Former offshore betting boss says athletes make lousy bettors
I still say Jagr wagered on pucks even despite the denial.
Former offshore betting boss says athletes make lousy bettors
They say doctors make the worst patients and, according to former offshore betting pioneer Steve Budin, pro athletes make for lousy bettors.
Budin's SDB Global set up operations in Panama and then in Costa Rica and grew to 200 incoming phone lines servicing 5,000 clients. It made him rich but the U.S. justice department stepped in and Budin surrendered upon returning to his homeland. He got off with a fine and now lives in Miami with his wife and three children.
Today, the 36-year-old Budin is president of Sports Advisors, an online handicapping concern with sites such as sportsinfo.com. He is also an author, taking readers behind the scenes of a sometimes sordid business in his book "Bets, Drugs and Rock & Roll" that was written with Bob Schaller.
Athletes are the biggest sucker bettors of them all, Budin says from experience.
In Budin's SDB Global days, Jaromir Jagr, then a Pittsburgh Penguins star and now captain of the New York Rangers, phoned in bets on NFL and NBA games and approached the process with much the same attitude as other high-profile athletes with whom Budin dealt.
"They all thought they knew more about sports than the oddsmakers," Budin says in his book. "In addition, they all had the kind of built-in, competitive nature that led them into always doubling down in an attempt to get even, which is a bad betting strategy.
"This made them really good clients."
Budin estimates that in the NHL "at least 20 to 25 players are gambling - at least, if not more." That would amount to only 2.9 per cent of NHLers.
NHL player contracts contain a clause prohibiting betting on NHL games, and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly has stressed the league's seriousness of dealing with gambling-related issues in the past.
"We take this seriously," he has said. "Gambling culture is something we educate our players about extensively."
Daly says the league has no comment on Budin's book or interview comments but questions the credibility of it all.
Jagr has addressed his gambling, acknowledging in 2003 that he paid off a US$450,000 debt to a Belize-based betting company.
"I made mistakes," Jagr explained four years ago. "I just wasn't smart.
"It was stupid. It wasn't illegal and it was five years ago. Everything was taken care of in 1999."
Budin's offshore business accepted bets from Jagr around 1996 and 1997.
"He would gamble about $10,000 a game," Budin said during the interview. "He could gamble six or seven games on a call."
Jagr loved to bet football, and he loved calling in his bets right from the locker-room, Budin's book states.
"You could really tell that he got a huge kick out of calling in under his special code name "975 JJ" and being involved in something a little dangerous," the book states. "Thank God he had a good day job because he couldn't win a freaking bet to save his life."
Jagr never had a winning week with his bets, Budin wrote.
Jagr's agent J.P. Barry did not return calls requesting comment about the book.
Jagr's betting is an old story and "I was just adding some colour to it," says Budin.
The section about Jagr takes up only a few of the 254 pages in "Bets, Drugs and Rock & Roll." It's a colourful story that includes shady characters identified only by their given names and inducements to keep government officials from harassing offshore entities.
Budin had some words of advice for bettors.
"If you're going to bet on your own for purposes of making money you're a moron," he said. "If you do it for entertainment . . . you're right on target.
" To add joy and excitement to your life, there's nothing wrong with paying for it, but if your expectations are winning money you should find another means of employment. Know the reasons why you're doing it."
They say doctors make the worst patients and, according to former offshore betting pioneer Steve Budin, pro athletes make for lousy bettors.
Budin's SDB Global set up operations in Panama and then in Costa Rica and grew to 200 incoming phone lines servicing 5,000 clients. It made him rich but the U.S. justice department stepped in and Budin surrendered upon returning to his homeland. He got off with a fine and now lives in Miami with his wife and three children.
Today, the 36-year-old Budin is president of Sports Advisors, an online handicapping concern with sites such as sportsinfo.com. He is also an author, taking readers behind the scenes of a sometimes sordid business in his book "Bets, Drugs and Rock & Roll" that was written with Bob Schaller.
Athletes are the biggest sucker bettors of them all, Budin says from experience.
In Budin's SDB Global days, Jaromir Jagr, then a Pittsburgh Penguins star and now captain of the New York Rangers, phoned in bets on NFL and NBA games and approached the process with much the same attitude as other high-profile athletes with whom Budin dealt.
"They all thought they knew more about sports than the oddsmakers," Budin says in his book. "In addition, they all had the kind of built-in, competitive nature that led them into always doubling down in an attempt to get even, which is a bad betting strategy.
"This made them really good clients."
Budin estimates that in the NHL "at least 20 to 25 players are gambling - at least, if not more." That would amount to only 2.9 per cent of NHLers.
NHL player contracts contain a clause prohibiting betting on NHL games, and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly has stressed the league's seriousness of dealing with gambling-related issues in the past.
"We take this seriously," he has said. "Gambling culture is something we educate our players about extensively."
Daly says the league has no comment on Budin's book or interview comments but questions the credibility of it all.
Jagr has addressed his gambling, acknowledging in 2003 that he paid off a US$450,000 debt to a Belize-based betting company.
"I made mistakes," Jagr explained four years ago. "I just wasn't smart.
"It was stupid. It wasn't illegal and it was five years ago. Everything was taken care of in 1999."
Budin's offshore business accepted bets from Jagr around 1996 and 1997.
"He would gamble about $10,000 a game," Budin said during the interview. "He could gamble six or seven games on a call."
Jagr loved to bet football, and he loved calling in his bets right from the locker-room, Budin's book states.
"You could really tell that he got a huge kick out of calling in under his special code name "975 JJ" and being involved in something a little dangerous," the book states. "Thank God he had a good day job because he couldn't win a freaking bet to save his life."
Jagr never had a winning week with his bets, Budin wrote.
Jagr's agent J.P. Barry did not return calls requesting comment about the book.
Jagr's betting is an old story and "I was just adding some colour to it," says Budin.
The section about Jagr takes up only a few of the 254 pages in "Bets, Drugs and Rock & Roll." It's a colourful story that includes shady characters identified only by their given names and inducements to keep government officials from harassing offshore entities.
Budin had some words of advice for bettors.
"If you're going to bet on your own for purposes of making money you're a moron," he said. "If you do it for entertainment . . . you're right on target.
" To add joy and excitement to your life, there's nothing wrong with paying for it, but if your expectations are winning money you should find another means of employment. Know the reasons why you're doing it."