Watch the ESPN 30 for 30 Sole Man. In the documentary Somny Vacarro mentioned I think it was someone like Bobby Cremons asked about some kid at a camp (forgot the player) and the individual said do you know Sonny and he said WHO. The individual told him don’t even waste your time going after that kid if you don’t know Sonny and it’s the kids Junior year.
I remember John Wall supposedly got all the money he received passed through his local church.
All I’m saying is everyone that doesn’t believe stories like this are foolish and people who think we lose everyone to bags is foolish. I think it’s more in the middle of both for the truth. EVERYONE does this, except some have a lot more resources.
No surprise. It runs in the family. Jimmy Vaccaro was the biggest crook in Las Vegas during the decades I was there. He was running the Mirage sportsbook and intentionally putting up bad numbers so a handful of guys could bet into them. As soon as the designated bettors took care of the juicy numbers then the prop would either disappear completely, or be adjusted to a standard number. Then those chosen guys would funnel a chunk of the profit back into Vaccaro's pocket.
None of this was theory or cynicism. I saw it first hand for years and years in the '90s. One of the designated guys won so much on an NFL Sunday he got Caesar's Palace to open up an otherwise closed restaurant late that evening. They went along with it only because they knew he would leave a massive tip. That's how much money we are talking about. There were only 6 of us eating in the huge restaurant. The guy is also named Jimmy but I won't use his last name because he was good guy and doesn't need any negative association.
During that meal Jimmy got so drunk I asked him how much money he had to funnel to Jimmy Vaccaro. I knew this was the perfect time to inquire. He turned to me and said over the past 6 months he had kicked back a half million to Vaccaro.
And this is only one guy among many, and over 6 months in a scheme that went on for nearly a decade.
When Jimmy Vaccaro finally got forced out at the Mirage, the sportsbook manager of the sister casino Treasure Island refused to sign the going away card that all the employees were signing. He said, "Are you kidding? Why should I sign a card for a guy who stole at least $8 million from Steve Wynn?"
I knew that estimate was way too low, based on what the other Jimmy had said to me at Caesar's Palace a few years earlier.
Sonny Vaccaro is Jimmy Vaccaro's brother
And I'm convinced basketball is a more valid target for payoffs than football, given what I heard about the Dwayne Polee/USC/UNLV situation in the early '80s, and the basic fact that so few players are needed to dramatically change fortunes in basketball.
