How did Sonny get into sports handicapping?
Sonny answers: At 16 I got an after-school job at a local gym. The members of this gym were anything but the nine-to-five crowd—these guys were boxers, bookmakers, bank robbers, loan sharks and all-around tough guys. At the time there was a lot of interest in the local, inner-city high school basketball league. When the city’s biggest bookmaker, looking to put up a betting line, asked me if I knew anyone who had some ‘knowledge’ about these games, I answered yes. As it turned out, my numbers were right on the money—and the rest was history. I was put on this bookmaker’s payroll all the way through my college years at Boston University, where I ended up receiving my bachelor’s degree in science. Fast-forward to 1990. One night I got a phone call from Las Vegas. A stranger. The caller said his name was Bobby and he was calling from a hotel room at Caesar’s Palace. After asking him how he got my private home number, I asked him what he wanted. He told me not to be alarmed, then pleaded wi
