When mobster and government informant Henry Hill provided testimony that detailed his involvement in a point-shaving scheme with players on the Boston College men’s basketball team back in the 1970s, he was asked why he did it.
“If you’re not a gambler, you’ll never understand,” Hill said.
Well, bettors, non-gamblers, university officials, and sports fans never understood. And the scandal ruined the reputations of several individuals and sullied the integrity of “honest, amateur” college athletics.
Only a diligent effort by the NCAA helped put college basketball back on track.
With legal Massachusetts wagering now live at the state’s three retail casinos, we thought now was a good time to take a deep look back at the illegal sports betting scandal that rocked the state.
The Real life Star involving Goodfellas Synchronised Point-Shaving Piece
If you’ ve at any time seen typically the film Goodfellas , described by Matn Scorcese, you’ ll bear in mind the leading part. That gentleman was Holly Hill, some sort of mobster right from New York so, who got his or her hands not clean in plenty of illegal experditions.
The 1990 film, which has been nominated of six Oscars, followed Hillside from streetsmart trouble-maker into a made gentleman. From a no person to a flamboyant mafia underboss who long been raking in some via fraudulence schemes, theft, and even tough. But the motion picture barely reflexion one of the more odd illegal and building plots Hill received himself directly into.
In 1978, Mountain was brought to Tony Margarita, who informed Hill which he had a buddy on the Birkenstock boston College men’ s hockey team. That will friend seemed to be Rick Kuhn, a 6-foot-5 senior forwards on scholarship grant with the Silver eagles. Perla thought that Kuhn was the form of guy would you “ conduct business. ” That will meant he may impact the final results of video games in exchange for cash.
A few weeks in the future, Hill in addition to Perla linked again, the previous indicating he’d formulate a strategy to make cash on BC games.
“ I was to put everything upwards, ” Mountain explained within a first-person content for Athletics Illustrated inside 1981. “ Request the money, in that case handle objects if anything happened plus a bookie wouldn’ t give. ”
During those times, sports betting seemed to be illegal all around the US apart from Nevada by means of legitimate sportsbooks. But many illegitimate “ bookies” operated, specially in larger metropolitan areas. Many of those betting shops were cosca members or even controlled by the mafia. If you located a choice with an illegitimate book in the early 1970s, it was most likely that all or any of your cash was entering the arms of the mafia.
Hill didn’ t believe it was smart to throw the video games. It would be as well suspicious, in addition to too hard to ensure a new loss. Kuhn was not a major step, and Mountain knew he or she needed some more players to help make the scheme profitable.
Bet for the Spread, Not necessarily the Moneyline
The mobster determined that the plan should be for Kuhn and a few other individuals to shave points, allowing Hill and those involved in the plan to win bets on the point spread. Hill, Kuhn, and Margarita agreed that they didn’t want Boston College to lose the games, just to manipulate the points to make the Eagles lose by the spread.
With the possibility of earning a few thousand dollars per game, Kuhn recruited teammate Jim Sweeney, a junior guard who was sure to get significant playing time. The two players met with Hill in a Boston hotel room in December of 1978, finalizing the details of the betting scheme.
The plan was for the players to select games from the schedule where they believed they could influence the point spread. Hill would give each of them $2,500 per game and agreed to bet their share on the game if he could get the money down.
Hill used his mafia connections to establish a network of betting shops in various cities to facilitate the placing of bets. During that time, bookies would typically accept bets of up to $250 or $1,000 on a college basketball game. Hill hoped to wager around $35,000 on each game. He also allowed some close associates to participate in the scheme so they could “wet their beak” by betting against BC on the spread.
Eight Games Had been Impacted inside 1978-79 Period
The conspirators shaved points and bet on eight games during the 1978-79 season.
The Eagles were a strong team — they went 22-9 that season. Partly because of this, Hill eventually urged Kuhn to bring in another player, which they accomplished when senior guard Ernie Cobb was brought on board as a partner in the point-shaving. Cobb was BC’s top scorer, and he handled the ball almost every possession when he was on the court.
“It didn’t go as smoothly as I thought it would though,” Hill said.
In the first game that was fixed, the Eagles defeated Harvard by three points. The spread had been 13 points. Hill bet $10,000 and won. He was encouraged when he saw Kuhn and Sweeney making turnovers and committing timely fouls.
There were some losses in the nine games, with Hill and his mobster associates losing their bets. But when Cobb was in on the scheme, the group raked in cash. Reportedly, Hill made around $100,000. Others in the mafia made as much as a quarter of a million. The three players made $2,500 each game, except for the three games where they didn’t deliver a point spread loss.
“Overall, it wasn’t worth all the trouble,” Hill said later. “It was much harder than even I can explain it to be. The bookies kept changing lines on us, and we had a difficult time getting money down at a time that was favorable to us.”
Things Disentangle: Hill Testifies Against the Gamers
As is typically the case with such illegal activities, the word didn’t stay “mum.”
In 1980, Hill was apprehended by authorities on drug trafficking charges. As depicted in “Goodfellas,” Hill became an informant for the state and federal government. He sang like a canary (or maybe it was a rooster?). And the details about nearly every crime he ever committed spilled out.
It was only a matter of time before Margarita, Kuhn, Sweeney, and Cobb were charged for their involvement in what became known as “The Boston College Point-Shaving Scandal.”
Among the players, Kuhn received the harshest sentence: 10 years in prison. That sentence was reduced to 28 months, however. Sweeney and Cobb, with little evidence to prove they accepted money or did anything to influence the outcome of games, were not charged and were cleared, respectively.Hill’s testimony about all of his illegal activities led to 50 mobster arrests. This made him a marked man, which led him and his family to the US ALL Marshals’ Experience Protection Program in 1980. He spent years under different identities, moving around the country. Eventually, he emerged from protection and embraced the celebrity brought on by the Scorcese film.
Dan Sherlock is a staff writer for PlayMA with plenty of experience under his belt. Dan has written three books about sports and previously worked for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Major League Baseball. He also has extensive experience in the launch of sports betting in other states, including Ohio and Maryland. Currently, Dan is residing in Michigan with his family.
