Toward the end of 2020, I received a call from a gentleman who identified himself as “Spanky.” He said he had gotten my name and number from Captain Jack Andrews, a professional bettor who had suggested Spanky interview me for his Be Better Bettors podcast, which is aimed at exactly that — helping players improve their sports betting skills.
I was aware through Twitter of Spanky, who is also one of the more prominent bettors nationally. We had a pleasant conversation for about a half-hour, and I did participate in his podcast that December. Little did I know at the time that in Gadoon “Spanky” Kyrollos, I had met a true force of nature who would be one of the more interesting people I’ve met on the planet.
Spanky and I stayed in touch, and he invited me to his first Bet Bash, in Jersey City in August 2021. The event was getting a bit of buzz on Twitter as a first-of-its-kind gathering for sports bettors.
Since I knew that Captain Jack and respected industry analyst Alfonso Straffon were going, and I wanted to meet Spanky in person, my thinking was … why not? I had no earthly idea what a Bet Bash was, but came to discover that it was an invention of Spanky’s in which a group of about 250 people, primarily males, hang out on a rooftop bar, drink, and talk sports betting.
Not long after that first Bet Bash, Spanky contacted me about his vision for Bet Bash II. It would be held in Las Vegas over several days and would feature panels, networking, and all kinds of things designed to entice people interested in sports betting to attend.
Moreover, he wanted me to be on a panel with noted Nevada oddsmakers Scott Schettler and Roxy Roxborough, and the topic would be the development of betting in Las Vegas, with particular emphasis on the Stardust Race & Sportsbook. I signed on.
It turned out that Bet Bash II was a whole new kettle of fish from the old rooftop bar thing. Now there were about 350 people attending, it was spread over three days, and it was held at Circa with a watch party at the impressive Stadium Swim venue. There were great panels and other events. One of the events was a networking session, where the attendees would pair up, visit for a bit, learn more about others in attendance, and then move on to meet with other people. This continued for three hours and was a very popular feature of Bet Bash II.
Spanky exceeded all expectations with this year’s recent edition, Bet Bash III. It was again at Circa and featured three days of events combined with the launching of the Sports Gambling Hall of Fame, including a ceremony for its first 10 inductees.
More than 500 people attended Bet Bash III, and the formal Hall of Fame dinner sat 550 people and featured a who’s who of legends from the sports betting world. This list included Roxborough, Schettler, and other notables such as Billy Walters and Bob Martin. It was a moving night, with vignettes of each inductee’s significance to sports betting and touching acceptance speeches by the individual or, for those deceased like Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, a family member.
An informal Bet Bash poll …
At Bet Bash III, the popular networking session was again offered. For this session, I told Spanky that I wanted to use my time to interview whomever I was matched with to learn more about who they are and why people made the trip. He was cool with this, and so off I went with a series of printed questions to lead each discussion I would be having over the next three hours.
I interviewed 17 people, and there is no suggestion that this represents a meaningful sample from a statistical or scientific standpoint. It is better described as a screen grab of the event, to share with those who could not be there. The responses I received in this exercise were consistent with many conversations and observations I had with people over the week I spent in Las Vegas.
Of the 17 people, 15 were male and two were female. There were three individuals from Las Vegas and three from New York. Two were from Florida and others were from Costa Rica, Switzerland, Louisiana, Maryland, New England, Philadelphia, Indiana, Atlanta, and Minneapolis.
In response to an inquiry as to how long they had been betting, the average response was 11.5 years, with a high of 40 years — and two people answered zero. One of the no-bettors was from a B-to-B company in the gaming space, and the other was a media representative from outside of the U.S.
This was the first Bet Bash for 14 of the interviewees, and three had been to a prior Bet Bash. No one had shared my experience of being to all three.
Seven of the respondents said that sports betting was a side gig, four said it was a hobby or for entertainment, and two suggested they were professionals. Two people opted not to answer, and as noted, two others claimed they did not bet.
I note that the people being interviewed were not connected to a lie detector. Having said that, 11 people suggested they were lifetime winners, three were even or close to it, two had claimed they did not bet, and one was a bookie (who I assume was a winner). No one would confess to being a loser.
I also note that over 90% of the men in the U.S. claim they are better-than-average drivers, which makes for interesting math.
Likes and dislikes
A question asking them to name their favorite sportsbook operator led to seven people responding Circa, three backing FanDuel, two each naming DraftKings and BetRivers, and one response each for Wynn, Westgate, and Pinnacle (interestingly enough, the people who said they did not bet did have a favorite operator).
On the other side of the coin, two people identified BetRivers and William Hill as their least favorite books, with BetMGM, theScore, DraftKings, and PointsBet all securing one mention as least favorite.
My request for the interviewees to discuss the biggest annoyance in sports betting generated a great deal of discussion.
Seven people mentioned getting limited, with one individual noting that he was limited at a book after making only three bets, each for $500, where his record was 2-1. Other complaints centered on having to bet into unregulated markets to get down or get better pricing, too many hoops to jump through on the sites, a lack of liquidity, New York’s tax laws, spinning wheels, lack of outs, poor markets, touts, and terrible commercials.
Regarding a question about their goals in attending Bet Bash III, 13 people answered that it was meeting people, two answered to learn and meet people, and two answered networking. This seems to explain the popularity of the speed-networking session.
When asked whom they wanted to meet, some people gave multiple answers. Nine responses indicated a desire to meet Spanky, four wanted to meet Captain Jack, three wanted to meet professional bettor Rufus Peabody, two wanted to meet Roxy, two wanted to meet Walters, and one interesting person wanted to meet Ace Rothstein (lead character in the movie Casino).
One additional poor soul responded that he wanted to meet me.
The time allowed during the networking session was more than adequate to complete the questionnaires. This left time for additional conversations regarding the betting scene in the U.S. and beyond.
One of the topics I discussed with almost all interviewees was that Bet Bash did not seem to attract the normal crowd attending gaming conferences, such as the representatives of the online operators, regulators, lobbyists, affiliates, and consultants. The almost universal response to this was quite fascinating, and that was that the attendees felt none of these members of the ecosystem cared what the players thought. That seemed quite important.
The last question for each interview was whether the individual planned on attending the next Bet Bash. There were 15 “yes” responses, one “of course” response, and one “hell yes.”
Me? I am throwing in with the “hell yes” dude.
