Bet Bash is back and bigger than ever.
The fourth annual sports gambling networking conference hosted by professional sports bettor Gadoon “Spanky” Kyrollos returns to Circa from Tuesday through Friday, with record registration of almost 700 attendees and 30 new pieces of content.
Along with four expert panels taking place Friday, followed by the second Sports Gambling Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Bet Bash 4 will feature 24 seminars and six live podcasts Wednesday and Thursday.
The seminars range from sports betting 101 and survivor contest strategy to pro handicapper and pro bookmaker roundtables, to correlated parlays, profiting from injuries and account longevity.
“The most important thing I want to say is that Bet Bash is all inclusive, in the sense we’re all welcoming. We want everyone to come,” Kyrollos said. “We have a sports betting 101 seminar, and there are currently 83 people signed up for that. That just goes to show you there’s a lot of people just getting into sports betting.
“Amateurs are welcome, and they want to learn, and then you have a lot of professionals that are there, too. We can all learn from each other.”
Premium and VIP tickets for Bet Bash that include Friday’s Hall of Fame dinner and Legacy Club party are sold out. But general admission tickets are still available for $699 each at betbash.co. They include speed networking and scavenger hunt events, seminars and expert panels, four open bars, and watch parties at Stadium Swim and the Circa sportsbook.
Kyrollos said Bet Bash has a a four-pronged focus.
“Our primary focus is on networking, where people can meet other sports betting enthusiasts and learn from them, from the amateur level all the way up to the super professional level like a Billy Walters,” he said. “The other three prongs are education — there’s lots of ways to learn at Bet Bash — legends, where we honor those in the Sports Gambling Hall of Fame that have paved the way before us. And, of course, fun is the fourth and final element.”
Also new to the event this year are a pre-conference golf tournament Tuesday morning at Walters’ Bali Hai Golf Club on the Strip and a poker tournament Tuesday afternoon at the Golden Nugget. Special VIP tickets that include the poker tournament are sold out, but tickets that include the golf tournament are still available.
The second class of the SGHOF, located in an enclave in the Circa sportsbook, features 10 inductees. Circa bookmakers Richie Baccellieri and Nick Bogdanovich, offshore bookmakers Jimmy Evarts and Ron Sacco and sports betting pioneer Vic Salerno are expected to be on hand Friday night for the ceremony.
The other five honorees who will be inducted posthumously are Michael Kent, Gene Maday, Herb Lambeck, Ed Curd and Chuck Schaupp.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.