Review: The Best of It (Sports Betting Documentary)

Last PFA show there were some people in chat suggesting that Druff talk about a new sports betting documentary called "The Best of It." I had heard about this documentary back in March when Alan Boston was on the 2+2 Pokercast and told them it would be released soon.

Here's the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPYpDIX1nHc

It was released just last week. The film's website is perplexing and it took me a while to figure out how to actually see the movie: http://www.bestofitmovie.com/

I ended up tracking it down as a rental on Vimeo for $5 (72 hours). https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thebestofit

Here's a quick review.

This movie is well worth your time (and money if you decide to shell out a few bucks). It runs about 2 hours. The film, shot in 2010, focuses on four main Las Vegas-based sports bettors:

Alan "Boston" Dvorkis



For anyone who has seen/heard interviews with Alan, you'll know he's a bit of an odd bird. He's almost impossibly tangential and at times lacks social awareness. However, he clearly has a brilliant mind. One minute he's frustrating to watch and the next minute he's gutting you with an emotional recounting of losing his beloved pet. A fascinating dude.



Alan "Dink" Denkenson



A schlubby hockey betting genius. Dink's former assistant wrote a book about her experiences with him called "Lay the Favorite." Pretty good read. They turned it into an awful 2012 movie starring Bruce Willis as Dink. I'm sure you can see the resemblance.




Ken "The Shrink" Weitzner



No relation. A self-proclaimed wizard with all sorts of insider information at his fingertips.


Lem Banker



The Original Gambler. Lots of cool stories from him.



They also touch base with a few other characters, including famous odds maker Michael "Roxy" Roxborough who getting a little long in the tooth and looks like he's going to drown in his suit any day now:





There's even a cameo from Sanlmar's avatar:





My only disappointment is they didn't interview Chad Millman who wrote my favorite book on sports bettors and Las Vegas, "The Odds: One Season, Three Gamblers, and the Death of their Las Vegas." That book actually followed Alan Boston as one of the three gamblers in the title. They do, however, interview Michael Konik who wrote a stunt book on Las Vegas sports gambling called "The Smart Money" in which he was a runner for Billy Walters.

Overall, this is a great movie. If you don't know much about the above players, absolutely watch the movie first. There are some surprising twists at the end of the film that really blew me away.

9 Wong Teasers out of 10.