Gary Austin- Legend in his own mind.
Ronbets
Senior Member
Here's an article by a long time friend Scotty Schettler.
Castaways' winner Austin somehow still has an edge
March 10, 2015 3:00 AM by Scott Schettler
Gary won the 1978-79 Castaways Football Contest with an unreal 62 percent. He was featured in Sports Illustrated, opened a hugely successful tout service called The Austin Edge and was well known among the betting crowd, not only in Vegas but nationally.Remember Gary Austin?
He made a fortune in real estate and sports betting in California where he won a million or so. It was the betting part that brought him to Las Vegas where he really applied his smarts.
Gary won the 1978-79 Castaways Football Contest with an unreal 62 percent. He was featured in Sports Illustrated, opened a hugely successful tout service called The Austin Edge and was well known among the betting crowd, not only in Vegas but nationally.
Gary was a good handicapper and successful bettor; his games were in demand. On a roll, he bought the old stand alone Rose Bowl Race & Sportsbook on the Strip where the Wynn now sits.
His success and notoriety got the best of him. He gambled big by shading numbers in his sports book. He attracted The Computer Group, which was every bit his equal, and other sharp money. They had the best of it either betting inflated numbers they liked or arbitraging. Its rumored he had at least $1 million in phone account up front money.
Theres a problem in this scene though. He developed a chink in his armor, a soft spot. Austin was in the bookmaking class of a Gene Mayday or notoriety of the Stardust. He was big time but he bought into his own hype. He probably thought of himself as being invincible.
His shaded numbers produced an inflated, temporary bankroll for him, most of which was in his phone accounts as up front money. The bulk of the phone accounts let their money sit there to bet with. The problem came when Gary used that same money to bet with.
It all came crashing down during the 1985 Kansas City/St. Louis World Series won by the Royals. He overextended himself. He loaded up on St. Louis in Game 6. His Cardinals were up 1-0 in the ninth, but a blown call by the first base umpire Don Denkinger, a foul ball that fell between two Cardinals and a subsequent single gave the Royals a 2-1 victory.
Gary was close to tapioca (tapped out). In a few days a sign appeared on the closed front door of Gary Austins Race & Sportsbook announcing they had to close due to a robbery. Not the robbery at first base in the ninth but the sports book itself was allegedly robbed at gun point. It was impossible to find one living human who believed that. Everyone got stiffed except a few bettors with muscle behind them; the guys who could and would put a serious knot on your head
Castaways' winner Austin somehow still has an edge
March 10, 2015 3:00 AM by Scott Schettler
Gary won the 1978-79 Castaways Football Contest with an unreal 62 percent. He was featured in Sports Illustrated, opened a hugely successful tout service called The Austin Edge and was well known among the betting crowd, not only in Vegas but nationally.Remember Gary Austin?
He made a fortune in real estate and sports betting in California where he won a million or so. It was the betting part that brought him to Las Vegas where he really applied his smarts.
Gary won the 1978-79 Castaways Football Contest with an unreal 62 percent. He was featured in Sports Illustrated, opened a hugely successful tout service called The Austin Edge and was well known among the betting crowd, not only in Vegas but nationally.
Gary was a good handicapper and successful bettor; his games were in demand. On a roll, he bought the old stand alone Rose Bowl Race & Sportsbook on the Strip where the Wynn now sits.
His success and notoriety got the best of him. He gambled big by shading numbers in his sports book. He attracted The Computer Group, which was every bit his equal, and other sharp money. They had the best of it either betting inflated numbers they liked or arbitraging. Its rumored he had at least $1 million in phone account up front money.
Theres a problem in this scene though. He developed a chink in his armor, a soft spot. Austin was in the bookmaking class of a Gene Mayday or notoriety of the Stardust. He was big time but he bought into his own hype. He probably thought of himself as being invincible.
His shaded numbers produced an inflated, temporary bankroll for him, most of which was in his phone accounts as up front money. The bulk of the phone accounts let their money sit there to bet with. The problem came when Gary used that same money to bet with.
It all came crashing down during the 1985 Kansas City/St. Louis World Series won by the Royals. He overextended himself. He loaded up on St. Louis in Game 6. His Cardinals were up 1-0 in the ninth, but a blown call by the first base umpire Don Denkinger, a foul ball that fell between two Cardinals and a subsequent single gave the Royals a 2-1 victory.
Gary was close to tapioca (tapped out). In a few days a sign appeared on the closed front door of Gary Austins Race & Sportsbook announcing they had to close due to a robbery. Not the robbery at first base in the ninth but the sports book itself was allegedly robbed at gun point. It was impossible to find one living human who believed that. Everyone got stiffed except a few bettors with muscle behind them; the guys who could and would put a serious knot on your head
Comments
A couple days later, at 11:30 p.m. (how could I not remember) I got a call at home. It was apparent from the first word that these guys were pros and not to be taken lightly. Paraphrasing, it went like this: Scotty, we have a message for you. We’re not interested in harming you, but Gary Austin still has a live phone account with you (i.e., Stardust). It’s not right for him to be betting while he owes us.
They were calm and didn’t threaten me, but I got the point.
Next morning I call Gary and tell him to empty his phone account with us. He’s done with us. Unbelievably, he said it was not his personal money but belonged to the corporation, and he didn’t understand why he couldn’t continue to bet. Not being a good debater I told him in these exact words: “Gary, I’m putting your money in a brown bag, and if you’re not out front within half an hour, I’m setting it on the curb.”
I closed his phone account (although not exactly according to GCB regulations), put his balance in a brown bag, and went out front under the porticoes. Shortly afterward, Gary drove up in his Cadillac, I handed him the bag with $50,000 in it, and he drove off still sticking to his “I got robbed” story.
Where’s Gary Austin now? He’s in Costa Rica, back in business in a luxurious property. He married a former Miss Costa Rica, although now divorced, and is a wealthy man again. He still hasn’t paid the vast majority of his Vegas ticket holders except those mentioned previously, thus keeping his head attached to the rest of him.
He’s despised in this country but a big shot in Costa Rica. This reinforces my theory: If we took all the money in the world and divided it up equally, it wouldn’t take long till the same people ended up with it again.
Sorry if this brings back bad memories to those of you who got stiffed.
A retail shop with a capital R. 30cent lines on many matchups. Lines were cloned and always up later than most. JustBet/Tradewinds are not your best options. When I found out their particulars, I quickly moved on.