Because, believe it or not, the Feds tend to focus on Italian American bookmaking offices at least ten times as much as they focus on the non-italians. It makes for better press releases. And you know I'm no apologist. I hardly ever play the "Forever Bothering Italians" card. But what's right is right.
Gypsy bookmakers (and by Gypsy I just mean independent, it's in no way ethnic) have existed in New York for YEARS. It's nothing new. That street tax bullshit is so overhyped it's ridiculous.
Most of the mob connected guys that you're talking about have even layed off to the gypsies over the years. Because when you're a busy office, at the end of the day it's better to have a reliable out at five to one on Sunday afternoon than to shake a guy down for $200 a week. It's just better business. Forget all that "every bookmaker pays" nonsense.
I could certainly believe law enforcement focuses more on the Italian-American bookies because of the Mafia connection. But that still wouldn't explain the extreme lack of non-Mafia/Italian bookmaking busts. People can talk about various exceptions they know of, and I take no issue with them on an individual basis, because I'm talking about the collective big picture. And the big picture, at least shown by indictments, is the illegal sports betting business in the Tri-State area, in much of the rest of the Northeast, and in Chicago is still very much connected to the LCN. But that comes in various forms, i.e. some operations being run directly by the LCN, others laying off to the LCN, others paying a street tax, etc.
Well, I guess that's where we differ, Ivy. And it's really not that big a difference, it's just that our interpretations are different.
You seem to be saying that every time an independent lays off to a connected guy, or vice versa, that that automatically puts the independent guy in the connected column because they do a little business together. The Feds do this too, to bolster their numbers (just like they do with EVERYTHING else).
I just don't see it that way. In my opinion, if an independent isn't paying protection, and if he's not "on the record" with a wiseguy, then he's not connected. Because if he's not "with" a guy, then the guy certainly isn't going to lift a finger to help him if he gets jammed up. And that's the only perk of being a mob connected bookmaker: Having a guy to run to.
So there you go. I see it one way, you see it another. No biggie.
"I got news for you. If it wasn't for the toilet, there would be no books." --- George Costanza.
