walters also remained involved in sports betting. In 1981, he left the automobile industry to become a full-time sports bettor. He was running his own betting service on the side and, in 1982, pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of possession of gambling records in Kentucky. The charge later was expunged from his record.

It was then that he decided to move with his wife, Susan, to Las Vegas, where opportunity beckoned and betting on sports was legal.

Gambling career[edit]

Walters started gambling when he was 9 years old, when he bet the money he earned from his paper route on the New York Yankees to beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1955 World Series. The Dodgers won and Walters lost the bet, but it did not deter him from gambling. Walters was a losing gambler as late as 1982. He had lost $50,000 by the time he was 22. Walters once lost his house during a game of pitching nickels. The winner did not take possession; Walters agreed to pay off the debt over the next 18 months.

Walters' success changed in his mid to late 30s. In June 1986, Walters requested a freeze-out with Caesars Atlantic City for $2 million at the roulette tables. Walters was known to have lost $1 million at least twice at the Las Vegas blackjack tables. Caesars, however, declined his request. Walters then took his proposition to the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, then known as the Golden Nugget, which was accepted.^[6]

Walters and his gambling partner delivered $2 million to the cage at the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel. The pair noticed a wheel bias and bet on the 7-10-20-27-36. After 38 hours of play they won $3,800,000, beating the prior record of $1,280,000 held by Richard W. Jarecki at the San Remo Casino in Monte Carlo in 1971. Three years later his 'Syndicate' had won $400,000 at a casino in Las Vegas and an additional $610,000 from Claridge Casino in Atlantic City.^[6] Walters also captured the 1986 Super Bowl of Poker, (also known as Amarillo Slim's Super Bowl of Poker or SBOP) in Lake Tahoe earning $175,000.^[7]

Sports betting[edit]

In the 1980s, Walters joined the Computer Group, which used computer analysis to analyze sports outcomes. Over a period of 39 years, Walters had only one losing year, with a 30-year winning streak. Though he has finished in the red for a few months, he was always in the black by the end of the year. Walters bet on basketball, NFL, and college football. Walters won $3.5 million on Super Bowl XLIV after betting on the New Orleans Saints.^[8] Due to his reputation, Walters often placed bets through 'runners' so bookmakers would remain unaware of the person behind the bet.^[9]

In January 2007, Walters won a $2.2 million bet on University of Southern California defeating University of Michigan; USC won, 32-18. In 2011, Walters claimed he could make between $50 to $60 million on a good year.^[2]

Insider trading[edit]

In April 2017, Walters was found guilty of insider trading after using non-public information from Thomas C. Davis, a board member of Dean Foods. Walters was sentenced to 5 years in prison and fined $10 million. Lawyer Daniel Goldman, then an assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, was part of the trial team.^[10]^[11]^[12]

Walters' source, company director Thomas C. Davis, using a prepaid cell phone and sometimes the code words 'Dallas Cowboys' for Dean Foods, helped Walters, between 2008 and 2014, realize profits and avoid losses in the stock, the Federal jury found. Walters gained $32 million in profits and avoided $11 million in losses. At the trial, investor Carl C. Icahn was mentioned in relation to Walters’ trading but was not charged with wrongdoing. Golfer Phil Mickelson 'was also mentioned during the trial as someone who had traded in Dean Foods shares and once owed nearly $2 million in gambling debts to' Walters. Mickelson 'made roughly $1 million trading Dean Foods shares; he agreed to forfeit those profits in a related civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission'.^[13]^[14]

On December 4, 2018, the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the insider trading conviction and 5 year sentence of Walters, even though it chastised an FBI agent for leaking grand jury information about the case.^[15] On October 7, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Walters’ appeal.^[16]

Walters was initially imprisoned at Federal Prison Camp, Pensacola, but was released to home confinement in Carlsbad, California, on May, 1, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. His sentence was scheduled to be completed on January 10, 2022,^[4] and was commuted by Donald Trump on January 20, 2021.^[17]

Personal life[edit]

Walters has three children, and was an avid golfer. He claims to have made over $400,000 on one hole and once as much as $1 million in one round, although he admitted to losing a million at blackjack later that night.^[18]

In June 2014, Walters had a private jet worth $20 million and owned seven homes, with a net worth estimated at over $100 million.^[1]

Walters is a noted philanthropist and has donated to Opportunity Village, a Las Vegas nonprofit for people with intellectual disabilities.^[12] In September 2020, in response to Opportunity Village cancelling their two largest fundraising events because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Walters family committed to a $1 million matching donation. He and his wife Susan have been staunch Opportunity Village advocates for decades and were honored at the organization’s 11th annual black-tie gala Camelot in 2012. ^[19]

The couple were also honored as Las Vegas Philanthropists of the Year in 1997 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Las Vegas Chapter^[20]^[21]

References[edit]

^ ^a^bRowe, Peter (June 13, 2014). 'Billy Walters, gambler extraordinaire'. sandiegouniontribune.com. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
^ ^a^bBerzon, Alexandra (June 3, 2014). 'Taste for Risk Fueled Career of Bettor Billy Walters, Now in Trading Probe'. WSJ. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
^Lareau, Jamie (July 9, 2016). 'Billy Walters: Done gambling, still dealing'. Automotive News. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
^ ^a^bG, Thomas (May 1, 2020). 'Famed Vegas gambler released from prison in COVID-19 program'. AP. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
^ ^a^bFish, Mike (April 2, 2018). 'Billy walters on his conviction, gambling -- and ex-friend Lefty'. ESPN. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
^ ^a^bRussell T. Barnhart (1992). Beating the Wheel: The System That Has Won Over Six Million Dollars from Las Vegas to Monte Carlo. Kensington Publishing Corporation. pp. 101–. ISBN978-0-8184-0553-2.
^'Billy Walters and the Story of the Computer Group'. Pregame. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
^Newman, Eric (February 17, 2012). 'The Greatest Sports Bets of All Time'. Bleacher Report. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
^Fish, Mike (February 6, 2015). 'Meet the world's most successful gambler'. ESPN.com. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
^'Democrats' impeachment lawyer cut his teeth prosecuting mobsters, Wall Street cheats'. Washington Post. Retrieved November 13, 2019. Cucinella said she requested Goldman to be on the trial team “because he has a bit of a swagger as a trial lawyer, and it’s a confidence that serves him well. In a courtroom, he’s incredibly effective.”
^Moynihan, Colin; Moyer, Liz (April 7, 2017). 'William T. Walters, Famed Sports Bettor, Is Guilty in Insider Trading Case'. nytimes.com. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
^ ^a^bErik Larson Bloomberg (July 27, 2017). 'Las Vegas gambler Walters gets 5 years in prison, $10M fine'. Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
^Calia, Mike (September 6, 2017). 'Gambler Billy Walters sentenced to 5 years in 'amateurishly simple' insider-tradingscheme'. CNBC. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
^Larson, Erik (July 27, 2017). 'Vegas Gambler Billy Walters Gets 5 Years for Insider Trading'. Bloomberg.com. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
^Jonathan Stempel Reuters (December 4, 2018). 'Las Vegas gambler Walters loses insider trading appeal'. Reuters. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
^Andrew Chung Reuters (October 7, 2019). 'U.S. Supreme Court rejects insider trading appeal by Las Vegas gambler'. Reuters. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
^'Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of Clemency'. whitehouse.gov. January 20, 2021 – via National Archives.
^'Billy Walters - A Legend In Sports Betting History'. USA Sportsbook Sites. September 21, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
^Rocky Nash KLAS-TV (2020). 'Opportunity Village receives $1M matching donation offer from notable philanthropists'. KLAS-TV. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
^AFP Las Vegas Chapter (1997). 'Association of Fundraising Professionals Las Vegas'. AFP. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
^Admin (January 6, 2020). 'Las Vegas Philanthropists of the Year in 1997'. official. Retrieved January 6, 2020.

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06:03
27 Feb

Frank Nagy’s Royal Flush netted him more than $1.1million this month, and the Atlantic City casino regular made sure the dealers got in on the new-found riches, tipping them $50,000 of his jackpot win!
It was the biggest win of the Tropicana Casino regular’s life, and it was also one of the biggest progressive jackpot in the history of the casino’s parent company, Caesars Entertainment.

Building up since it was last won in August 2019, Nagy’s chosen casino game of Four Card Poker was one of six that make up the Tropicana’s progressive jackpot.

The Monmouth County man’s $5 sidebet joined those from games such as Let It Ride, Mississippi Stud Poker, Texas Hold’em Poker, Three Card Poker and Ultimate Texas Hold’em to build up the $1million+ pot.

When the Royal Flush was dealt to him, Nagy was a newly-minted millionaire, and made sure the dealers at his favourite casino didn’t miss out on the celebration – handing over $50k to be shared among them.