Show notes
Chad and Natalie sit down with Matt Bowyer, the Orange County bookie at the center of the Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal, for the full story behind the headlines. Matt ran one of the largest illegal sports betting operations in the country for over 30 years. At his peak he had 1,250 clients nationwide, 48 agents, and processed over $1 billion in wagers in 2023 alone. He was also betting millions of his own money because gambling was his addiction and he was the house getting high on his own supply.
The feds raided him twice. The first time was 2014, 14 agents, his daughter crying in the driveway, coming home from losing $800,000 in Vegas on March Madness. The case didn't start with Ohtani. The feds didn't even know about Ohtani. The case started with casino money laundering, led to Matt, and then his electronics told the rest of the story.
He grew up watching his Vietnam vet father drink 40 beers a day until his mom divorced him after three failed rehabs. By 13 he was the top newspaper salesman in Orange County. At 16 he had a poker ring running out of his house. At 18, with his girlfriend pregnant and the family in a Dana Point mobile home, he got hired as a busboy at Chevys, got recruited to a commodities brokerage, passed the Series 3 exam as a mail boy, and was making $600,000 a year at 21. He bought back the house his family had lost. Then he got tired of giving his money to bookies.
He currently owes $9.7 million in taxes at $60,000 a month in interest. Tax lien on his $5 million home. Two years probation, mandatory Gamblers Anonymous, mandatory drug dealer classes every week. And a new book dropping called Controlled Chaos. #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie
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Timestamps:
0:56 - Welcome Matt Boyer / The Ohtani Scandal
1:21 - Growing Up in Cypress, CA / Tiger Woods Connection
1:55 - Three Brothers: One Gone, One Fighting Heroin Addiction
3:19 - The Second Raid: 29 Agents, AR Rifles, Wife Handcuffed
4:50 - How the Operation Worked: 1,250 Clients, 48 Agents Nationwide
5:54 - Betting $4.2 Million on a Single Football Game
8:22 - The Psychology of Gambling: Losing Feels Better Than Winning
12:21 - CEO of an Illegal Operation Doing $1 Billion in 2023
13:19 - Commodity Trader, Opened His Own Brokerage at 28
14:17 - Why He Chose the Illegal Path Over the Legal One
17:33 - First Raid, 14 Agents, Daughter Crying in the Driveway, Just Lost $800K in Vegas
19:39 - Signs the Abandonment Form and Triples His Business
21:09 - October 5th, 2023: The Second Raid That Ended Everything
22:55 - Three Relationships, Five Kids, All One Big Family
24:14 - Meeting His Current Wife at 40 / IVF for a Son
31:19 - His Father: Vietnam Vet, 40 Beers a Day, Three Rehabs
32:17 - 13 Years Old: Paper Boy, Baseball Cards, Weed, Poker Ring
33:13 - 18 Years Old: Mobile Home in Dana Point, Girlfriend Pregnant, No Job
34:18 - Getting Hired as a Busboy, Getting Recruited to a Brokerage
36:28 - Mail Boy to #1 Broker, Buying Back the Family House at 21
37:23 - Setting Up the Website in Costa Rica / Scaling to a Real Operation
40:32 - Sitting in the Courtroom Hearing His Own Numbers for the First Time
43:44 - The Charges: Money Laundering, Falsified Tax Returns, Bookmaking
44:29 - Pleading Guilty Immediately Instead of Fighting the Feds
46:38 - Cooperating with the Government: Giving Up the Casinos
49:21 - Paying $1.7M in Restitution in Full Before Sentencing
51:10 - Federal Prison: What It's Actually Like at Lompoc
53:05 - How the Shohei Ohtani Connection Actually Happened
55:09 - Telling the Feds About Ohtani
57:42 - Watching His Name Break on SportsCenter
58:49 - Why He Believes Ohtani Didn't Personally Place the Bets
59:59 - The $16.2 Million Question
1:13:15 - Going from $1.5M a Month to 0: Writing the Book During the Indictment
1:14:43 - What's Next: Public Speaking, Books, Building a Community
1:16:28 - Current Terms: Probation, Gamblers Anonymous, Drug Dealer Classes
1:20:07 - Does He Miss Gambling?
1:21:17 - The Super Bowl Bet: $4.2M on Chiefs vs. Eagles, $9.2M Swing in 3 Hours
1:23:38 - His Wife as the Reason He Stopped
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