The world of gamblers can be quite interesting when you think of all the famous players and those to come. Certainly gambling has changed over the years from something considered illegal to a professional sport. For those in the 1980s coming up with a system that could make a person rich was important. Billy Walters was like that. He and a group gathered together with a computer system. It was the first of its kind in terms of actually working. Others had tried, but their system based on mathematics was not good enough to win every time. It was never good enough to make millionaires out of those involved without getting caught fast. Billy Walters and his team were much different. They were successful for five years.
Their success did land them arrested including Billy Walters’ wife. The first arrest was certainly a traumatic experience for her and one that Billy probably didn’t want to continue. The fact is they did nothing illegal because they did not fix the games. Rather, they used their intelligence to create a computer betting system that would be able to determine the most probable outcome of any given game. They mostly bet on football and basketball, raking in the millions. In fact even though Billy Walters was arrested for the computer system he has had 30 years of success continuing to gamble. Las Vegas bookmakers might not want to deal with his bets now, but he still makes the bets.
If one were to ask the Kentucky born individual you would find he is quite happy with his successes. He can also be a bit Howard Hughes like in terms of hiding out. He is a hard man to interview, though he was on 60 minutes talking about his gambling life and his arrests.
To be specific Billy Walters was not just a sports bettor in his life. He used betting parlors and played in some of the big houses of Las Vegas, pool rooms, and on the golf course. In one interview he admitted to winning $400,000 on one hole of golf during a bet. Most of his other bets on golf were less dramatic. He was also known to have hustled a man by the name of Gene McCarlie. A few years ago he won $3.5 million on the super bowl.
The trouble with a lot of success in sports betting or any betting is that someone is going to take notice. If you have too much success it is going to mean that those involved in doling out the money are going to hesitate. Of course there are also going to be individuals who believe they can beat the person who has had such success.
One of the most interesting facts about gambling is that most come into it in debt. Some will win so much that they become millionaires like Billy Walters. Others will lose. Billy Walters knew when to give up the group unlike some of the others involved. He got out, but still likes a good bet.