The Wheel of Cheese

Tonight, ESPN aired one of their 30 for 30 documentaries on Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, a famous bookie who made a name for himself in football and the bookmaking industry.

In watching this one-hour short film, it was interesting to learn about the life of Jimmy The Greek. For those of you who don't know, he was a person who brought bookmaking, or as many call it "sports betting" out from the underground and into the limelight. Through owning his own business and working for NFL Today on CBS, he helped transform the bookmaking industry singlehandedly to what it is today in the United States, and he was a very well-known person up until his death in 1996.

What I found to be really impressive about this guy was his knowledge on bookmaking. From a betting standpoint, he knew his stuff, as many people turned to him for advice on handicapping everything from sports, to horse racing and even presidential elections. He had many interesting winning wagers that won him lots of dough, including a $10,000 bet that featured 17:1 odds on the 1948 election between Truman/Dewey, which net him a cool $170,000.

Overall, the short film on him was very interesting, and it did a great job documenting the life of Jimmy The Greek. If I had to choose one word to describe the greek's lifestyle, I would have to pick "intense". This film did a great job capturing the intense life that Jimmy The Greek lived and he seemed to be an individual who went full-throttle up until his death living his life to the fullest.

Also, prior to tonight, I had not seen any of the 30 for 30 documentaries that ESPN had aired, but after watching this one on Jimmy The Greek, I have to say I am impressed what ESPN is bringing to the table.

ESPN will have additional 30 for 30 documentaries airing on television through the end of this year, including a re air of Jimmy The Greek in the next couple days. Full Schedule

Labels: espn, jimmy the greek, sports betting

Posted by Kyle on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 12:11 AM | Permalink