A History of Gambling in America (part9)

Las Vegas once again made the west a gamblers paradise

America as gone a long way in its fight to rid and maintain gambling. At times one side was winning over the other. Bookmaking rose to prominence after the re emergence of horse racing. After the peri mutuel gambling, bookmakers concentrated towards sports betting. The practice would make bookmakers legitimate as they were able to organize more stable betting through the use of the point spread.

• Vegas viewed sports betters as the experts on “evaluating human talent”
• Lefty Rosenthal was the inspiration for the 1995 film casino
• Jimmy the Greek gave the persona of a big time Vegas handicapper

Unfortunately the popularity of the point spread encouraged more match fixing techniques such as point shaving. College players soon began accepting bribes in return for losing or shaving points during games. The most popular sport college basketball took the biggest blow with the University of Kentucky scandal leading US gambling news. Once again, all eyes would soon look towards the west.

Bookmakers find a respectable home in Vegas

In order to “steer clear” of all the Federal Investigations into gambling, many professional gamblers headed towards Las Vegas, Nevada. With open arms, Vegas welcomed gamblers and viewed sports betters as the experts on “evaluating human talent.” Sports gamblers were technicians that spent their days deciphering sports statistics and coming up with the most lucrative predictions. Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal saw sports betting as an art.

Like his predecessor Pittsburg Phil, Lefty would remove as much of the odds as he could before laying down a bet. Formerly a gambler known by the FBI for assisting the Chicago mafia, Lefty would provide insider information on sports games. In front of the McClellan Committee, Lefty was accused by Bobby Kennedy of bribing Morgan State Football player Michael Bruce. After taking the Fifth Amendment 37 times, Lefty left the hearing as innocent.

Two years later Lefty would be implicated in the bribing of a New York basketball player. Eventually, Lefty would move from US gambling laws to Las Vegas in 1968 where he would become the inspiration for the 1995 film “Casino.” His prowess as a sports better was legendary. In Vegas at the time, there were only three standing establishments for sports betting which went by the name of “sportsbooks.”

A frequent patron of these sportsbooks was Jimmy “the Greek” Snyder. Deriving his name for the famous gambler Nick “the Greek” Dandelos, Jimmy was a small town handicapper. Even though among Vegas players, Jimmy wasn’t such a celebrity, he was seen by the rest of the country as major figure in Las Vegas. Jimmy was able to carry himself convincingly as a “big time” handicapper through his dress, mannerism and charisma.

Jimmy the Greek legitimized handicapping

Jimmy, an actual commercial handicapper, came to prominence when he set the point spread for the 1969 Super Bowl between Baltimore Colts and the New York Jets. Jimmy made the announcement that Baltimore would beat New York by 17 points. With quarterback Joe Namath saying his New York team would win, much action was brought to the sportsbooks.

The line Jimmy set fluctuated up and down until game time and the Jets ended up winning and the point spread wasn’t covered. Although Jimmy predicted wrong, he succeeded in drawing more betters to either side of the point spread. Jimmy would continue to be successful as a handicapper as he joined the CBS network’s sports program bringing together gambling and sports while legitimizing the bookmaker.

The Chicago Teamsters Union backed the sale of the Stardust hotel and appointed Lefty Rosenthal to operate it. Lefty’s sport bookmaker and handicapping background would prove invaluable as he was the first to set up a sportsbook inside the Stardust casino. He felt that patrons would feel more secure waging bets in the safe confines of a casino that would have the money available instantly for winning bets.

Another advantage was that someone making a sports bet might decide to wander to the blackjack tables or vice-versa. Before long the Stardust would be amidst allegations of cash skimming and power struggles within the Chicago syndicate hierarchy would head gambling news. The result of all the turmoil was the banning of Lefty Rosenthal from Las Vegas for life.