I'll get a copy at Gambler's Book Store when I get into Las Vegas.
Radio interview with author
some of the blurbs:
This book takes you into the world of sports betting, where real men bet million dollars on the outcome of a football game. The author got involved with this hidden world of sports betting when he interviewed of Rick "Big Daddy" Matthews for a magazine article. That interview turned into a venture that made him a rich man. It's the kind of life men dream of but don't really think exists. It does. The cast of characters is real; their names have been changed. 384 pages, hardbound, November 2006.
Description:
In The Smart Money, renowned gambling writer Michael Konik provides a riveting look inside the lucrative world of professional high-stakes sports betting, taking you behind the veil of secrecy shrouding the most successful sports betting operation in America. Bypassing the myths and rumors, Konik takes you all the way to its innermost sanctum. He reveals how they?and he?got rich by beating the Vegas and offshore lines. He details the excesses and the betrayals, the horse-trading and the paranoia, the perks and perils, of a lifestyle in which staking inordinate sums of money?sometimes as much as $1 million on a football game?on the outcome of a single event is a normal part of doing business. Penned by a journalist who lived a secret life as a key operative in the world?s most successful sports gambling ring, The Smart Money is destined to become a gambling classic.
Michael Konik's "The Smart Money" Reveals Inner Sanctum of High-Stakes
Sports Betting
Originally scheduled to be released under the pseudonym "Anonymous," Michael
Konik's first-hand account of the secret world of the super-high-limit sports
betting world is being heralded as one of the best insider gambling stories ever
published.
How inside is it? "This is the story of the famous Billy Walters betting syndicate,
with all sorts of juicy and never-before disclosed information," says Anthony Curtis.
"Konik calls him 'Big Daddy' Matthews, but it's definitely Billy Walters."
MICHAEL KONIK ? he's an author, singer, and television personality whose new book is an expose on sports gambling called "THE SMART MONEY: How the World?s Best Sports Bettors Beat the Bookies Out of Millions." Michael takes readers inside this lucrative netherworld, chronicling his often surreal experiences as a high roller. He's changed names, identifying details and some chronologies so as not to compromise the continued success of members who remain? but his story is true!! As he details the operation, he makes public for the first time how professional sports bettors consistently beat the Vegas lines. And while bookmakers gross billions of dollars a year, they fear "the smart money" or those who manage to consistently win.
These powerful teams of bettors are somehow able to derive a more precise, more accurate, and more valuable point spread line than the odds makers. Then they deploy an army of anonymous operatives to place their bets. WhenMichael set out to snag a magazine profile of the most successful sports bettor in the world, he never dreamed he himself would be recruited into the ranks of the biggest gambling syndicate of them all called the "Brain Trust." But, taken under the wing of the legendary Rick "Big Daddy" Matthews, Konik (codenamed ?44?) was quickly immersed in the astonishing world of high stakes sports betting, where "a dime" means $1,000, and wagering $250,000 on a football game is all part of a day's work. As Konik tells it, gambling is America?s second-favorite indoor pastime, and betting on sports is an American obsession. An entertaining and astonishing unearthing about our intrigue with gambling on a grand scale, THE SMART MONEY provides an entirely new perspective on sports betting and a never-before-seen look inside what many would consider paradise.
The Smart Money
Michael Konik
A riveting inside look at the lucrative world of professional high-stakes sports betting by a journalist who lived a secret life as a key operative in the world's most successful sports gambling ring.
When journalist Michael Konik landed an interview with Rick "Big Daddy" Matthews, the largest bet he'd placed on a sporting event was $200. Konik, an expert blackjack and poker player, was no stranger to Vegas. But Matthews was in a different league: the man was rumored to be the world's smartest sports bettor, the mastermind behind "the Brain Trust," a shadowy group of gamblers known for their expertise in beating the Vegas line. Konik had heard the word on the street -- that Matthews was a snake, a conniver who would do anything to gain an edge. But he was also brilliant, cunning, and charming. And when he asked Konik if he'd like to "make a little money" during the football season, the writer found himself seduced . . .
So began Michael Konik's wild ride as an operative of the elite Brain Trust. In The Smart Money, Konik takes readers behind the veil of secrecy shrouding the most successful sports betting operation in America, bypassing the myths and the rumors, going all the way to its innermost sanctum. He reveals how they -- and he -- got rich by beating the Vegas lines and, ultimately, the multimillion-dollar offshore betting circuit. He details the excesses and the betrayals, the horse-trading and the paranoia, that are the perks and perils of a lifestyle in which staking inordinate sums of money on the outcome of a single event -- sometimes as much as $1 million on a football game -- is a normal part of doing business.
0-7432-7713-9, Simon & Schuster, $26.00, Hardcover
Radio interview with author
some of the blurbs:
This book takes you into the world of sports betting, where real men bet million dollars on the outcome of a football game. The author got involved with this hidden world of sports betting when he interviewed of Rick "Big Daddy" Matthews for a magazine article. That interview turned into a venture that made him a rich man. It's the kind of life men dream of but don't really think exists. It does. The cast of characters is real; their names have been changed. 384 pages, hardbound, November 2006.
Description:
In The Smart Money, renowned gambling writer Michael Konik provides a riveting look inside the lucrative world of professional high-stakes sports betting, taking you behind the veil of secrecy shrouding the most successful sports betting operation in America. Bypassing the myths and rumors, Konik takes you all the way to its innermost sanctum. He reveals how they?and he?got rich by beating the Vegas and offshore lines. He details the excesses and the betrayals, the horse-trading and the paranoia, the perks and perils, of a lifestyle in which staking inordinate sums of money?sometimes as much as $1 million on a football game?on the outcome of a single event is a normal part of doing business. Penned by a journalist who lived a secret life as a key operative in the world?s most successful sports gambling ring, The Smart Money is destined to become a gambling classic.
Michael Konik's "The Smart Money" Reveals Inner Sanctum of High-Stakes
Sports Betting
Originally scheduled to be released under the pseudonym "Anonymous," Michael
Konik's first-hand account of the secret world of the super-high-limit sports
betting world is being heralded as one of the best insider gambling stories ever
published.
How inside is it? "This is the story of the famous Billy Walters betting syndicate,
with all sorts of juicy and never-before disclosed information," says Anthony Curtis.
"Konik calls him 'Big Daddy' Matthews, but it's definitely Billy Walters."
MICHAEL KONIK ? he's an author, singer, and television personality whose new book is an expose on sports gambling called "THE SMART MONEY: How the World?s Best Sports Bettors Beat the Bookies Out of Millions." Michael takes readers inside this lucrative netherworld, chronicling his often surreal experiences as a high roller. He's changed names, identifying details and some chronologies so as not to compromise the continued success of members who remain? but his story is true!! As he details the operation, he makes public for the first time how professional sports bettors consistently beat the Vegas lines. And while bookmakers gross billions of dollars a year, they fear "the smart money" or those who manage to consistently win.
These powerful teams of bettors are somehow able to derive a more precise, more accurate, and more valuable point spread line than the odds makers. Then they deploy an army of anonymous operatives to place their bets. WhenMichael set out to snag a magazine profile of the most successful sports bettor in the world, he never dreamed he himself would be recruited into the ranks of the biggest gambling syndicate of them all called the "Brain Trust." But, taken under the wing of the legendary Rick "Big Daddy" Matthews, Konik (codenamed ?44?) was quickly immersed in the astonishing world of high stakes sports betting, where "a dime" means $1,000, and wagering $250,000 on a football game is all part of a day's work. As Konik tells it, gambling is America?s second-favorite indoor pastime, and betting on sports is an American obsession. An entertaining and astonishing unearthing about our intrigue with gambling on a grand scale, THE SMART MONEY provides an entirely new perspective on sports betting and a never-before-seen look inside what many would consider paradise.
The Smart Money
Michael Konik
A riveting inside look at the lucrative world of professional high-stakes sports betting by a journalist who lived a secret life as a key operative in the world's most successful sports gambling ring.
When journalist Michael Konik landed an interview with Rick "Big Daddy" Matthews, the largest bet he'd placed on a sporting event was $200. Konik, an expert blackjack and poker player, was no stranger to Vegas. But Matthews was in a different league: the man was rumored to be the world's smartest sports bettor, the mastermind behind "the Brain Trust," a shadowy group of gamblers known for their expertise in beating the Vegas line. Konik had heard the word on the street -- that Matthews was a snake, a conniver who would do anything to gain an edge. But he was also brilliant, cunning, and charming. And when he asked Konik if he'd like to "make a little money" during the football season, the writer found himself seduced . . .
So began Michael Konik's wild ride as an operative of the elite Brain Trust. In The Smart Money, Konik takes readers behind the veil of secrecy shrouding the most successful sports betting operation in America, bypassing the myths and the rumors, going all the way to its innermost sanctum. He reveals how they -- and he -- got rich by beating the Vegas lines and, ultimately, the multimillion-dollar offshore betting circuit. He details the excesses and the betrayals, the horse-trading and the paranoia, that are the perks and perils of a lifestyle in which staking inordinate sums of money on the outcome of a single event -- sometimes as much as $1 million on a football game -- is a normal part of doing business.
0-7432-7713-9, Simon & Schuster, $26.00, Hardcover
