b
WediMEsdAy,
Feature
Former Clackamas student makes a living off sports betting
The Gambler
D ecem H er 6, 2000
TM e CL ac I<AMAS PRiNT
Nelson retires
after 27 years
MATTSHEMPERT
•
Nelson had good things to say
about his 27 years spent at
Clackamas, although he regrets re
Gary Nelson, head of the music tiring just as the music department
department, will retire this winter, anticipates new facilities. The de
after 27 years of teaching at partment has long been sharing
Clackamas.
Randall Hall with the PE Depart
“Junior colleges, or community ment.
colleges, are the best possible
“The facilities are not vety good,
places to teach, and
but that’s go
Clackamas is the
ing to change
best one to teach
now because
at," Nelson said.
of the passing
“The thing we’re
of the Bond.
probably the proud
That’s one of
est of is that the
the things I’m
students who came
a little disap
here wanting to do
pointed in, is
something with mu
that 1 won’t be
sic left here able to Gary Nelson, music instructor taking aS ac
do it.”
tive a part;
Nelson has been at Clackamas though I do want to take a part in
since the beginning.
the design and construction of the
“I feel a real kinship with building,” Nelson said.
Clackamas. The very first concert
As far as his plans after retire
that the music department did for ment, Nelson plans to stay active
this school was in 1967, and I was in the community and in life.
a ringer that was brought in by my
“Well, I’ve got a lot of traveling
then music chairman Leroy Ander that 1 haven’t done, mostly south
son,” he said. “I happened to be ern hemisphere things where the
studying with him when I was go seasons were reversed, and if I
ing to Lewis and Clark, and he went during the summer here when
needed a few extra players to fill in.
I was able to go, it would be winter
So I’ve had an association with the there. I’ve got other places that I
college since the first thing they want to revisit. I want to do some
ever did.”
music publishing, and I’ll also prob
Through the course of his musi ably start an excavating
cal career, Nelson has played with firm...private excavator, heavy
innumerable groups and for some equipment.”
very prestigious people. His com
In the course of his life, Nelson
puter has page after page of the has traveled all around the globe,
names of the people and groups and his love of travel began at an
he’s played with and played for, early age.
including many musicals, ballets,
“My sister and her family were in
Natalie Cole, Sonny and Cher, Mel the diplomatic corps.. .along the way
Torme and even the president.
they were in Guatemala, Washington
“I think probably one of the most D.C.., Taipei, Madrid, Moscow,
fun things I’ve done was the last Beijing,” said Nelson.
time Chicago was here...we got to
“So, that was what got me started
be part of the action,” Nelson said. traveling, my sister and her family. And
He went on to explain that as one I’ve gone to Europe, I don’t know, a
of the local musicians hired to play couple dozen times, Nepal, and Tibet,
with the touring company, he was and India.
treated like he’d been with the
"Travel," Nelson summed up,
show for years.
"changes the way you look at th ings."
Staff Writer
•
help with expenses.
“I answered an ad in the paper,"
Contributing Writer
he recalled. "It said 'People needed
Jack readies for the day much to sell sports information for a com
mission. Experience preferred but
like any business professional. His
shirt is pressed, his breath minty will train the right person.’ My train
ing lasted one day. I went in on a
fresh and his eyes wide. He enters
the nondescript office containing Tuesday and was cold-calling
just a few desks. On his desk before - people on Wednesday.
“We pressure them like crazy, say
him is one telephone, a box full of
that we’ve been in the business for
index cards and a notebook hous
ing a list of contacts. At the desk years, anything. Some guys use a
next to him, a Caucasian
script. We drum
our fingers on the
man with a New York ac
cent, is alternating lies
desk, to make like
we have comput
into the handset of his
ers. We’ll pull
phone with liberal swigs
back from the
of Budweiser.
phone in the
It’s 8:30 in the morning.
middle of a con
Jack used to attend
versation and yell for our imaginary
CCC. He’s 24 and last took a class
secretary to bring us coffee. It’s like
in 1995. Jack (not his real name)
looks like a guy who might sit next that movie Boiler Room, just with
sports instead of stocks.
to you in the library or in a class
“All the people whose names are
room. He’s not a former pro athlete
on the cards are all people who’ve
or coach. He’s just a normal guy.
been burned by some other handi
What Jack is however, is a sports
capping service. I’d say that out of
fan. Much like any of us, Jack looks
a hundred people I call, 80 don’t an
forward to watching a game. How
swer. Of the 20
ever, his enthusiasm goes far be
who do, 10 tell you
yond loyalty towards the home
to F— off and
team.
hang up. Out of
Jack advises gamblers for money.
Here’s how it works: A gambler the 10 that you ac
wants to bet on a game. He may tually get to talk to
and pitch to, I’d
want to place the bet in an office
say that 95% of
pool, state-run lottery, on-line casino
them want a free
or illegal bookie. But before he
game.
makes that bet, he seeks the advice
“We take their
of an “expert.” The gambler then
credit card number
calls an 800 number to consult a
and tell them that a
handicapping service, purely for
verification com
advice. The voice at the other end
pany will be calling them back. Then
of the phone talks fast and knows
we give their phone number to some
exactly what to say.
one else in the office who goes in
For example, the voice may tell the
another room and pretends to be
gambler that the Blazers will beat the
from this fictional company. They
Mavericks on Thursday by nine
ask them in some phony voice if
points. But it doesn’t stop there.
they accept the charges. They al
He then tells the gambler that he can
ways do.
tell him the winners of the rest of the
“We use numbers that are blocked
month’s games for a $ 1700 charge.
to caller ID devices. We have, in
The gambler reluctantly begins
our building, three phone lines in
to reach for his credit card. Little
the names of different companies.
does he know that the next person
That way we can pitch to the same
who calls the service for “sure-fire
people over and over again.”
winners” will be told to bet the Mav
So how much does Jack’s com
ericks. At least one will win.
pany charge for giving out winning
Jack got involved with the bet
teams?
ting service after a move to Las Ve
“It depends. We find out how
gas to start a new Internet based
much they ’re betting. The more they
company. He looked for a job to
bet, the more we charge.
RYAN BRINKLEY
There’s not much science in
volved in deciding on the
company’s picks.
“Our radio ad says that we have a
staff of world class experts. The
truth is, there’s only four of us and
the other three guys I work with are
all degenerate gamblers, who never
win.
“There’s one guy who picks the
games we give out. But he bets like
Vegas wants people to bet, taking
the favorites. Lately, we’ve been
winning only about twenty percent
of the time. One weekend, on col
lege football, pro football and pro
basketball, we went 3(wins) and 17
(losses).”
In the light of their inability to pick
winners, how do these companies
survive?
“Well, I don’t see us lasting past
Christmas. We aren’t organized well.
The big, heavily funded handicap
ping services can survive because
they advertise a lot and are con
stantly bringing in new clients. We
don’t have the money for that. In
fact, the three guys who are running
our company are all skimming off the
top behind each others’ backs.
“You hear all kinds of stories.
Some of our cli
ents bet five or
ten thousand
dollars on a
game and the
pick we gave
them lost. One
guy called in and
said that his wife
left him because
of his gambling.
But they always
call back. They
need to because
they’re all usually in debt.”
When asked who his clients bet
with, Jack said, “I’d say the majority
bet with illegal bookies.”
Jack intends to get another job or
perhaps just bet on his own.
“When I go against what the man
ager gives out, which we’re not sup
posed to do, I win about 60 per cent
of the time. If I leave the company,
I’ll try to take my clients with me.”
According to Jack, there’s defi
nitely a market for handicapping ser
vices.
“If somebody doesn’t know any
thing about sports, I can see how a
handicapping service can make
money. But you call one of these
guys you better know who you’re
dealing with.
Some of our cli
ents bet five or ten
thousand dollars
on a game. .
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