It would be remiss of us to do a series of global Punting Stars and not include Billy Walters. Walters is one of the world’s most notorious punters that has terrorised Las Vegas for decades.
“If you’re committed to being a professional gambler, and you want to be the best you can be, you spend every waking moment trying to figure out a way to beat the game.” – Billy Walters
He, like many of the pro’s that we’ve featured started from pretty humble beginnings.
Growing up in Kentucky, Billy was always getting himself into trouble but he had one trait that seems constant with the very best, he had ambition.
Born in 1946, Billy recalls his first gambling story at a very young age!
It was 1955 when Billy lost his paper route savings betting on the 1955 World Series of Baseball.
“Whether you’ve got $75 or $75 million, if you lose all you’ve got, it’s pretty traumatic,” he told the Wall Street Journal in 2006.
In 1982, while selling cars wholesale to dealers, he set himself up as a bookie — breaking Kentucky law.
A $1,000 fine later, he moved to the city in America that is heavily associated with gambling and sports betting.
In 2014, it was reported that Billy was a scratch golfer and he is associated with a bunch of heavy hitters including Phil Mickelson.
Sports betting isn’t the only form of gambling Billy likes to partake in.
When he plays golf he’ll take on his mates for $10,000+ a hole (he won $400,000 on a hole once and a million over a round of 18!) and he does have an infamous bender at an Atlantic City casino in 1986.
With a colleague, Walters placed his first bets on a Saturday afternoon. They left the casino 38 hours later, Monday morning, $3.8 million richer!
“You’re either a hustler, or you’re being hustled.” he says
What people say about Billy Walters
“I worked in the books for 20 years, and I never met the man once,” said Micah Roberts, a former sportsbook director in Nevada.
“He was like a shadow. But when he makes his bet, you respect it so much that you move the line accordingly and kind of scrap everything you’ve booked already.”
Jack Sheehan, one of Billy’s close friends said “I can tell you nobody has ever approached sports betting with as much analysis, as much technical capability, computer analysis,” says Sheehan, who is currently writing a biography on Walters.
“And he has a work ethic that is just ridiculous. If you and I had $300 million, we might play golf five days a week. Or be on a beach with three gals in bikinis. Billy works as hard today as he did when he was a used-car salesman in Kentucky.”
Billy Walters and the Law
“I’m the most careful, conservative person you know in regard to the way I conduct my business affairs. I’m extremely careful to make sure I do everything in a legal, lawful manner.” Billy says,
Like many of the world’s most feared gamblers, Walters is no stranger to some controversy.
In 1985 the FBI raided 45 homes in 16 states, launching a case against Walters and other members of the infamous Computer Group.
While in 1996 State agents raid Walters’ Sierra Sports Consulting. Walters and three other defendants are later indicted for money laundering.
In more recent times, he and his golfer buddy Phil Mickelson have been embroiled in an insider trading saga for the past few years that just made it’s way back through the court system.
Walters, 70, was convicted on 10 accounts of fraud and conspiracy for making approximately $43 million over six years off stock tips received from Tom C. Davis, the former chairman of Dean Foods Co.
Billy could potentially face years of jail time as a result of the conviction.
“If I would have made a bet I would have lost,” Walters told reporters as he left court. “I just did lose the biggest bet of my life. Frankly I’m in shock.”
He’s been indicted several times, but brought to trial only once prior to the recent case. That was in 1992, when the feds charged him with illegal bookmaking.
Punting Star: Haralabos Voulgaris
Billy Walters the punter
“First of all, I’m not a handicapper. Second of all, every person I am associated with is smarter than me” – Billy Walters
Just like many punters here in Australia and all around the world, Walters is faced with the challenge of finding someone to take a decent bet.
‘Getting set’ has become a skill in itself for the big players through bowling accounts, runners and betting minions getting on what they can, however they can all around the world.
“Today in Las Vegas, I can bet about 20 percent of what I used to be able to bet,” he said.
Billy has also spoken out about how behind the times the United States is when it comes to sports betting.
“If you want to bet in Las Vegas, you have to go stand in a line; you have to put up cash or have chips, and the only way you can get chips is with cash, and you have to give an ID and fill out CTRs, which most people don’t have a problem with that,” Walters said.
“Or you can sit in the comfort of your home, you can bet over the telephone or over the Internet. In many cases, lay -105 instead of 11-to-10 and you can do it 24/7 in the comfort of your home. If you’re in L.A., why would you get on an airplane and come to Las Vegas to bet sports on the weekend?”
The biggest bet Billy claims to have placed was a lazy $3.5m USD! (See below for details)