For more than 40 years, Art Manteris had a front-row seat for the expansion and evolution of sports betting in Las Vegas and across the country. From the Mob era to the modern age of apps, prediction markets and prop bets, Manteris took wagers from crazed gangsters, industry icons, celebrities, sports legends and some of the most notorious criminal figures in sports gaming history. In his new memoir, “The Bookie: How I Bet It All on Sports Gambling and Watched an Industry Explode,” Manteris tells fascinating stories of how he recognized when the fix was in, his run-ins with the infamous gambler Billy Walters and the moment when his integrity was questioned by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

Art Manteris is considered a pre-eminent expert on sports betting throughout the world. He began his four-decade career at the Fremont and Stardust hotel-casinos and later rose to helm the sports books at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas Hilton and Station Casinos, where he oversaw the company’s 18 sportsbooks. A policy contributor to several national and state gaming associations, he was inducted into the Sports Gaming Hall of Fame. He retired in 2021.