Fabled Las Vegas Sports Gambler Lem Banker Has Died

Heim

EOG Master
Lem went tout his later years for income.....yes his family raided safes, safety deposit boxes etc.....I think he
lent his name to a service but heard the picks were not his.

Lem was a true Vegas icon. I'll never forget the story he told on the radio. While in the waiting room
for his first born some guy heard him on the pay phone, so he pressed Lem for a winner to pay bills.
Lem gave him his best bet, the guy seemed unimpressed and turns to Lem and says...how bout one more for a parlay. :D
 
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sharky99

EOG Dedicated
was fortunate to listen to some stories several years ago, it was disheartening to hear his family stealing from him periodically, RIP Lem
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Lem Banker was an old-school bettor and bookmaker.

I assume he made more money as a bookmaker than a bettor.

I first remember seeing him in the mid-to-late 1980's at Little Caesar's with a briefcase in hand.

He went in the back room to meet Little Caesar's owner Gene Maday.

The buzz in the tiny sports book and near the 25-cent craps table centered around Lem's visit.

Little Caesar's was located in a strip mall where the Paris Hotel and Casino now sits.

Banker often drove a Mercedes-Benz with his vanity license plate, LEM.

I'm guessing he stood about 6-3 or 6-4 before age and a slumping posture finally took a toll.

He prided himself on being in great physical shape.
 
He was a good guy, gave me some nice words of encouragement and advice when I was a newbie trying to make a go of being a pro in the early 90s. We were talking in the book after he made some bets and there was a Padres game on the main screen and he said he had bet the Padres plus two something because it was too much value. Well they were up 3-2 in the ninth and no one was on. He was telling me basically his theory on spending money when you are a pro bettor because he just got a new car. So then a guy walks, Lem doesn't seem to care. Then the reliever hits a guy, Lem's still talking about how you estimate your edge. Then the next guy hits a ball towards the hole that the second baseman dives for and doesn't get, it slips out of his glove and goes out behind the first baseman. You know where this is going, the Padres lose. Lem finishes his story, not an ounce of emotion on his face or in his voice. I suppose it came from having so much experience, but being able to watch a guy lose a bet like that and just not show any emotion was etched into my mind of what a pro has to do. Like you could read a 300-page book on how to act professional and what to do to having staying power as a pro and still only kind of get it, yet in a 5 minute conversation Lem taught me a lot of those lessons that I never forgot.
 

Viejo Dinosaur

EOG Master
I knew a couple pros that would just get the final scores and act like nothing happened and move on....if I ever got a score that was just around the point spread or run line, I would have to know what happened....just one of my many weaknesses...
 

winkyduck

TYVM Morgan William!!!
The death of an Icon. One of the very last of his kind. As sharp as it gets. Not sure he could do what he did in today's environment but I hope that doesn't take away from his accomplishments
 

howid

EOG Dedicated
Then the next guy hits a ball towards the hole that the second baseman dives for and doesn't get, it slips out of his glove and goes out behind the first baseman. You know where this is going, the Padres lose. Lem finishes his story, not an ounce of emotion on his face or in his voice. I suppose it came from having so much experience, but being able to watch a guy lose a bet like that and just not show any emotion was etched into my mind of what a pro has to do. Like you could read a 300-page book on how to act professional and what to do to having staying power as a pro and still only kind of get it, yet in a 5 minute conversation Lem taught me a lot of those lessons that I never forgot.


brings to mind the soccer stadium in bayern munich, or ''munchen'' as pinnacle puts it.

scoreless late in the first half, and the crowd starts singing their rally songs. the lesser visiting team scores. the crowd never breaks stride, keep belting out the lyrics, sing a few more, seemingly oblivious to their side being down a goal at the end of the first half.

wouldn't you know it, the second half starts, the crowd keeps singing, their star player lewandowski scores 5 goals in like 9 minutes, some kind of record, the home team wins for fun.




had to verify my memory was accurate:

On 22 September 2015, Lewandowski set a Bundesliga record by coming on as a substitute with Bayern trailing 0–1 to Wolfsburg and scoring five goals in 8 minutes and 59 seconds, the fastest by any player in Bundesliga history, to take a 5–1 lead. He also set Bundesliga records for the fastest hat-trick (three goals in four minutes), and most goals scored by a substitute (five).[81] Lewandowski's five goals in nine minutes was also the fastest in any major European football league since Opta began keeping records, and it ended Wolfsburg's 14-match unbeaten run.[82] He was awarded four certificates by Guinness World Records for this feat.[83]
 

MrTop

EOG Master
lem was great for the bettors and the history of nevada... I think he was a north jersey guy before moving west. When I seen his name go tout I knew it was not his plays... The ending was sad too when name was in the news.. They should not write stuff about his family .RIP
 

ArneK.

EOG Enthusiast
I received the following e-mail this morning from Barry Leiberman, the former South Point legal counsel, now retired.

With his permission, I am sharing it:

I also was the recipient of annual Phil Steele books from Lem, without any expectation of a return favor. His dinners with an eclectic group of people, which he always paid for, also was an example of his generosity many people don't know about. I had many dinners with his garbagemen who he befriended, people who had nothing to give back to Lem, but who he incorporated into the dinners. He also took the flawed Michael Dokes under his wing after he got out of prison. Lem was part of the Black Lives Matter movement before there was such a movement. So far my wife and I are staying healthy and I am looking forward to normalcy next year, particularly a return to normalcy at Del Mar so I can attend the races again. It was incredibly depressing being in my condo one mile from the track and not being able to go to the races.
 

Biff41

EOG Dedicated
So what was his style of capping....was he good at picking weaknesses on the posted line as per story of San Diego bet?
 
So what was his style of capping....was he good at picking weaknesses on the posted line as per story of San Diego bet?

Just sought value from what I could tell. I know he liked dogs a lot and was good at pretty much ignoring a bad outing by a team or player. Guy who kind of reminds me of him in theory is Dave Tuley, who backs a favorite in the NFL about twice a season and whose written opinions look like a guy hired to poke holes in the story for the favorites in every game.
 

Biff41

EOG Dedicated
Just sought value from what I could tell. I know he liked dogs a lot and was good at pretty much ignoring a bad outing by a team or player. Guy who kind of reminds me of him in theory is Dave Tuley, who backs a favorite in the NFL about twice a season and whose written opinions look like a guy hired to poke holes in the story for the favorites in every game.
Dink was saying in an interview that he looks at injuries when deciding to bet a good team that suddenly has a bad game.
 

bomzee

EOG Dedicated
Lem Banker was always a class act and a gentleman and a nice guy and a breath of fresh air and what a GREAT listen on the radio.
Before his NFL opinions were for sale for many years he gave away many many NFL selections each week on Local Television that absolutely showed a very positive ROI.
I also remember his boxing knowledge and opinions were excellent. An icon who will be missed.
RIP Lem
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Good memory, BOMZEE.

I had forgotten about Lem's boxing opinions.

It seems like all legitimate wiseguys back in the day loved the sport of boxing.

Not anymore.
 
Good memory, BOMZEE.

I had forgotten about Lem's boxing opinions.

It seems like all legitimate wiseguys back in the day loved the sport of boxing.

Not anymore.

Yeah so true. The lines move when some model says there is x% edge these days. Most of these big money movers don't even know a thing about the teams or things like style. Its all about analytics they think are ahead of the market. Such a sea change from the days when guys would line up two teams on paper and come to their judgements. Why boxing always drew the big bets, guys would get a feel on fighters and it was easy to have many feels on a fight so action came in on both sides at huge volume.
 

Heim

EOG Master
"Lem was live on the radio talking shop with Larry Grossman, then all of a sudden Lem shouted "Holy Cow!!" and there was a long pause. Larry said is everything ok Lem? He replied sorry but I have to get a bet down and you could hear shuffling & digits being dialed. After a couple minutes Lem came back & said Buster Douglas just weighed-in and was over-weight, while Holyfield was chiseled. It was clear he was dumping mass funds into Holyfield. After work I went straight home and bet every free dollar I had and sure enough Holyfield knocked him out in the 3rd round. Lem was a winner & a classy, down to earth human being."
 

Heim

EOG Master
Lem was never short for words but when asked if the Liston/Clay fight was fixed he just smiled....
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
A lot of the older handicappers understood the macro much better than the micro.

I remember hearing old-school guys like Lem Banker, Sonny Reizner, Mike Lee and Jim Feist talk about "tall wide receivers" or "bruising linebackers" without mentioning any names.

Too funny.
 

Mr. Pink

EOG Veteran
Lem was never short for words but when asked if the Liston/Clay fight was fixed he just smiled....
Lem was good friends with Sonny Liston...and Ali was seen working the bag at Lem’s house...read into that what you will...
 
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