Brian Grayson had just won a poker tournament at The Mirage. He got a trophy, a nice one, and he was proud of it, both the winning and the reward. It was time to go back to his hotel, settle in and think about betting some football before he headed home to Albuquerque to see his wife, Stephanie, seven months pregnant, and his two young daughters.

Grayson is South Philly, born and raised. He started betting football pools with his uncle Butch before he was 10. After high school he spent more than a decade working parties and on the radio as DJ Sly Bri. But he wanted a bigger life. He went to Arizona State University, where he met a girl, and the girl was from New Mexico. He moved there to be with her, attended law school there, became a lawyer there and, instead of Saturday nights working turntables and Sundays at Philadelphia Eagles games, he made occasional trips to Las Vegas. "I'm a ham-and-egger now," he says. "My wife didn't want to be married to a gambler."