Tag: Gambling Today

July 20, 2014

Former First Lady of Illicit Sports Gambling, Marisa Lankester: Speaks About Her Book Dangerous Odds, Ron “The Cigar” Sacco, Bookmaking, Offshore Gambling, Her Life, Her Loves, More

Bookies and bookmakers are the people who take bets on sporting events. They are usually thought to be men. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Marisa Lankester was one of the few women working in what might be termed the bookmaking industry, taking sports bets and grading them as wins or a losses. In the United States, it is illegal to partake in sports betting outside of a regulated establishment, like a Las Vegas sportsbook. In 1986, Ms. Lankester went to work for Ron “The Cigar” Sacco. The media has called him one of the most successful people in that industry. At the end of his operation, before authorities got involved down in the Dominican Republic and shut it down, the FBI reported that Ron’s operation was taking in over one billion dollars a year.