Billy Walters’ influence reaches beyond Vegas to offshore books

David Purdum, Covers

Update: David Purdum conducted an exclusive interview with sports betting legend Bill Walters Thursday evening, after the original story had been published.

Read the first part of that exclusive interview here and be sure to check out Covers in the following days for more details on our talk with Walters.
 
An offshore bookmaker thought he had pinpointed an account linked to Billy Walters, the most revered sports bettor on the planet, and a man who’s every bit as feared in the online sportsbook world as he is in Nevada casinos.

A series of college basketball bets were placed on the account in question during a Wednesday interview, but later activity had the bookmaker doubting that the action was coming from someone linked to Walters.

“You just never know,” the bookmaker said.

That’s the guessing game the most powerful man in the betting market forces bookmakers everywhere to play. Per usual, Walters is winning that game.

Proving which bets come from a member of Walters’ network is virtually impossible, much like pinning him down for an interview.

Until now.
 
At around 5 p.m. Las Vegas time Thursday, my phone rang and the number came up on my caller ID as “Unknown Caller.” I picked up the receiver.

“David, this is Billy Walters,” said the voice on the other end.

I searched my throat for my voice and my brain for something intelligent to say. All I could think of was the entire sports betting world was counting on me, and I’d better not screw this up.

We talked for 45 minutes about the ins and outs of the sports betting industry, how it’s changed and where it’s headed.

“I’m 65 years old, and to me, what I do is as much fun as it was when I was 10 years old betting on sports,” said Walters. “I still have the same passion for it that I did then. And if I ever lose that, then I will probably quit, because it’s become 50 times more complicated over the years just to make a simple bet on a sporting event.”

(Editor’s note: The original article, which was written and published before Walters responded to interview requests Thursday night, continues below. Read the first part of that exclusive interview here.).

I set out to write about Walters during Super Bowl week, knowing that I was a huge underdog to communicate with the living legend. One Vegas bookmaker compared my quest to “finding the Loch Ness monster.”

“You mean his PR team didn’t grant you an exclusive?” he kidded.

A 60 Minutes feature last January claimed to be the first time Walters “opened the doors to his gambling life in Las Vegas.” After 30 years beating the books and emerging as a Vegas icon, Walters doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page.

60 Minutes didn’t respond to our request for comment on the Walters’ story. Even multiple Vegas bookmakers – guys who always have something to say – declined to comment on this story.

Their silence is a sign of respect for the man known as sports betting’s “Keyser Soze,” a reference to the character played by Kevin Spacey in the Usual Suspects. It’s also a sign of how few facts they really know about Walters.

“Everything is attributed to Billy,” said Vegas professional handicapper and Covers Expert Ted Sevransky, “but no one knows if he really did any of it or not.”

Rest is here…