Michael "Roxy" Roxborough (1951) is an American odds maker, syndicated columnist, teacher and author. He is best known as founder and owner of Las Vegas Sports Consultants (1982–1999), the international odds making company licensed by the
Nevada Gaming Control Board
The Nevada Gaming Control Board, also known as the State Gaming Control Board, is a Nevada state governmental agency involved in the regulation of gaming and law enforcement of Nevada gaming laws throughout the state, along with the Nevada Gaming ...
. Roxborough is credited with introducing mathematical formulas and computer models to the multi-billion dollar sports wagering industry. The
Las Vegas Review-Journal
The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area.
The ''Review-Journal'' ...
listed Roxborough number two in its list of the most influential people in sports of the 20th century.
Roxborough was a co-founder of
American Wagering Leroy's Horse & Sports Place, also known as Leroy's Race and Sport Book or simply Leroy's, was an operator of sports books in Nevada. As of 2012, it had 72 race and sports books and kiosks. It was based in Las Vegas. Leroy's parent company, Americ ...
Inc, the first U.S. bookmaking company to be listed on a public stock exchange in 1996 (Nasdaq: BETM). He served as a director from the company's inception until March 11, 1998. The company was subsequently purchased by UK Bookmakers William Hill PLC.
With partner Benjamin Lee Eckstein in 1986, Roxborough co-founded “America’s Line,” a daily newspaper sports odds column syndicated by
Universal Press in 1988 appearing in more than 120 North American newspapers.
Roxborough and Mike Rhoden co-authored “Sports Book Management: A Guide to the Legal Bookmaker”, originally published in 1988 and updated in 1991 and 1998 (). The 112 page book was a text for the college course Race and Sports Book Management that Roxborough taught at the
College of Southern Nevada
The College of Southern Nevada (CSN) is a public community college in Clark County, Nevada. The college has more than 2,500 teaching and non-teaching staff and is the largest public college or university in Nevada. It is part of the Nevada Syst ...
(formerly Clark County Community College) as part of the Casino Management curriculum.
Roxborough was a partner in the 1997 Sprint Champion and Eclipse Award winning thoroughbred race horse Smoke Glacken.
The novel ''Gambling on Magic'' by Christopher G. Moore (Heaven Lake Press) was loosely based on Roxborough's life.
Roxborough is featured in the 2016 sports gambling documentar
''The Best of It''
Accolades
The 50 Greatest Sports Figures in Nevada History.
The 50 Most Important People in Sports.
The 10 Most Influential People in Gaming.
References
External links
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Roxy Roxborough on TwitterThe KG's
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roxborough, Michael Roxy
People from the Las Vegas Valley
1951 births
Living people