The Gist Mike Pesca on the Vig, the Fix, and the John Goodman Thumb
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Dec 6, 2025 
Mike Pesca, host of The Gist and a seasoned journalist, dives into the wild world of sports betting. He breaks down the mechanics of the 'vig' and the absurd lengths some athletes will go to, like Cleveland pitchers throwing errant pitches to influence bets. Pesca shares a jaw-dropping story about NBA star Chauncey Billups unintentionally involved in a mob poker game. The conversation also touches on the addictive nature of mobile betting apps and the bizarre wagers that highlight the industry's unpredictable landscape.
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Micro-Prop Bets Create Cheating Incentives
- Prop bets on micro-events (like the next pitch being a ball) create perverse incentives for players to manipulate outcomes.
- Monitoring unusual local betting patterns helps detect such game-fixing quickly.
Chauncey Billups As A Mafia 'Face Card'
- Chauncey Billups became a "face card" attraction at mafia-run poker games that used marked-contact-lens schemes.
- Billups may not have known the games were rigged, but he still tipped off gamblers about player availability.
Books Profit From VIG And Human Biases
- Sportsbooks extract revenue via the VIG and worse odds on prop and parlay bets, not superior prediction.
- Parlays exploit an innate human bias that overestimates joint-event likelihoods.