BOOKIE101.com :
They call me Buddy the Beard. Over the past 40 years I’ve bet on pretty near everything that runs, jumps, throws, shoots, scores and otherwise draws a crowd to itself by pitting man against man. Betting is in the blood, it’s something you’re born with. I’m one of those gamblers who has won and lost a king’s ransom and kept coming back for more. I’m a money trader who speculates in cards, dice, people and animals. After a life time of in the trenches gambling experience I decided to put this site together to share my knowledge with the world. You may not always agree with Buddy Beard and my methods but I guarantee you’ll learn something new.
I started my career as a gambling man when I was 10 years old, out in the school yard running a marble racket. Everybody came to Buddy for the big game because I never turned down a chance at some action. When my parents paid the babysitter and she immediately hands the money over to me they suspected something was a little different about their darling Buddy.
As a young man I became known as a local bookie, the guy you went to if you wanted to get down on a game. I mostly just took action from my friends, the guys at work and some of the more affluent barflies at the local pub. For my own sports betting I had to search out another local who was willing to book my action.
After a few years of meager living and some frustrations in getting paid I decided it was time to hit the big time so I packed up my suitcase and bought a ticket to Las Vegas. I thought I would thrive under the neon lights of the Vegas sportsbooks and casinos but it was a case of too much temptation. When I was flying high everyone had their hand out and when I was down my so called friends would treat me like a leaper. I lived a break even existence while I chased down the dream.
In 1995 I was asked by a bookie friend of mine to go to Margarita Island, a little Caribbean paradise, and help him start up an offshore sportsbook operation. I had done my fair share of bookmaking in the States but nothing like this. I ended up running a 50 clerk call center and had thousands of gamblers betting into our lines both on the phone and with this new thing called the internet.
The rest is as they say history. I spent the better part of the next 15 years bouncing between the U.S and Latin America and have been involved with all aspects of Sportsbook and Casino management. I am now happily retired to a less hectic lifestyle and have decided to share the wisdom of a lifetime spent as a gambler and bookie.