Making book on the big changes in modern sports wagering in America

In his new book about the real history of sports wagering on and off The Strip and throughout America, longtime Vegas insider Art Manteris tells Nestor about his new book “The Bookie” and the evolution of the industry from insider information backrooms and the leagues trying to shut him down to now being able to bet on your mobile device in real time with pro sports cut in on the action. And the real and present dangers he learned then and now…

Nestor Aparicio interviews Art Manteris about his new book, “The Bookie,” detailing his 40-year career in sports gambling in Las Vegas. Manteris discusses the evolution of the industry, from manual bets to modern digital platforms, and highlights the influence of mobsters in the past. He shares insights on the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight and the ethical dilemmas of sports gambling. Manteris emphasizes the need for a clear separation between sports participation and gambling, noting the rapid expansion of sports betting and its impact on youth. He advocates for leagues to distance themselves from gambling businesses to maintain integrity.

Action Items

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Bring the Maryland crab cake tour back (promote the event on the radio/show and organize distribution for a cup or bowl)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Obtain and distribute candy cane scratch-off tickets as giveaways during the Super Bowl segment with the Maryland Lottery
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Arrange to be live at the Super Bowl in San Francisco via satellite (coordinate logistics and connections with partners to carry the show)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Contact and recruit guests (Trent, Marvin, and Brian) for the show to discuss the Super Bowl/bullies and rally the troops
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – When next in Las Vegas, contact the guest (Art Manteris) to get recommendations and find a good place to eat (arrange meeting/fist bump in Vegas)

Outline

Super Bowl 35 Anniversary and Maryland Crab Cake Tour

• Nestor Aparicio discusses the upcoming Maryland crab cake tour and Super Bowl 35 anniversary.
• Plans to rally the troops, including Trent Dole, Marvin, and Brian, to talk about the bullies.
• Mentions giving away candy cane scratch-offs and thanks GBMC for keeping him alive.
• Reflects on the evolution of gambling and sports on television.

Introduction of Art Manteris and His Book

• Nestor introduces Art Manteris, an author who has written a book about gambling.
• Art Manteris talks about his 40-year career in Vegas and the changes in the sports gambling industry.
• Discusses the influence of mobsters in the early days of the industry.
• Mentions the rapid changes in Las Vegas and the sports gambling environment.

Early Days of Sports Gambling

• Art Manteris describes the manual betting process in the early days of the industry.
• Nestor and Art discuss the differences between the old and new days of sports gambling.
• Art shares his background as a Pittsburgh native and his frequent visits to Pittsburgh.
• Talks about the less regulated and controlled environment of the early days.

Impact of Sports Gambling on Professional Sports

• Art Manteris shares his experience in boxing promotions and the influence of sports gambling on professional sports.
• Discusses the Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight and the impact of inside information.
• Emphasizes the need for a clear separation between gambling and participation in sports.
• Mentions his work with the NBA as a security consultant and the changing positions of leagues on gambling.

The Evolution of Sports Gambling and Its Acceptance

• Nestor and Art discuss the rapid expansion of sports gambling and its acceptance in the US.
• Art talks about the influence of the UK and other countries on the sports gambling industry.
• Mentions the pushback against gambling in the UK and other European countries.
• Discusses the impact of fantasy sports and daily fantasy games on the gambling industry.

The Role of Fantasy Sports in Modern Gambling

• Nestor and Art discuss the role of fantasy sports in the modern gambling industry.
• Art explains the legal status of fantasy sports in different states and its classification as gambling.
• Shares his experience with proposition wagering in Nevada and its impact on the industry.
• Discusses the legalization of fantasy sports in India and the pushback against it.

The Impact of Sports Gambling on Professional Leagues

• Nestor and Art discuss the impact of sports gambling on professional leagues and their partnerships with gambling companies.
• Art expresses concerns about the mixed messages sent by leagues regarding gambling.
• Discusses the importance of maintaining the integrity of professional sports.
• Mentions the need for common sense in guiding the future of the sports gambling industry.

The Future of Sports Gambling and Its Regulation

• Nestor and Art discuss the future of sports gambling and the need for regulation.
• Art emphasizes the importance of separating leagues from the gambling business.
• Discusses the impact of youth exposure to gambling advertising and social media promotion.
• Mentions the need for guardrails to prevent scandals and maintain integrity.

Art Manteris’ Book and Its Message

• Nestor promotes Art Manteris’ book, “The Bookie,” and its message about sports gambling.
• Art shares his motivation for writing the book and the importance of the message.
• Discusses the controversial aspects of the book and the hope that it will be entertaining.
• Mentions the support of HarperCollins and the ghostwriter, Matt Birkbeck.

Personal Reflections and Final Thoughts

• Nestor and Art share personal reflections on their experiences in the sports gambling industry.
• Discuss the changes in Las Vegas and the impact of new sports teams like the Raiders and Vegas Golden Knights.
• Mentions the construction of the sphere in Maryland and its potential impact on the gambling industry.
• Nestor thanks Art for the interview and expresses his appreciation for the insights shared.

Longtime Vegas insider Art Man… about his new book The Bookie

Mon, Jan 19, 2026 10:41AM • 28:55

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Super Bowl, sports gambling, Vegas insider, Art Manteris, bookie, industry evolution, mobsters, boxing promotions, Manny Pacquiao, fantasy sports, regulation, youth impact, leagues partnerships, advertising, integrity.

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SPEAKERS

Art Manteris, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S T am 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore. Positive we’re going to be getting the Maryland crab cake tour back out for a cup of soup or bowl. It’s not going to stop us from doing radio row activity around here, as well as celebrating one of the great weeks of my young life, Super Bowl 35 our 25th anniversary. I’m gonna get Trent dole for find him, rally the troops. I might find Marvin and Brian as well to talk about the bullies. We’re gonna be doing a cup of Super Bowl with the Maryland lottery. I’ll have candy cane scratch offs to give away. Also our friends at GBMC keeping me alive and well, one of the parts of no longer doing a radio row and Super Bowls is having cool guests. Come on. We’re going to be at the real Super Bowl at San Francisco, live via satellite through a bunch of friends. I’m going to welcome in a an author. But really, this is about the numbers in the game. And yeah, I go back a long, long way doing Super Bowls, back to I go back so far when I remember when gambling was illegal and it wasn’t on television every week like it is for these kids today. This guy’s written a book art man Terra says, Well, I mean, it’s all about gambling. The book is called the bookie, how I bet it all on sports gambling and watching industry explode. It is out this month, a 40 year career in Vegas. He’s been with all the big guys, all the heavies, and now he’s writing a book on it. All right? A pleasure, man. Welcome in Happy Super Bowl to you, and you lived long enough to see all of this. Come clean, come on the level, right? I mean, it is amazing. For all these years, you could go to Wimbledon and bet backstage and do all that that we never thought it would come here. You’re wearing a Vegas Golden Knights thing there. We never thought there’d be a team in Vegas, right?

Art Manteris  01:45

Oh, absolutely, yeah, that was such a long shot early in my career. But the world has changed. In Las Vegas is a different place, and the sports gambling environment across the US is a far different place than the industry I worked in for 45 years.

Nestor Aparicio  01:58

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Tell me about the industry you worked in for 45 years. What was the old days like Uncle Art?

Art Manteris  02:05

Well, the old days when I started in the industry, everything was manuals. Bets were handwritten on, on, on three part copy paper machines where a lock box audit copy was kept, one caught, one copy went to the guest and one copy went to the cashier, if you were lucky enough to bring

Nestor Aparicio  02:24

back what casinos is what took you out. You’re not a Vegas native right now.

Art Manteris  02:28

I’m a Pittsburgh guy, and all this talk about Baltimore and the Ravens is upsetting me a little bit, but I’m trying

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Nestor Aparicio  02:33

to hold listen. I’ve been to Pittsburgh. I was in I was in Pittsburgh last week. It was 21 degrees. You escaped, and that’s what I say to you all yens in that. And so you did pretty good going out to Vegas, right?

Art Manteris  02:45

Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I still go back to Pittsburgh frequently, at least once a year, having plenty of friends and still, still some family,

Nestor Aparicio  02:52

put some coleslaw and french fries on a sandwich on a strip, you’ll feel like you’re in the other strip.

Art Manteris  02:57

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That’s right. Good. Good point. You know your way around Pittsburgh, obviously, but in any case, back to your question, yeah, the industry that I started in was far different. It was far, far less regulated, far less controlled, than it is today. And we do tell stories in the book about about some of the mobsters that were still pretty close to the action back then and did have influence in town. That’s far different today. They have no influence, and haven’t for many, many years. When did you

Nestor Aparicio  03:24

arrive in Vegas? Late 1978 Jimmy the Greeks talking about the intangibles. Brent, so at that time you go out there, there’s some you know, Elvis had just died. Sinatra still playing, right? Engelbert’s doing his thing. Wayne Newton’s doing his thing, strips just coming to life. Fights are coming online, but there’s no HBO yet, right? So at that point, Bowie coon hated you, right? And, and, and at that point, Pete Roselle was trying to shut this down. They didn’t think gambling was good for their game. I don’t think because it was, it poisoned Joe Jackson in baseball, right? It poisoned a whole bunch of people in the late 50s with gambling, right? Pete Rose, oh, sure. Well, Pete Rose wasn’t even in the soup yet. Pete Rose was still playing second base or third or in left field, right? He played them all for the Reds at 78 right?

Art Manteris  04:22

So, yeah, Nestor, you touched a lot of nerves and some of the subjects that you just just mentioned, but yeah, you know, I I learned a lesson the hard way in sports gambling, because I was involved in boxing promotions very heavily from for a number of years at Caesar’s Palace and then at the Las Vegas, Hilton, and we hosted many of the world’s biggest fights in the years that I was involved in boxing, and I was the guy reaching out, trying to sign a lot of those fights, and then on the speaking tour with the publicity tour for those big

Nestor Aparicio  04:52

fights, Ratner’s been on my show dozens of times. Great guy, great guy.

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Art Manteris  04:57

He was a great Nevada athletic Commissioner. Nestor in his in his time, and he’s a real credit to the industry and a credit to the UFC today. But nevertheless, I after I got out of the boxing business, and when I moved to Red Rock resort, station casinos in 2001 now, I was because the US, because they owned the UFC state, the parent company, or the principals of stations, owned the UFC, so we were not allowed to book those fights. And now I was separated from, from all fighting and and just concentrated on, on sports book operations. And I was booking a fight, and it was a big fight, and which you’ll recognize, of course, and it was the Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr fight, and I had actually signed Mayweather to his first title fight several years earlier, so I was and hosted and been to a number of Pacquiao fights, so I was very familiar with both fighters, and I thought Pacquiao had a chance against Mayweather. I actually favored him a little bit. But the week of the fight, I learned some very relevant information, very inside information, about Pacquiao shoulder injury leading up to that fight and and it hit me like a ton of bricks that i What would I have done if I was still promoting fights? What would I have done with that knowledge? Would I have sabotaged the whole fight, canceled the fight because of what, of what I knew? Or do I keep my mouth shut and just keep booking the fight like nothing’s wrong. And that was eye opening to me. That was in 2015 I believe. And from that moment on, my message changed that there had to be a very clear, distinct separation between gambling on sports and participation in sports. You can’t do both. And that message resonated, and and that message was, was, was the same message that the leagues were supporting. And I, and I worked for the NBA for 10 years as a security consultant, while, while doing my job here in Las Vegas also. So I was pretty connected to all parties all the way around. But that message of separation between participation and gambling was, was what the leagues promoted themselves. And if you look back at some of the statements of the commissioners over the years, they were so anti gambling, and I was the bad guy. Well, guess what? Today, my position hasn’t changed. My position is still the same. The league’s positions have changed. They’re now pro gambling, and I’m the one that’s saying, Hey, hold on, wait a minute. They shouldn’t be so closely intermingled.

Nestor Aparicio  07:23

Talk about your book for a minute, because I got a million things like, gosh, I mean, such a great guest. Art man. Terrace is here. He’s out in Vegas. We’re talking about gambling. I don’t do a lot of gambling segments here. I mean, I do lottery segments. You talk about things and I talk about Gambling Awareness, one 800 gambler and the but I was not a game. My dad wasn’t a gambler. I went to the track when I was a young guy working at the paper, and bet some ponies here and again. But I’m $2 better. Never had a betting Jones. Never lost a lot of lost the money in a Vegas in the crap stable here and again when I would go out to have a good time with it. But I don’t have an issue with it. But I I employed a guy here 30 years ago, did in the day, would fly to Vegas every week to make his to make his bets. He would go out on Friday, final Friday, leave his wife. He was a professional gambler. He would stay at a sugar shack out there behind the Rio and walk and walk the strip and say, Man terrace is going to give me an extra half a point on the Cowboys this week, I’m going to bet there. And he would bet houses based on trying to get an extra point or two or this or that. And this is in 1995 6789, in that range, to think that every bar I walk into, not just here in Toronto, too. I was in Toronto for every day, and it’s a bigger thing in Canada, because it’s been a little bit more socially acceptable that maybe where it’s still like new here, and all of the guardrails and all the things that I talk about that can be problems here, let alone for people just gambling money. They don’t have regular humans having their lives, lives wrecked. But then the inside part of this where about 1000 years ago, I wrote a book when the Ravens won the second Super Bowl with Flacco, and we brought him down to then the new casino with prime rib, and we did an event inside the steakhouse. He had to walk into the prime rib and out of the he couldn’t walk near the casino because he’s in the league now. Everybody’s in on this. And I’m, I’m blown away as to how fast it’s happened, like marijuana or like different things that you know have happened in our lifetime that you couldn’t do five years ago. The gambling part and the guardrails opens up for a book like yours to say, let me tell you some stories.

Art Manteris  09:33

Right? Yeah, it really does. And the time is right to tell these stories. And you know, it’s so widespread now it’s so you’re so inundated what you know, you can’t watch a game without being inundated with gambling ads or in play odds updates. You can’t go to a stadium for the most part, without sports gambling company logos all over the place and in some sports even here, here in Las Vegas. Guess you see casinos, sports book sites on the on the player jerseys. So, yeah, I think it’s been too much, too fast. It has surprised me very much, how how fast things have moved, and how the leagues have shifted positions so, so dramatically. You know, you mentioned the UK and sports gambling a little bit earlier, and how socially acceptable sports gambling was for many, many years, and it certainly was. And I am, and I love the UK, and I used to go on vacations all the time to the UK just to hang out in this in the bet shops and enjoy that environment. In fact, I went to a game, an arsenal Manchester United game, one time just to see what was happening with in play sports books, or, excuse me, in play wagering during the game, and sports books right in the stadium, which was so outrageous at that time.

Nestor Aparicio  10:50

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So you’re betting on a player to score 30 minutes into the you’re betting on that player to score in the next 10 minutes. There’s all sorts of interesting ways to do that. Yeah, there is there. Yeah, there is. I don’t know enough about it on I’m not a gambler. Again, I’m just not, yeah, yeah.

Art Manteris  11:08

There are a lot of propositions like that today, and I’ll get back to the propositions in a second. But now in the UK, there’s tremendous pushback against gambling. There’s there curtailing advertising. They’re imposing new taxes and other regulatory restrictions and the same in Ireland. And you know, go, go through all through Europe, the Netherlands, Germany, I can’t remember.

Nestor Aparicio  11:34

Cricket in India has always generated more money than anything

Art Manteris  11:38

cricket in India, fantasy sports was legal in India up until about a year ago, and now they push back there as well. So many places around the world, there’s great pushback now to the rapid expansion of sports gambling the UK. I mean, excuse me, the US is an exception right now.

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Nestor Aparicio  11:56

Our man terrace is here. He’s written a book. We’re talking about the book, and it’s football, and I got so much I want to talk you said fantasy. When I started my am radio station, journey to move to wnst.net I got into the internet side of where what we could put on our website, that we could monetize, and fantasy sports became the click and this and that. I don’t know that. I didn’t realize it was the starter drug. It was the gateway drug for what would become modern gambling. Did you know that all along, back in the aughts, when this thing was coming online, because I own a radio station, I had to bet us people calling me from Costa Rica and the FCC wanting to shut us down for playing ads and like all of the offshore stuff that was going on. But fantasy kind of came in as, oh, it’s just rotisserie. You win a few dollars, you know? And then we saw the fixing of that going on over millions of dollars. And, no, it’s Shoeless Joe at that point who trusted at that point, right?

Art Manteris  12:57

Yeah, well, fantasy proposition wagering and parlays and contests that permeate the airwaves and are available widespread across most of the country are sports gambling. In my opinion, it’s not close. I think I know sports gambling when I see it in sport and most fantasy daily cash games are sports gambling. There’s risk, there’s reward. And you know, all the elements of gambling are contained in fantasy sports in 2006 Nestor, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was passed by Congress, and that inadvertently provided a carve out specifically for fantasy sports. And lo and behold, entrepreneurs jumped in and created the Daily Fantasy concept. Right after that, there was no daily fantasy before Uyghur. There was season long contest. But after Uyghur passed, then all of a sudden, the Daily Fantasy industry popped up out of nowhere. So that created a huge loophole, and today that has spread over most of the country, unless states illegalize it, it’s legal. It’s not legal. Here in Nevada, it’s considered a gambling game, which it should be, but, but in some states today, kids, kids under 21 can can play fantasy cash games. And yes, certainly it’s, it’s, it’s gambling in my eyes and but one more point on that. Nestor with fantasy game football, I actually was one of the guys that started the big time proposition wagering in Nevada when in 1985 put up a proposition on the Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Chicago Bears. Would William the refrigerators Perry score a touchdown in that game? And it got so much notoriety, so much attention. We got killed financially on the prop, but the chairman of Caesar’s world called me the next day to thank me for the publicity too, right? And Peyton didn’t score, right? Famously, right, right? It’s exactly right. He scored in the first. Half and Walter Payton never, never did.

Nestor Aparicio  15:02

Well, they’re looking at the fridge. You know, it’s kind of a shame that the bears didn’t get it. Our man terrace is here. It is a Super Bowl. Time again. He has written a book I want to give everybody. This sounds like just a fascinating book, the bookie. It’s a Harper Collins book, how I bet it all on sports gambling and watching industry explode. It is out now. He is a Pittsburgher, and I’m not going to hold that against him anymore than I hold anymore than I hold like that against Mike Tomlin, now that he’s gone as well, um, 78 you get out to Vegas, Bradshaw, Franco or winning one for the thumb, all that’s going on. And baseball still ran the country before the first strike. So art. My last name is Aparicio, so I come at it kind of honest. Here in Baltimore, my dad came here with my cousin in the 60s, and I’m the product that’s born in 68 I’m a baseball family. I’m a baseball name. I came on the radio here in 1991 we did not have a football team here. We lost the Colts trying to get the team back. We were never going to get the team back, because the Redskins were going to block us all of that stuff, right? And here we are, two championships in looking for a head coach. All of that, but the baseball part of this is, I came on the air here in December of 9192 Camden Yards was built, so I’m on the air in a baseball only town in 9293 9495 baseball strike all of that. We’re never getting a team here. I took we’re still a football City in the early 90s, my Friday shows with a Friday football frenzy. We talked about point spreads with Vito stilino. We had spreads because Jimmy the Greek had him back in the day. But there wasn’t anywhere you can wager other than a bookie. We had a bookmaker salad here named after a guy like you. Delicious if you ever get to Baltimore to get one. But the action part of baseball, I took baseball phone calls here for 35 years. I’m 35 years into this. I have never took a phone call a Nestor, what do you think about tonight’s game? You got Messina minus seven and a half against like, I never knew anyone that gambled on baseball in my life, in my life, like, literally all the years I did radio here, football, sure, my dad brought point, brought pulled from the plant. My dad worked at the steel mill. He would bring home circle five for 15 mythical points. And, like all like pool card, you break it in half, the whole deal. Even had a little he could cut it in half if you would rip it. Yeah, I know exactly right. All right, okay, so that’s gambling in Dundalk, Maryland, east side, Luke collar, my dad worked at the mill. Never met any new people to bet on the ponies, people that like the numbers. Miss Edie with better numbers. And what would not, you know, with the lottery, I never met anybody that bet on baseball. And we’re, what, four years in this, but big puppies got the hose out now and like, tell me baseball gambling as you knew it, 1978 when you showed up out there, and what percentage it made up, because I never thought anybody would gamble on it. I’m just wrong. I’m really wrong.

Art Manteris  17:51

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Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, you are, you’re, you’re wrong on this again, baseball never had the betting appeal that football and basketball did because it’s a little bit more complicated to bet. You know, the way we booked baseball up here for many, many years is odds were predicated on the list of pictures the scheduled starting pitchers, and if that changed, then bets were off for the most part. And and readjusted with the new price, new odds, with the new pitchers, that’s that’s gradually going away here in Nevada and in certain other parts of the country and international.

Nestor Aparicio  18:27

So starting pitching, but that’s my baseball Zinger for you there. Yeah, yeah.

Art Manteris  18:31

Because, you know, nowadays, scheduled pitchers might only go a few innings anyway. So it’s really not that as relevant as it used to be in your Dad’s Day where pitchers, you know, intended that you tried to get a guy to throw a full game every time out, practically. But baseball, odds are a little bit more complicated to understand for them from for the general public. And football and basketball are simple. You know, if a team, if my Indian, is an eight point favorite tonight, over over Miami, that most people can relate to that. And you know, you have to bet 11 to win 10 on either side. And you make your bet, and off you go, baseball. You know, the minus $1.55 we’re putting up 1550, to win $10 is a little bit more complicated for most people, and figuring out parlay payouts is a lot more complicated for most people. When in football and basketball, it might be six to one for a three team parlay, or 10 or 11 to one for a 14 parlay and so forth.

Nestor Aparicio  19:31

But I think baseball wants to cash in on this and figure out how they can make money, and that is one of the huge parts of their revenue model that’s missing, right?

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Art Manteris  19:40

Oh yeah, yeah. The baseball’s gotten into the into game of the gambling world now too. And I had written an op ed piece a few days ago where I was not I’m not pleased with the course that most of the pro leagues in America are taking now, where they’re so accepting and so and these official. Partnerships and sponsorships and so forth. That’s a very mixed message that they’re sending. You know, they’re telling their players how evil gambling is, and stay away from gambling and and so forth. And yet, they’re partnering with gambling companies left and right. Well, every

Nestor Aparicio  20:14

place I go being a sports guy who’s done this all my life, I talk sports with people. I’m blown away. As many people think Trump’s telling the truth as think that the NFL is fixed, like people. I mean, people speak of it in a way that like They believe, like they believe in, I don’t know, horoscopes or something, but they believe the league is absolutely fixed. And art. This is where maybe the last question I really do want to let you just go on about your book, because you have so much wisdom on this. And I love this subject, and I rarely talk about it, but I talk about this with friends, and I’ve talked about this with John Martin, Executive Director of the Maryland lottery, comes on here every week, or tries to to talk about being on the up and up, because he’s running the sports gambling part of the state that didn’t exist four years ago here, like, literally, he was involved in getting it installed, and really wants to let people know it’s on the up and up. And we don’t want you betting with art on the corner from Pittsburgh with Louis the bookmaker. We want you betting because the money’s coming into the state. It’s helping education, all of these good reasons. But here’s where I sit on it. Art, if you and I created a game, we’re going to call it pig’s Knuckles, and we’re going to play it, and it’s going to get so popular that billions of people are going to see it, and we’re going to have judges adjudicated and referees that decide who wins a bet or not. Every other thing in Vegas, every other thing with the lottery, is about being on the up and up. And when you go in the casino, the dice can go in any way that the machines are loaded, in the way that they’re loaded, that they’re fair and that it’s not rigged, and it’s on the up and up. We’re betting billions of dollars on a decision that the referee is making as to whether the ball was tucked when a guy hit the that these are humans deciding who’s winning bets. Problematic, as I see it fundamentally in chapter one, verse one,

Art Manteris  22:05

you raised very good points. Esther, no doubt. But I can tell you my own opinion, and you know, having been so involved for so long that absolutely positively, the majority of games in America are legitimate. I firmly believe that I love the product on the field. I love what the leagues do. I love the what the product the NCAA delivers to us all the time, and the games, for the most part, are very legitimate. I commissioned a study over a 10 year period. Now, this is a while ago now, so things have changed, obviously, but I but, but, I hired a firm to come in and analyze games for for 10 years from in the 1990s the entire 1990s and to try to gage how much corruption or improper influence was exerted in those games over a 10 year period of all games that we booked in Nevada sports books, and they came back with a conclusion that less than 0.01 games one were tainted by scandal. You know, the games in America are very, very legitimate. Now, these scandals recently are absolutely cause for concern, no question about it. There’s a lot of things that have surprised me, with these prop bets and pro athletes in the last two years, but nevertheless, wait, you know, in fact, I had somebody contact me the other day about the Broncos bills game and all, it was fixed. The refs wanted them to win and blah. You know, I hear that and see that all the time. It that’s not the case. I don’t believe that at all. I don’t

Nestor Aparicio  23:38

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think it’s good for business to even have the perception of that, though, right? And the more these guys that get caught in various ways shaving a couple of points kids in college, it’s just it’s eye opening to me when you consider the Tom Brady’s cheating by pulling air out of football systemically, and the baseball guys with trash cans are cheating and using watches like, what else is going on here besides Gaylord Perry putting a little, you know, Vaseline on a on a curve ball, right?

Art Manteris  24:09

You’re 100% I couldn’t agree with you more, yeah, those scandals in baseball that you just talked about and football with.

Nestor Aparicio  24:16

What about Otani? Just Otani in a general sense. Everything about that stunk.

Art Manteris  24:20

Yeah, well, he’s a phenomenal athlete, and I’m glad that he’s still allowed to play, because a couple years ago that was very questionable. But, yeah, that’s, you know, pretty hard, hard to believe the whole, the whole story was unbelievable.

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Nestor Aparicio  24:37

So your books out right now, and is the bookie, how I bet it all on sports gambling and watching industry explode, art, man, explode. Art man terrace is our guest. He’s out in Vegas via Pittsburgh. Last thing, where’s this going? Are there going to be guardrails in any way, or is this going to be wild, wild west, and scandal will pop up, and Goodell will hit it like a whack a mole, and they’ll just make it all go away.

Art Manteris  24:56

I think that there is a day of reckoning. I think there is going to be some pub. Push back publicly. I think that sooner or later, there are going to be some guard girls put up, and rightfully so. You know, I love the sports gambling industry. It’s been my life’s work, obviously, and I love the leagues and the sports themselves, but there has to be common sense, and right now, there’s not common sense guiding with the future of this industry and the way things are going.

Nestor Aparicio  25:23

Well. If I make you God or the commissioner of all things sports gambling, what are you changing?

Art Manteris  25:28

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If I, if I could make have my way on everything, I would make the leagues get out of the gambling business. No pub, no partnerships with with the gambling companies. No sponsorships, no in stadium advertising, no, no, no in broadcast, odds, updates and so forth. They, they, I love them both, but they should be divorced and live separate lives.

Nestor Aparicio  25:49

It’s not only inappropriate, right? It’s kind of unscrupulous to some degree. That’s what I mean about controlling the officials and controlling the outcome, no matter what they do, control the outcome.

Art Manteris  26:00

Well, you know, yeah, that they do. That’s true, but it’s but my, my major concern is the youth of America, in all honesty, and I hate to sound like a, you know, preaching and or I’m on my high horse here now after all these years as a bookmaker, but kids today all over the country are so inundated with gambling, advertising and social media promotion of gambling that it’s it’s just too much. And it’s shocking to me.

Nestor Aparicio  26:24

Somebody said they had their kid asked them, their six year old kid was asking him, let’s bet on the game, daddy. Like, literally, right? I mean, so they’re there, there you have it. All right, tell everybody about your book. And why, here. Why? Now you got something to say, Huh?

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Art Manteris  26:37

Well, yeah, I do have something to say. And I think that there’s important message now. And I have considered, been thinking about writing a book for a long time, so this was a long time in coming. And finally, I did meet the right publisher, at HarperCollins, and the right ghost writer Matt Birkbeck that worked with me, and they both did a tremendous job in putting together a really good book, and I hope most people find it entertaining. You know, there’s, there will be things in there that are controversial. Some people will won’t agree with, I’m sure, but I hope, I hope, you’re entertained anyway. All right,

Nestor Aparicio  27:12

next time I come to Vegas, I’m gonna hit you find out where to get a good meal. You know, I had a great night there. My Barry Trotz is one of my dearest friends in the world. And I should say we, although I’m not necessarily a CAPS fan, I’m a Barry Trotz fan. We won the Stanley Cup that night and went to the Mandarin orient over the and literally held the cup over my head, over the strip, at the expense of the night. Who are all built by capitals people, anyway. So, and you got your own thing out there. It is amazing when I come to Vegas to see the Raiders there now and the Knights there now. You should just be like, you know, the Shark Tank around the corner, and it would never happen there. So I guess for those of you that have settled out there, at least you got some sports to enjoy, and it seems like it’s catching on out there, especially the most

Art Manteris  27:57

exciting city in the world. No doubt you mentioned the sphere earlier. What a new great asset for the city, phenomenal facility.

Nestor Aparicio  28:04

Hey, you know what word came today, and you can Google this. They’re building a sphere here, down at the MGM, at the at National Harbor. They’re building it right here in Maryland, where I see concerts. 45 minutes away, I took my wife out there, and it blew her mind. And you know, Vegas always blows my mind, that’s why I’m coming back out in May. Back out in May with our friends at the Maryland party. And it’s really been a pleasure to have you on my thanks to Rick adiaso, Chris Fisher and the whole crew my radio roco’s from the last three decades, booking us great guest art a pleasure, maybe next time it fist bump in Vegas. Thanks for coming. Very good. Thanks. Thank you. Nice to talk to you. Great to have you on art man terrace joining us here. The bookie, how I bet it all on sports gambling and watching industry explode. You could find it out with Harper Collins. And I know you all are gambling out there, because I follow all of you. I’m back for more. We’re Baltimore positive. Stay with us. You.