The worlds greatest bookie.

I visited my cousin Joel at his bar yesterday. I wanted to bring him up to speed on Village Idiot Armada Days (VIAD) scheduled for June 22-26 in Las Vegas:

"Bookie!" I yell as I enter, "What the hell is going on?" I nicknamed him Bookie a number of years ago, because, well, you know why - "What's the line in the Celtic's game?" I add as I take my place at the bar. Joel takes and gives action every single day on games. Do you need to know the spread or money line? Call Joel! He is a fiend for the action.

He says to me - without removing his eyes away from the Celtic's game on the big screen - "Do you want your usual?" I answer in a matter of fact tone - "You got that right Bookie!" I then ask - "How are things looking on the game?" He goes on to tell me that the Celtic's are a slight favorite and he has a pile riding on them - "It won't kill me if they don't cover," he adds, "You know how I do it."

We chat about the weather for a minute and then I say - "We will be discussing in detail what the future of sports betting holds for the country at VIAD. I know the worlds greatest bookie will want to be there." A belief shared by many is now that marijuana is becoming the norm in this country it will only be a matter of time before the other shoe drops and sports betting online becomes legal - "It will happen during the Trump presidency," I add as I take another swig of my beer.

"I am starting to agree with you," he tells me after the Celtic's pushed the lead to twenty - "The future is wide open for sports betting and I am in the right place at the right time." I add, "Be sure to mark VIAD on your calendar. I want you in attendance to explain how things work. I will help you in the presentation as well. Besides, we can't have a village idiot gathering without a genuine bookie in attendance. You got that Bookie!"

We share some laughs as I down my third beer, he then asks if I had heard from uncle Ned lately, "Yes I have," I tell him intently, "He moved to a care center in Hutchinson and is as ornery as ever." Joel laughs and says - "It's too bad he isn't in better health. He would enjoy coming out to Las Vegas for VIAD." - I nod in agreement.