Actor Ashton Kutcher claimed to have been the "front of the largest national sports-betting syndicate in America" in an Esquire Magazine article earlier this year.
 
Billy Walters, considered to be the most successful professional sport bettor ever and head of the largest syndicate in the nation, had no comment, when reached by phone.

But here is the big surprise. Kutcher's story actually checks out in Vegas.


The 35-year-old actor told Esquire he spent half of a college football season
placing bets for a syndicate. Kutcher came off as knowledgeable about sports
betting in the interview, describing how the syndicate pinpointed statistical
anomalies and took advantage of point-spread movement.

"We were clearing, like, $750,000 in four weeks of college football. It was
pretty fun. Then they caught on," Kutcher said in the Esquire article. "The
hypothesis had been that the house would just assume that I was a dumb actor
with a lot of money who liked football."

A former Las Vegas sports book manager told The Linemakers on Sporting News
that he was very familiar with Kutcher's sports betting in the early 2000s, the
same time frame chronicled by author Michael Konik in "The Smart Money: How the
World's Best Sports Bettors Beat the Bookies out of Millions."

"They thought they had a sucker on the hook, then he won $800,000 in four
weeks," said the ex-bookie, who asked to remain anonymous. "They had to shut him
down."

Many believe Kutcher is one of the characters in Konik's highly-acclaimed
book that details the author's time working for Rick "Big Daddy" Matthews, a
gambler described as, "the world's smartest sports bettor and the mastermind
behind the Brain Trust, a shadowy group of gamblers known for their expertise in
beating the Vegas line."

It's widely believed, but never publicly acknowledged, that "Big Daddy"
Matthews is Walters, a reclusive Las Vegas businessman with a reported net worth
in the hundreds of millions.

"My book 'The Smart Money' is a non-fiction memoir that includes an
explanatory note about honoring privacy," Konik wrote in an email to The
Linemakers. "I have no further comment."

Celebrities like Bruce Willis, Floyd Mayweather, Phil Mickelson and poker pro
Phil Ivey have all been rumored to have been a part of Walters' syndicate at one
time or another. Willis is also rumored to be one of the characters in "Smart
Money," as is current Linemakers' analyst Richie Baccellieri.

Baccellieri was a sports book manager at Caesars Palace in the mid-to late
1990s and is rumored to be the character "Stevie The Pencil" in "Smart
Money."

Baccellieri would not comment on his or Kutcher's inclusion in the book.

The idea behind having a celebrity make the wagers is that their high-profile
status and large bankroll tend to give them special treatment in a casino
compared to a regular Joe or someone labeled as a professional bettor.

Kutcher's days in Vegas seem to be curtailed. Norm Clarke, celebrity
columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, told The Linemakers on Sporting News
that he had not heard of any regular sightings of Kutcher in at least the last
"four-to-five years."

"That's somebody that I would hear about," Clarke said. "I would be surprised
if he was coming over that often and we weren't hearing something. I just don't
think of him as much of a regular."

By:  David Purdum                                                                                   

Tags: Ashton Kutcher, Billy Walters, Bruce Willis, Phil Mickelson Floyd Mayweather  

Billy Walters Practices Bankroll Management

Walters uses the data from his systems to come up with his own lines and then
bets on the differences.  He varies his bet amount by how much different
his own line is from the sportsbook’s line.  He mentions that he had won a
record amount on the Saints/Colts Superbowl: $3.5M.  Clearly he took
advantage of substantial differences in his own projections vs. the oddsmakers
and the higher betting limits that a Superb Bowl allows.

Billy Walters Is Very Astute About Line Moves

For anyone paying attention, this was the real revelation about the
program.  Walters was speaking to one of his beards on the phone (guys who
place bets for him) and he was very strict saying that if a casino would allow
him a half point, he would play, and if not he would hold off.  Line moves
are the #1 way for a bettor to beat the house, without question.

To do some math, remember that as the bettor, you are risking money in the
proportion of $110 to win $100 when you bet.  Therefore you need to win
approximately 52.4% of the time to win money.  Line moves give you an
opportunity to blow these odds out of the water.  Even if your system was
flipping a coin, picking up an extra point in the NFL would give you an extra
4.6-6.0 percent chance of winning – meaning just by being astute about shopping
for lines, you have increased your chances from 50% to around 55% on each game
which over the course of a season will lead to huge returns.  In the NBA, a
point is even more pronounced, giving the gambler an extra 5.8-6.6%
advantage.  Realizing how the numbers are stacked in a line shopper’s
favor, it is no wonder that Billy Walters was so emphatic and disciplined about
a half point…

Our take away

While Billy Walters didn’t give away the farm regarding his betting
philosophy, it was nice to see such a big fish in our little corner of the
world, sports betting, get some mainstream airtime.  While Walters let on
that he was serious about system betting, and we believe him, he offered little
into what criteria he considers when looking for an advantage.  The most
telling part was what he said to his beard about line shopping: he was very
serious about gaining an advantage from line moves.  The numbers bear him out:

 Line Moves are the number one way to profit in Sport Betting. Take that to the bank!