3 takeaways from Bet Bash sports betting convention at Circa

Professional sports bettor Rob Pizzola called Bet Bash the “best event in the industry every year.”

He also posted an image of himself on X holding a giant Post-it note he snagged from a seminar at the sports betting convention that took place last week at Circa.

“Grabbed a piece of betting memorabilia that is coming back with me to Toronto,” Pizzola (@robpizzola) wrote.

He was poking fun at George “Riley” Panagakis, a colorful character in the sports betting space, particularly on social media, who hosted an NFL futures seminar and used a giant notepad to illustrate his past and present wagers.

“My notebook made me famous,” said Panagakis, a sports bettor from Chicago who presents his plays on X (@grpwins) using a pen and paper.

The good-natured Panagakis, 60, shared some of his wins and tough losses during an entertaining seminar.

“I live with my mom,” he said. “A thousand dollars is a lot of money to me.”

He has a total of $1,600 riding to win $54,000 this season on Lions coach Dan Campbell to win the NFL Coach of the Year award.

“I get a new car if Dan Campbell is Coach of the Year,” he said.

Panagakis, who often posts images of his meals on X, brought a piece of processed ham so his followers would know the difference between that and his preferred ham off the bone.

We didn’t take away a massive Post-it note or hunk of ham from Bet Bash, but fun was one of our three takeaways from the fifth annual event that featured more than 600 attendees:

1. Fun

Besides the light-hearted seminar hosted by Panagakis, there were poker and golf tournaments, four open bars, watch parties at Circa sportsbook and Stadium Swim, and a party at the Legacy Club’s rooftop lounge following Friday night’s black-tie Sports Gambling Hall of Fame induction dinner.

Gamblers also were regaled by classic old-school Las Vegas tales told at seminars by legendary bookmakers Scotty Schettler, Vinny Magliulo, Chris Andrews, Vic Salerno and Richie Baccellieri, along with 2025 Hall of Fame inductees Jeff Whitelaw, Spiros “The Greek” Athanas and Paris Smith.

2. Networking

Bet Bash gives sports bettors and bookmakers a chance to connect with other like-minded individuals, and there were ample opportunities for that during the four-day conference. Besides the open bars and parties, there was a three-hour speed networking event and hour breaks between seminars for attendees to mingle.

There was also a table to inquire about betting partnerships with Bet Bash host and pro sports bettor Gadoon “Spanky” Kyrollos.

Some of the sharpest sports bettors from the past and present attended the event, including Billy Walters and Rufus Peabody.

3. Education

There were two expert panels, six live podcasts and 24 seminars, including one hosted by an actual educator in longtime Philadelphia Daily News sports writer Ed Barkowitz, who teaches a sports betting journalism course at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey.

“I do try to make the class fun. But it’s all part of educating college students,” he said. “It’s dangerous out there. There’s going to be a lot of people who are separated from their money in this next generation as parlays become more and more glamorized.”

Circa sportsbook director Chris Bennett shared insights on how to think like a bookmaker.

“People that don’t understand this business very well just assume that the house always wins, and we can just put up the odds, sit back, take bets and not have to worry about anything,” he said. “And that’s not the case at all.”

There was something for every type of bettor, from Sports Betting 101 to deep dives on live betting and same-game parlays, to tips from mindset and performance coaches Elliot Roe and Samm Hunter.

“How often do we update our phone or the computer?” Hunter asked. “But we don’t update our software, our programming.”

Roe asked attendees to make a list of what the world’s best in their industry are doing to set them apart. He then had attendees check off the list the ones they’re doing or not doing.

“If you don’t know what to do, you need strategy,” he said. “If you know what to do but aren’t doing it, it’s mindset.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.