Every week during football, Monday is spent asking “how did the book do?”
It’s the Monday morning column that gets a lot of views every week. I was lucky enough to be a part of that call when I worked in a book.
It was fun talking to all of my guys..
writing the columns like Purdum, Fawkes, Micah Roberts, Dewey and Everson, to name a few.
I still talk to them, but now the conversations have expanded to other parts of the business, as well as how is the family, how is your health, and always, who do you like..
And now...
I’m doing shows on the radio or videos with my guys Perrault, Brad Howe, Kevin Rogers, Teddy and Prez every week, along with my own podcast with Mo, Reynolds and HB..
The calls and texts are priceless, and it all starts with the sports and the gambling..
I don’t know about the rest of you but with everything going on right now, I just want to take a trip..
In the past, when I was stressed, tired, worn out, I would get away..
For many years, it was a trip to Vegas that did it..
Not a long one, but..
usually a 48 or 72 hour “session” at one of the many fine resorts in town..
Superman went to his “Fortress of Solitude” so he could clear his head and chill..made him better to come back, save the world, and listen to Lois’ shit..
I would do the same, only it was at the MGM...
I got hooked up with a host there, and my man Ant treated me like a whale and I was barely a goldfish..
Four to six times a year, I’d show up, hang in the book, bet/watch games, play blackjack and shoot dice all night, snack in between, and watch the show leaving Studio 54..
For years, I have been asked “what do you do?” a lot. Another one is “what does an oddsmaker do?”
For over 20 years, I have worked in a book. Various roles, positions and responsibilities. Even had a fancy title or two, which I am not a big fan of...
thanks to the Original Consig, my Dad, Big E..
He has been gone seven years and I miss him every day, but I still hear his “Elliottisms” every day..
You never knew when they were coming, but they would hit you like a sledgehammer when they did..
And they were delivered in..
his own, one of a kind style..
Big E started as a stock boy and ended up owning the business..
When people asked him what he did, he would say “Work.”
What do they call you? “Elliott”
What’s your title? “Titles are for movies. I don’t have one.”
College football Saturday is such an electric day in the book...
You get maybe 16 Saturdays every year when there are games on from the time you wake up until the time you go to sleep...
It all starts with College Gameday and ends with a late night...
Pac12 after dark or Hawaii home game...
The energy in a book in Vegas starts slow and builds to a crescendo...
When you open at the crack ass of dawn, you have your people still finishing their night before, and they haven’t even started with the black coffee yet..
You have...
people trying their best to close deals, and I ain’t talking about business..
People would ask me for picks or tips at the counter all the time..
In between banging out parlays, sometimes, you had to save some people...not like a reverend or a rabbi, but like a good wingman..
So there is a topic going around the gambling world right now that has people pretty fired up...
Big bets...are they a story or not? Should reporters report them? Do people care?
No matter what side of the counter you sit on, gambling stories are...
like fishing stories...
Most are rooted in fact, some are complete bullshit, but, in all likelihood, the best stories are embellished and have some flavor and context added.
Like a gourmet dish, a little dash of this, a sprinkle of that, and voila, you go from a nasty ass...
piece of fish to a delightful piece of healthy salmon (keep in mind, I’m limiting my red meat intake right now otherwise it would have been a steak reference)
Anyways, these stories and bets have been around since the mobs were betting on Maximus back in the empire days...