Chad and Natalie sit down with Matt Bowyer, the Orange County bookie at the center of the Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal, for the full story behind the headlines. Matt ran one of the largest illegal sports betting operations in the country for over 30 years. At his peak he had 1,250 clients nationwide, 48 agents, and processed over $1 billion in wagers in 2023 alone. He was also betting millions of his own money because gambling was his addiction and he was the house getting high on his own supply. The feds raided him twice. The first time was 2014, 14 agents, his daughter crying in the driveway, coming home from losing $800,000 in Vegas on March Madness. The case didn't start with Ohtani. The feds didn't even know about Ohtani. The case started with casino money laundering, led to Matt, and then his electronics told the rest of the story. He grew up watching his Vietnam vet father drink 40 beers a day until his mom divorced him after three failed rehabs. By 13 he was the top newspaper salesman in Orange County. At 16 he had a poker ring running out of his house. At 18, with his girlfriend pregnant and the family in a Dana Point mobile home, he got hired as a busboy at Chevys, got recruited to a commodities brokerage, passed the Series 3 exam as a mail boy, and was making $600,000 a year at 21. He bought back the house his family had lost. Then he got tired of giving his money to bookies. He currently owes $9.7 million in taxes at $60,000 a month in interest. Tax lien on his $5 million home. Two years probation, mandatory Gamblers Anonymous, mandatory drug dealer classes every week. And a new book dropping called Controlled Chaos. #TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie Join our patreon to get access to an EXTRA EPISODE every week of ‘Off the Record’, exclusive content, a thriving recovery community, and opportunities to be featured on the podcast. https://patreon.com/TheHopeaholics Go to www.Wolfpak.com today and support our sponsors. Don't forget to use code: HOPEAHOLICSPODCAST for 10% off! Follow the Hopeaholics on our Socials: https://www.instagram.com/thehopeaholics https://linktr.ee/thehopeaholics Buy Merch: https://thehopeaholics.myshopify.com Visit our Treatment Centers: https://www.hopebythesea.com If you or a loved one needs help, please call or text 949-615-8588. We have the resources to treat mental health and addiction. Sponsored by the Infiniti Group LLC: https://www.infinitigroupllc.com Timestamps: 0:56 - Welcome Matt Boyer / The Ohtani Scandal 1:21 - Growing Up in Cypress, CA / Tiger Woods Connection 1:55 - Three Brothers: One Gone, One Fighting Heroin Addiction 3:19 - The Second Raid: 29 Agents, AR Rifles, Wife Handcuffed 4:50 - How the Operation Worked: 1,250 Clients, 48 Agents Nationwide 5:54 - Betting $4.2 Million on a Single Football Game 8:22 - The Psychology of Gambling: Losing Feels Better Than Winning 12:21 - CEO of an Illegal Operation Doing $1 Billion in 2023 13:19 - Commodity Trader, Opened His Own Brokerage at 28 14:17 - Why He Chose the Illegal Path Over the Legal One 17:33 - First Raid, 14 Agents, Daughter Crying in the Driveway, Just Lost $800K in Vegas 19:39 - Signs the Abandonment Form and Triples His Business 21:09 - October 5th, 2023: The Second Raid That Ended Everything 22:55 - Three Relationships, Five Kids, All One Big Family 24:14 - Meeting His Current Wife at 40 / IVF for a Son 31:19 - His Father: Vietnam Vet, 40 Beers a Day, Three Rehabs 32:17 - 13 Years Old: Paper Boy, Baseball Cards, Weed, Poker Ring 33:13 - 18 Years Old: Mobile Home in Dana Point, Girlfriend Pregnant, No Job 34:18 - Getting Hired as a Busboy, Getting Recruited to a Brokerage 36:28 - Mail Boy to #1 Broker, Buying Back the Family House at 21 37:23 - Setting Up the Website in Costa Rica / Scaling to a Real Operation 40:32 - Sitting in the Courtroom Hearing His Own Numbers for the First Time 43:44 - The Charges: Money Laundering, Falsified Tax Returns, Bookmaking 44:29 - Pleading Guilty Immediately Instead of Fighting the Feds 46:38 - Cooperating with the Government: Giving Up the Casinos 49:21 - Paying $1.7M in Restitution in Full Before Sentencing 51:10 - Federal Prison: What It's Actually Like at Lompoc 53:05 - How the Shohei Ohtani Connection Actually Happened 55:09 - Telling the Feds About Ohtani 57:42 - Watching His Name Break on SportsCenter 58:49 - Why He Believes Ohtani Didn't Personally Place the Bets 59:59 - The $16.2 Million Question 1:13:15 - Going from $1.5M a Month to 0: Writing the Book During the Indictment 1:14:43 - What's Next: Public Speaking, Books, Building a Community 1:16:28 - Current Terms: Probation, Gamblers Anonymous, Drug Dealer Classes 1:20:07 - Does He Miss Gambling? 1:21:17 - The Super Bowl Bet: $4.2M on Chiefs vs. Eagles, $9.2M Swing in 3 Hours 1:23:38 - His Wife as the Reason He Stopped
