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Former illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer reflects on Nevada’s Black Book and sports betting’s future

September 30, 2026

On a pleasant, 75-degree day at a golf course in Dana Point, California, with the Pacific Ocean in view, ESPN investigative reporter Tisha Thompson learned from two former illegal bookmakers how to talk potential clients into wagering on sports. Mathew Bowyer and Owen Hanson are felons who have recently been released from prison in separate cases that include, for each of them, operating illegal sportsbooks. Thompson is the ESPN reporter who earlier broke the story that Ippei Mizuhara, Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani’s Japanese-language interpreter, placed millions of dollars in illegal sports bets, using Bowyer as his bookie. In California, where ...

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‘Ketamine Queen’ Jazveen Sangha was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison following her conviction on charges related to ketamine trafficking. The ketamine that contributed to Matthew Perry’s death came from her. @jasveen_s / Instagram

‘Ketamine Queen’ conviction over Matthew Perry’s death highlights evolving drug trade

Cartels have held a monopoly on the drug trade for decades, but there’s a new supplier in town. Medical professionals…

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Twenty years ago, a federal jury convicted “Mafia Cops” Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa on eight counts of murder and other racketeering-related charges. Three years later, they were sentenced to life in prison. ZUMA Press inc./Alamy Stock Photo / Alchetron

New York’s ‘Mafia Cops’ faked arrests, leaked information to aid Mob killings

In March 2005, two retired New York City detectives were arrested without much fanfare outside of Piero’s, a restaurant near the Las…

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Casino owner Benny Binion leaves federal court in Las Vegas in November 1952 after petitioning a judge not to extradite him to Texas to face tax evasion charges. A month later, he was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. Associated Press

Benny Binion’s colorful life story slated for television series

Years ago in Las Vegas, a friend of professional poker player Doyle Brunson relayed an alarming message: If Brunson didn’t…

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Virginia Hill testifies in New York City before the Senate’s Kefauver Committee in 1951. The Mob Museum Collection

Virginia Hill, reputed ‘Queen of the Mob,’ died in Austria 60 years ago

On March 24, 1966, Virginia Hill died far from the life that made her famous. Sixty years later, she has…

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Bookmaker Art Manteris spent four decades working in Las Vegas casinos, including the Mob-operated Stardust Resort and Casino.

New memoir ‘The Bookie’ highlights the mobsters and characters in Las Vegas sportsbooks 

Early in his career at Las Vegas casino sportsbooks, when mobsters were an intimidating presence around town, Art Manteris confronted…

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In Coíntzio, Michoacán, Mexican officials work to clear the charred remains of a bus. The vehicle was set on fire to block the road—a “narco blockade”—following the death of cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as “El Mencho.” Associated Press

Killing of cartel boss ‘El Mencho’ triggers violent backlash across Mexico

One by one, Mexico’s most notorious drug lords are being brought to justice. In each case, Mexican and U.S. law…

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Jack Dragna, pictured here in the late 1930s or early ‘40s, was the boss of the Los Angeles Mafia from 1935 until his death in 1956. Years after his death, the L.A. Mob’s decline led to the moniker, “Mickey Mouse Mafia.” Courtesy of J. Michael Niotta

Los Angeles kingpin Jack Dragna was no ‘Mickey Mouse’ boss

In 1984, when Los Angeles Mob boss Peter Milano was arrested along with 19 others, LAPD Chief Daryl Gates announced…

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