A rookie’s guide to Bookie

Chuck Lorre, the writer-creator of smash hit sitcoms like Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon, and Bob Hearts Abishola (binge Season 5 on Showmax from Monday, 29 July), is taking a flutter on something darker.

Chuck’s new comedy-drama series Bookie is set in the underworld of (currently illegal) sports betting in California. With new legislation on the books, a life change is looming for shady bookies like Los Angeles-based Danny (standup comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, the voice of Spike in The Super Mario Bros Movie) and his partner and BFF Ray (Omar J Dorsey, Duns in Power Book III: Raising Kanan), a former NFL player who’s up to his neck supporting all those kids he made while he was famous.

With sports betting moving online and into the hands of corporations, Danny and Ray are like dinosaurs wondering why that weird star seems bigger every day. It’ll also mean a drastic change for their lowlife clients, from Hollywood actors like Charlie Sheen (playing himself as a degenerate gambler), to smaller fry like a guy named Kevin Miller (Nelson Franklin) who hides in his kids’ treehouse when he loses his bet.

No online betting platform could never talk you out of a tree! If you love your situation comedy heavy on the situation, or just love a frolic, a caper or a hijink, Bookie is a winner.

Binge Bookie S1 on Showmax now.

Fun fact: Bookie Season 1 is Chuck’s first reunion with actor Charlie Sheen after he fired Charlie from Two and a Half Men in 2011 following his unhinged “winning” and “tiger blood” rants. Chuck specifically wanted Charlie for the role because, aside from considering Charlie a comedy genius, Chuck loved the wild stories that Charlie told him about betting on NFL (American football) back in the day.

What’s the deal with bookies?

Until 2018, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act made gambling strictly illegal throughout the United States, aside from in the state of Nevada (and the sports lotteries conducted in Oregon, Delaware, and Montana). But wherever prohibition conflicts with appetites and big fistsfuls of cash, there’s wiggle room for those willing to bend the law. Since 2018, though, individual states have had the right to decide whether or not to legalise gambling. As Bookie begins, California is sticking to its no gambling stance … but for how long?

As bookies, Danny and Ray have always gotten by, by being the kind of guys who knows a guy. They can make a bet on a client’s behalf, on any event of their choosing. Think of it as a favour. They’ll accept their cash, place their bet, and collect their winnings … or their losses when things go wrong and the money has to flow the other way. All they ask for in return is their customary cut of the deal, win or lose. And if you don’t pay, you can’t play – with them, or any of their bookie buddies ever again. Forget that mob stuff about breaking kneecaps, nobody wants the cops looking around.

Turf talk

As an underground “hobby”, sports betting has a centuries-long history and enough coded language to fill a dictionary. Chuck’s co-writer-creator on Bookie Season 1, Nick Bakay brought the necessary insider knowledge to the show. Aside from voicing Salem the cat in the 1990s comedy fantasy series Sabrina The Teenage Witch and co-writing films like Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Nick ran a little show about sports betting called Bad Beats on the ESPN channel’s SportsCenter for years. Here are 10 handy words to look for:

Vig: The vigorish (or juice, under-juice, the cut, the take, the margin, or the house edge) is the service fee Danny and Ray claim on every bet they facilitate, regardless of outcome. The word comes via Yiddish from the Russian výigryš, meaning gain or winnings.

Bad beat: Losing a bet that looked close to winning at some point.

Chalk: The contender most people think will win.

Handicapper: A person who predicts the winners of an event, and how points will be awarded. Bookies often act as handicappers.

Handle: The total money that all clients bet on an event.

Mush: A gambler with bad luck.

Sharp: A sophisticated better.

Parlay: A bet on the predicted performance of multiple teams.

Prop bet: A bet about something other than winning or losing; for example, who’ll score the first goal.

Sportsbook: A company that accepts bets and takes the risk as the “house” as punters bet against the house. Both the bookie and the sportsbook can set the odds on bets, but a bookie can also allow bettors to place bets against each other, rather than being liable to pay out on a bet themselves.

Bet on a bro

Danny and Ray are the heart of Bookie Season 1. We know these guys, we love them, they’re our bros with endless things to bicker about as they drive around in their Escalade, dodging the cops and the sharks, keeping their heads above water, and having a good time together.

While Danny’s long-term romantic relationship is on the struggle bus, Danny and Ray are like a happily married old couple. Sure, every now and then someone will bring up past mistakes to get a dig in, but guaranteed they’ll have each other’s backs when things get tough. They’re also each other’s yin and yang, with Danny being the brash and bullish one, and the more sensitive, observant Ray looking like the intimidating muscle, but actually acting as the duo’s social conscience.

5 more shows for bros

Let’s hear it for the lads! From Hollywood, to Tulsa (where?) to the basketball court, when you’re taking a gamble on life, having friends means you’re always a winner, even when Lady Luck is looking the other way. Come hang out with our guys in…

1. Entourage Seasons 1-8

Looking for more guys palling around in LA and meeting famous people? While Doug Ellin is credited as this comedy series’ writer-creator, co-executive producer Mark Wahlberg claims that the premise for the show came from an incident in which one of his assistants asked to film Mark and his posse of friends goofing around behind the scenes in Hollywood. That’s just one of the tall tales behind this satire of stardom and hangers on.

Breakout star Vincent Chase (Adrien Grenier) is the sun to the orbiting bodies of his best friend-turned-manager Eric (Kevin Connolly), his less famous big brother Johnny “Drama” (Kevin Dillon) who’s now Vince’s trainer and bodyguard, and childhood friend turned driver and dogsbody, Turtle (Jerry Ferrara).

But the real star of the show is Vincent’s agent, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), a character based on Mark Walhberg’s real-life agent and notorious Hollywood dealmaker Ari Emanuel, co-founder of the Endeavour Talent Agency. Even if the guys don’t seal the deal with you, the Hollywood insider part of the story is dynamite.

We know a guy: Omar J Dorsey plays a thug in Entourage S3 ep 10.

2. Ballers Seasons 1-5

Want more sports talk, bros, life after football fame, and some musings on sports betting? Stephen Levinson’s sports comedy drama stars Dwayne Johnson as former football star turned financial manager Spencer Strasmore, and Omar Miller as Spencer’s best friend Charles Greane, who moves from the football field to a job selling used cars. The series tackles what superstardom does to long-term friendships, the impact of getting traded whenever you try to put down roots, and the pitfalls of having millions of dollars fall into your lap while everyone at home is struggling. If anything, this is the pro footballer’s version of Entourage.

We know a guy: Rob Corddry who plays Walt Dinty in Bookie is Spencer’s co-worker Joe Krutel in Ballers.

3. Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty Seasons 1-2

This comedy sports docu-drama with style to spare spins a tale about how basketball shifted from being a sport, to becoming sports entertainment during the 1980s. The series is based on Jeff Pearlman's bestselling non-fiction book Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, and the Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty of the 1980s. While there’s no formal gambling, it’s clear that owning the Lakers is every bit of a prayer to Lady Luck as rolling dice, and it’s a gamblers’ battle of the egos as brash new Lakers owner Jerry Buss (John C Reilly) sets out to crush Boston Celtics president Red Auerbach (Michael Chiklis).

Meanwhile the Lakers players like new superstar Magic Johnson (Quincy Isaiah) and key star and basketball veteran Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Solomon Hughes) clash over crowd pleasing antics vs a more intellectual approach to the game until they and the Lakers team work out how to knit together and become magic on and off the court. If you and your friends are always out to one-up one another, these are your guys.

We know a guy: Blink and you miss him twice! Samuel Code, Cook in Bookie episode 1, is an executive in Winning Time Season 1, episode 7.

4. Tulsa King Season 1

Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan shakes Westerns, mob films and comedy in an absurd box to give us this tale of unlikely friendships in an unlikely place. When 75-year-old Mafia don Dwight "The General" Manfredi gets out of jail, he’s expecting the red carpet treatment for protecting the mob and keeping his silence for 25 years behind bars. Instead he’s sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma to start a new “family” racket. Out of touch with modern life and laws, he’ll find it’s hard to intimidate a drug dealer when the drug they’re selling in an open storefront is legal, and yes, duh, the cops know about it.

Needing a guide to this strange new world, Manfredi hires taxi driver Tyson Mitchell (Jay Will) to become his full-time driver, recruits marijuana dealer Lawrence "Bodhi" Geigerman (Martin Starr) to deal with the financial affairs of his new syndicate, and ex-con rodeo star and barkeeper Mitch Keller (Garrett Hedlund) to be his new “associate”. It’s the start of a beautiful friendship … and family.

We know a guy: Scotty Gelt plays 007 in Bookie episode 7, and the mayor of Tulsa in Tulsa King episode 5.

5. Luck Season 1

Want to get deeper into sports betting, bookies, and punters of all classes rubbing shoulders? Dustin Hoffman leads writer-creator David Milch’s (Deadwood) superstar-powered HBO drama series as Chester "Ace" Bernstein, an ex-con looking for revenge on his former cronies who got him sent to jail. To get back in the game, Ace sends his deferential driver Gus (Dennis Farina) to “invest” in a horse for him.

The crooked dealings behind the scenes from Ace and his enemies impact this series’ bros, close-knit and fun loving gamblers played by Jason Gedric, Kevin Dunn, Ritchie Coster, and Ian Hart.

We know a guy: For once we don’t … unless you count J.P. O’Connor, the key assistant location manager for Bookie Season 1, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, Luck and more.

NB! Struggling with gambling addiction like Artie (comedian Ray Romano, who has battled a serious gambling addiction himself) in Bookie episode 1? Help is available through organisations like Gamblers Anonymous in South Africa, GamHelp Kenya, GamCare Uganda, The National Council on Problem Gambling in Ghana, and Gamble Alert in Nigeria.