Thread by @SportsbkConsig

Story time from the book:

It’s the lead up to Super Bowl week, and for the first time in almost 20 years, I will not be working in a book for the Super Bowl..

Between the counter, the party rooms & the risk rooms, I’ve seen a lot..

This was my spot the last couple years in..

the office here in Las Vegas..

It’s screens and TVs..

For those of you who have been in a book, you see them from the front..you sit with your friends in nice seats, watch games and root for your bets..

What you may miss is the people on the other side of the counter doing..

pretty much the exact same thing..

Yes, it’s a “battle,” and yes, it’s measured in “real money.” The book is a business. It’s their job to win, and it’s your job to win.

Sometimes, the pressure can be excruciating, sometimes it is fun, but like you sitting with friends and..

trying to get to the window, the people behind the counter are put in a similar position.

I grew up playing sports & I loved it. I understood the value of being a good teammate and always wanted to “recreate” that environment in the book.

Met so many people on both sides of..

the counter over the years, and the stories have been incredible..

Dating back to when I was a kid, I gave everybody nicknames and really tried to find a way to connect with people..

That didn’t change in the book. It really became a second home in a lot of ways..

The last..

couple years, I was in the risk room away from the book. We didn’t see customers much, as they became numbers on a screen, and you only heard from them when there was a problem.

It was a different feel for sure, but it brought me back to my start in the business..

And that..

meant getting to know the boys in the room real well..

It must be what a locker room feels like where you are thrown together for a season, coached, and you grow to find each other’s strengths and weaknesses for a common goal— to win..

You learn a lot about the guy sitting..

a few feet from you while bets come across that ticker..

I was a “middle” guy so I could open or stay to the last game and got to know most everyone..

During idle time, we would compare notes about family & friends as well as numbers and opinions..

There were moments where..

it would get heated, but once the roster is set, roles are lined up, it can be a fun place. And the characters..

I had Ray Ray, the closer. Ray Ray was a lifer in Vegas who was a chain smoker, ate junk food, and wasn’t afraid to tell you what he thought. He knew the numbers..

but there were times we needed to get him a seat belt to keep an eye on the screens..

He taught English in Japan for awhile, had a couple kids and has a big heart. The nights we spent together waiting for a game to end so he could run the reports were something to say..

the least..

There was the Hoof. Early 60s, still keeping power ratings with pencil and paper, Hoof was a New York guy who had been in Vegas for over 30 years.

He was a true oddsmaker. His strength was giving you the number. He was on the left side of the room with me, and..

I would yell out at times “Left side, strong side” when the debates became heated.

He would get fired up when you told him his number was “off” even to the point he would have to leave and go for a walk.

But man, the stories he shared about his college days down south or..

his summers coaching his son’s little league team were priceless. Despite his health issues, Hoof was always such a positive guy and I drew so much strength from him on a daily basis.

There was Kap. He came into the room later from another joint, but he was another lifer in..

books for 25+ years. He was loud, he was opinionated but he was good at the job. He would call out the score of a game the exact same way every time before putting up a halftime number.

“21 on top of 24. 21 on top of 24. Whadda you got for the second half?” He loved doing..

halftimes, and I learned a lot sitting in the back row with him.

We shared so many moments of our kids playing sports, meals eaten at our desks, and conversations about our dads who were both gone.

Kap could be a jagoff at times, but we understood each other. Do the job..

when it’s time to work, but have fun in the slow times. I miss those shrink sessions between halftimes.

And then there was TFos. Him and I worked together at the Nugget together, and we’ve known each other for 15 years.

An AC guy, but a Philly fan through and through..the..

Flyers were his first love, as he was the only other hockey guy. He played goalie growing up, and you know what they say about guys who stop pucks..got to be a little crazy to do that for sure..

T was, but in a good way. He would check the Stanley Cup futures on a daily basis..

and adjust them accordingly..

I got the NBA futures by default because, as anyone in the business for a long time knows, the NBA and CBB is the real grind..

He would keep an eye on and print me a report on those NBA futures as well. I learned so much from him by watching..

and listening and asking him a million questions..T would let out an exaggerated breath and answer every one..

We shared a love of hockey, and I so enjoyed watching the end of the early games and all the late games with him..

I learned to appreciate the Philly teams because..

of him but it was his constant yelling out at the screens that made us all laugh..

T would yell “SHOOT IT” a hundred times a game..or, all of our favorite moments was when he would imitate the public address announcer after a bad call..

With his hands over his mouth, he would..

say, when a call went in the Rangers favor, “Referee tonight, from Manhattan New York..”

It never got old, and I know he will do it Sunday when the first flag goes the Bucs way and he will say “Clearwater Florida”

There are so many others, and I promise you, I will recognize..

them down the road..but I just was thinking of the night crew as I was reminiscing today and thinking about where I am going to watch the Super Bowl this year..

Wherever you are watching it next Sunday, I hope it is with your crew, and if it’s in a book, I just want you to..

think about the people on the other side of the counter and in the risk rooms doing their jobs..

It is just that a job, yes, but it is the people and the stories that I think about most..

And jagoffs like me back there yelling “Left side, strong side”

Miss you boys..