While many people would say the first few years of widespread legalized sports betting in the United States since the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) have been a near-universal success, famed professional bettor Billy Walters is not one of them.
Speaking to a room of lawmakers and regulators at last week’s National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) conference, Walters was highly critical of several aspects of the industry ranging from fairness to transparency to revenue to taxation.
Walters is arguably the most famous sports bettor in the country. Last year, his biography Gambler was a New York Times best seller.
Walters claims legalizing sports betting was done without experts
Like many other gamblers, Walters had high hopes for legalization, something he has longed for for some time.
“I wanted to see sports betting legalized. I want to see it regulated. I wanted to see the criminal element out of it. I wanted to see jobs creat..