http://www.connpost.com/Stories/0,1413,96~3750~1929183,00.html
By MICHAEL P. MAYKO
To many people, Super Bowl Sunday is a chance to party.
To people like George from Stratford, Super Bowl Sunday represents the last chance to recoup losses from seven months of betting on football.
"This is it," said George, 44, who didn't want his real name used. "This is the last game until July."
So before the game, George would bet $20,000 using the line and another $5,000 on whether the total of the final score would be under or over a certain number. He would put $2,000 each quarter on the team he thought would score the most points in that time frame. Just to keep the game interesting, he would bet $1,000 on things like which team would win the coin flip, have the most injuries, have the most turnovers or score first.
"How sick is that
hoping guys get hurt?" he asked rhetorically. "But that's how low I sunk."
Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest gambling extravaganzas of the year, according to the FBI.
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"From the research I've seen, oddsmakers make more on the football point spread than in any other sport," said Marvin Steinberg, executive director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling.
For the football gambler, Steinberg said, it is the last chance to make up for a losing season.
"They'll beg, borrow and steal to make as big a bet as possible on this game," Steinberg said. "It's their last opportunity before going cold turkey until the fall."
The Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling estimates there are roughly 55,000 problem gamblers and at least 15,000 compulsive gamblers
people who will bet on virtually anything.
They could not estimate the number of football gamblers. However, in 2002 of the 663 people who called CCPG's hotline, 15 percent were sports gamblers.
Additionally, after every Super Bowl there is a spike in phone calls to CCPG or Gamblers' Anonymous.
For organized crime, it is still one of the biggest paydays, said FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Rhieu.
It's a game in which probably close to a billion dollars is bet with bookies, in office pools, at Nevada casinos and over the Internet.
"Most of the bookmakers around here are still controlled by organized crime," Rhieu said. "If they are independents and word gets out, you can be guaranteed they'll be getting a visit and being ordered to pay so much a week."
Recent Fairfield County investigations indicate that the Vito Genovese organized crime family controls gambling operations in the greater Bridgeport area, while the Carlo Gambino organized crime family runs those in the greater Stamford area, according to Rhieu.
"If we've got an investigation going, we'll hit an operation on Super Bowl Sunday," Rhieu said.
That is because with all the action coming in, evidence can be plentiful.
Especially if the bookie has a gambler like George on the hook.
On Super Bowl Sunday, George said he could not tear himself away from the TV or the phone
with six bookies awaiting his calls.
His best year was 1987 when the New York Giants beat the Denver Broncos 39-20.
"I probably won $200,000 on that one," he said.
His worst was the following year. That's the year Denver built a 10-0 first quarter lead only to lose 42-10 to the Washington Redskins.
"How could I forget that?" he said. "Denver had a much better team. They had John Elway at quarterback."
For the most part, George claims he has done quite well on Super Bowl Sunday.
"It's the rest of the season that killed me," he said.
At 17, he recalls having his toes smashed with a hammer because he couldn't pay his $120,000 debt.
"I had to call my dad," George said. "My bookies knew he had money. They knew he'd bail me out."
In the end, he figures he dropped close to a million betting on football and everything else. Most of that money came from his parents' business and bank accounts.
Today, George won't even watch the game. He'll be at a Gamblers' Anonymous meeting in New Haven beginning around kickoff time.
He made his last bet Sept. 30, 1991. His parents had him arrested shortly after that.
Now he attends GA meetings five nights a week and is on a $10 daily allowance. He pays his parents back $100 a week.
"I'll do that for the rest of their lives," he said.
Anyone who is or knows a person with a gambling problem can call the Connecticut Council at 1-800-346-6238 24 hours a day. Calls are kept confidential.
By MICHAEL P. MAYKO
To many people, Super Bowl Sunday is a chance to party.
To people like George from Stratford, Super Bowl Sunday represents the last chance to recoup losses from seven months of betting on football.
"This is it," said George, 44, who didn't want his real name used. "This is the last game until July."
So before the game, George would bet $20,000 using the line and another $5,000 on whether the total of the final score would be under or over a certain number. He would put $2,000 each quarter on the team he thought would score the most points in that time frame. Just to keep the game interesting, he would bet $1,000 on things like which team would win the coin flip, have the most injuries, have the most turnovers or score first.
"How sick is that
hoping guys get hurt?" he asked rhetorically. "But that's how low I sunk."
Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest gambling extravaganzas of the year, according to the FBI.
OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS SECTION
2/1/2004
- Technology boosts red blood cell collection
- Stratford finds more veterans of WorldWar II
- Mementos celebrate soldier's life
- Washington Bridge rehab worries merchants
- Couple to be honored for foster children care
- Sibling priests walk for world peace
- Area sign language performers celebrate 25 years of Cridders
- Effort to cut teen drinking honored as success story
- Gourmet food, even pizza, for patients
- Fabrizi seeks bids for bond counsel, other professionals
- Parent pushes for more middle school sports
- Young area musicians finalists in competition
- Event honors diversity of voices
- 2 women arrested on drug charges
- Casino prospect stirs fears
- High-rise apartments proposed
- Ex-Trumbull woman gets 2nd 'Survivor' chance
- SCSU gets 1st female chief
- Battle of the Fans
- Forum seeks public input on BHA's future
"From the research I've seen, oddsmakers make more on the football point spread than in any other sport," said Marvin Steinberg, executive director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling.
For the football gambler, Steinberg said, it is the last chance to make up for a losing season.
"They'll beg, borrow and steal to make as big a bet as possible on this game," Steinberg said. "It's their last opportunity before going cold turkey until the fall."
The Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling estimates there are roughly 55,000 problem gamblers and at least 15,000 compulsive gamblers
people who will bet on virtually anything.
They could not estimate the number of football gamblers. However, in 2002 of the 663 people who called CCPG's hotline, 15 percent were sports gamblers.
Additionally, after every Super Bowl there is a spike in phone calls to CCPG or Gamblers' Anonymous.
For organized crime, it is still one of the biggest paydays, said FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Rhieu.
It's a game in which probably close to a billion dollars is bet with bookies, in office pools, at Nevada casinos and over the Internet.
"Most of the bookmakers around here are still controlled by organized crime," Rhieu said. "If they are independents and word gets out, you can be guaranteed they'll be getting a visit and being ordered to pay so much a week."
Recent Fairfield County investigations indicate that the Vito Genovese organized crime family controls gambling operations in the greater Bridgeport area, while the Carlo Gambino organized crime family runs those in the greater Stamford area, according to Rhieu.
"If we've got an investigation going, we'll hit an operation on Super Bowl Sunday," Rhieu said.
That is because with all the action coming in, evidence can be plentiful.
Especially if the bookie has a gambler like George on the hook.
On Super Bowl Sunday, George said he could not tear himself away from the TV or the phone
with six bookies awaiting his calls.
His best year was 1987 when the New York Giants beat the Denver Broncos 39-20.
"I probably won $200,000 on that one," he said.
His worst was the following year. That's the year Denver built a 10-0 first quarter lead only to lose 42-10 to the Washington Redskins.
"How could I forget that?" he said. "Denver had a much better team. They had John Elway at quarterback."
For the most part, George claims he has done quite well on Super Bowl Sunday.
"It's the rest of the season that killed me," he said.
At 17, he recalls having his toes smashed with a hammer because he couldn't pay his $120,000 debt.
"I had to call my dad," George said. "My bookies knew he had money. They knew he'd bail me out."
In the end, he figures he dropped close to a million betting on football and everything else. Most of that money came from his parents' business and bank accounts.
Today, George won't even watch the game. He'll be at a Gamblers' Anonymous meeting in New Haven beginning around kickoff time.
He made his last bet Sept. 30, 1991. His parents had him arrested shortly after that.
Now he attends GA meetings five nights a week and is on a $10 daily allowance. He pays his parents back $100 a week.
"I'll do that for the rest of their lives," he said.
Anyone who is or knows a person with a gambling problem can call the Connecticut Council at 1-800-346-6238 24 hours a day. Calls are kept confidential.
