Nov.12.14. Interview with the Professor
I interviewed Professor Jim Matovina at his office in the Charleston campus of the College of Southern Nevada. He was my teacher in the Applied Mathematics course I took in college, and I remember being fascinated by a very interesting chapter on probabilities, odds and sports wagers. I wanted to include this discussion on wagering and point spreads as an academic side note to the documentary we’re producing. During the interview, Professor Matovina explained that he included that chapter in the book for the sake of students who may one day work at one of the casinos in Las Vegas. He also shared an interesting tidbit about how point spread numbers and bets were transmitted before the internet age, when so-called “runners” crisscrossed the Vegas strip relaying line spread information to their network of bookmakers and handicappers around the country.
The interview went very well at just over 1 hour long. I’m confident his insights into the mechanics and analytics of sports betting will prove very useful for the documentary.
Sep. 22.14. Mob Museum
I visited the Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas to take notes on the history of mob activities in Las Vegas, including their foray into sports gambling. I took note of the tons of photos and displays inside the museum
Sep. 17.14. Proposal
This was my first meeting with Mr. Dennis Tobler at his Las Vegas residence. He asked me to consider the prospect of directing a documentary on the history of sports betting in America. I was immediately intrigued by his offer.
Jul.02.16. Jim Bobbera recounts his days at the Stardust with Lefty Rosenthal
Not a lot of people can claim working with Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal during the glory days of the Stardust Casino like Jim Bobbera can. From 1968 till 2014, Mr. Bobbera was a fixture of Las Vegas’ marquee casinos from the Stardust, Dunes
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