David Purdum, ESPN
Back in the September of his years, Frank Sinatra would take the mic and command this little lounge stage. Still the headliner of all headliners at The Sands, four miles down The Strip, Sinatra would escape to this neighborhood joint, the Italian American Social Club, to sing for his supper, crooning for an audience of made men, undercover feds and other sharp-dressed, high-rolling locals of iconic Las Vegas.
Forty years later, pictures of Sinatra and the Rat Pack still hang on the walls at the IASC. Although the crowd remains local, they’re far more casual and far less unnerving. And forget about hearing an impromptu set from the likes of Ol’ Blue Eyes, you’re much more likely to catch Jerry Tiffe, aka The Last Lounge Singer in Las Vegas.
To the side of the stage, tucked inside a dining area, a tight-knit table enjoys one of their regular meals together, family-style, of course. They laugh as a colleague explains how a last-second fumble return for a touchdown early in the day cost his bottom line six figures. They chuckle at his misery, because, at this point, these guys really have heard it all.
This isn’t your typical group of gamblers; they’re bookmakers. Odds are, if you’ve placed a legal bet in the U.S. in the past five decades, one of the men sitting at this round table had a hand in it. Gray-haired and grizzled, they’re in their 60s and 70s with attires ranging from sports coat and slacks to white sweatshirt and jeans. They’ve worked classic spots like the Stardust, the old Las Vegas Hilton and the Mirage, making book on historic fights from Hagler-Hearns to Mayweather-McGregor, and on dozens of Super Bowls. Some have been taking bets in Vegas since Sinatra was up on that stage.
And they’ve never felt more threatened than they do right now.
For years, table talk has been as much about grandkids winning trophies as it has been about action moving the line. But lately the tone has abruptly changed whenever conversation shifts to the future.
On May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on the Las Vegas bookmakers’ monopoly over legal American sports betting. The federal government no longer retains the right to legislate against sports wagering or if individual states can legalize sports books. The SCOTUS ruling could upend everything for the sportsbooks in Vegas.
Everyone at the supper table first came to town during a 10-year span starting in the mid-’70s. The charismatic Jimmy Vaccaro, short, with thick gray hair, is the senior statesman. In January 1975, he caught a lift from his brother Sonny to the Pittsburgh airport and headed to the desert. Sonny went on to become a prominent sports marketing executive; Jimmy became America’s bookmaker, even appearing on “The Simpsons” to break down the odds on who shot Mr. Burns. Art Manteris and Chris Andrews, two fun-loving Greek cousins from Pittsburgh, knew Vaccaro from back east and showed up a few years later. Their uncle “Pittsburgh” Jack Franzi, a renowned bettor at the time, provided them entry into the business, if only on the other side of the counter, trying to beat him. Vic Salerno, a dentist by trade, got to town around the same time to get into the bookmaking business. Vinny Magliulo and Johnny Avello, a pair of slender New Yorkers, relocated to Sin City shortly after. And they’ve all been dining together regularly ever since. Looking around the table, it’s easy to wonder how much longer this group can hold it together.
“I am worried,” says Manteris. “I have a growing list of concerns.”
His cousin, Chris, is more frank.
“Now that it’s on the verge of maybe happening,” Andrews says, “we just hope they don’t f— it up. I don’t want to see a good thing go by the wayside here.”
Interpreting the law, by the book
The temperature is in the 30s and dropping when the line begins to form in front of the Supreme Court at 3 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 4, 2017. A rag-tag bunch is at the front, some still in pajamas, one sporting a big, puffy Washington Redskins coat. Further down the sidewalk, people are bundled up in sleeping bags. They’ve been here for days, paid to hold spots for others interested in a gay rights case on Tuesday’s docket.
Today, though, will be sports betting’s day in court.
The NCAA and four professional sports leagues are suing to stop New Jersey from allowing sports betting in Atlantic City and at the state’s racetracks. The case has been open for five years and has far-reaching impact beyond sports betting. The argument over states’ rights and federal power heard here today could affect a wider range of issues that are also governed by both states and D.C., like marijuana legalization, nuclear waste disposal and gun control.
By 8 a.m., the pajama crew and Redskins fan have been compensated and replaced by men in suits, overcoats and scarves. Attorneys and politicians fill out the line that stretches down the steps, almost onto the sidewalk, a longer line than your normal case. Not everyone will get in.
Up the grand steps, through the pillars and inside the land’s highest court, interested parties pass through metal detectors and wait for approval from the guards. Guides lead attorneys, law students, daily fantasy operators, litigants and reporters through the marble hallways. Every media seat is reserved, an occurrence only at cases of high interest.
At 10 a.m., everyone is seated in the courtroom. Dan Halem, chief legal officer for Major League Baseball, is down front on the left side facing the justices. Nearby, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie turns for a quick word with an associate before oral arguments begin over whether the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) goes too far and if it forces states to maintain laws that voters no longer support.
On Nov. 8, 2011, 63.9 percent New Jersey voters backed “Public Question 1,” which would allow the legislature to legalize sports betting. Within two weeks, a bill was introduced. It quickly moved through the legislature and was signed by Christie on Jan. 17, 2012. The following August, the major American sports leagues, with the NCAA as lead plaintiff, filed suit, claiming that they would suffer irreparable harm to the integrity of the games if sports betting were permitted in New Jersey.
Now, five years later, as former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement argues for the leagues in front of the Supreme Court, he never once utters the word “integrity.” Another former U.S. Solicitor General, Ted Olson, represents New Jersey and closes the arguments by questioning the federal government’s accountability in forcing states to keep banning sports betting. “The structure is important to the liberty of the citizens,” Olson argues. “And this statute violates that ordained structure.”
Nearly 2,500 miles to the west, back in Las Vegas, the bookmakers focus on another bench dressed in black. The Cincinnati Bengals are 4.5-point home underdogs against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night. Sunday’s NFL results were mediocre for the books, and to make matters worse, the NHL’s red-hot Vegas Golden Knights won again. They could use a Bengals upset. For now, the bookmakers don’t have time to worry about D.C.
But the next morning, media reports from outlets covering the case for years and from reporters exclusively on the Supreme Court beat indicate a New Jersey win — an overwhelming consensus that gets the bookmakers’ attention. They don’t know what impact the ruling will have, but they do know that the status quo is pretty sweet.
“I don’t think some of the realities of the business are being discussed enough,” says Manteris, vice president of race and sports for Station Casinos, the day after the oral arguments. “I am very worried about Nevada, because I’ve spent a career helping to build the Nevada industry. And we’ve built a great business. Maintaining the status quo is not necessarily a bad thing.”
Rest is here…
