One of the sports betting industry’s most beloved figures on both sides of the counter, Dave Sharapan, died Saturday night at age 55.
Sharapan’s wife, Jessica, shared the news on social media Sunday morning.
“My husband, our dad, our best friend, Dave, passed away last night,” she wrote. “Dave was more than someone behind the counter. He was a constant, a voice you trusted, the guy who knew the line before the books did, the one sharing stories from the book, the guy who could make you laugh even when the game was a bad beat. But to us, he was our everything.
“At home, Dave was not only talking point spreads and lines, he was teaching us about life. About loyalty, about standing tall in tough moments, about showing up with integrity no matter the odds. He filled our days with humor, love, and endless lessons, the kind you only learn from someone who truly lived life with his whole heart.”
Sharapan was known throughout the sports betting community as The Sportsbook Consigliere, a nickname that spoke accurately to his ability to consult and advise bookmakers and bettors alike.
He operated an offshore book in Curacao beginning in the late ‘90s and then relocated to Las Vegas to become a top oddsmaker there. In recent years, he stopped working behind the counter and emerged as a popular gambling media figure, most prominently as the co-host with Matt Perrault of The Bostonian vs. The Book (BvB).
Sharapan survived a stroke in 2020 and made a full recovery. This June, he went public with a cancer diagnosis and underwent surgery in July.
I can’t claim to have known Dave nearly as well as countless others in the gambling business, but I did consider him a friend. When I reached out in June ahead of the surgery, he was optimistic and believed this was nothing more than a speed bump that would leave him unable to work for a little while. (To that end, BvB Brigade, the name given to fans of his show, started a GoFundMe to help out Sharapan’s wife and three daughters that raised over $68,000.)
When I checked in again with Dave via text message on Aug. 1, however, I didn’t hear back until several days later, when one of his daughters responded on his behalf that he was going through health difficulties post-surgery.
Everybody’s friend
Sharapan had one of those warm, outgoing personalities that made people feel from the moment they met him like they’d been close friends with him for years. Almost always decked out in a sports jersey and a flat-brimmed sports-themed ballcap — both drawn from a seemingly endless collection — “The Consig” was instantly identifiable in almost any setting.
We spoke numerous times over streaming video connections, whether for his show or for one of my podcasts, but I’m particularly thankful to have had the opportunity to hang out with him twice in person, both times away from the usual stuffy industry conference settings.
A couple of years ago, we met up at a Vegas sportsbook for a quick meal and a drink while I was in town covering a boxing event. Of course, everyone working at the book knew Dave.
But the more memorable meeting came when Dave was in my neck of the woods a few summers ago, watching two of his daughters play softball at a tournament in suburban Pennsylvania. This was Sharapan in his happy place (albeit his visibly anxious place), the proud papa cheering for his favorite athletes in the world.
In February, Sharapan was a guest on Casino Reports’ podcast, Low Rollers, and my co-host Jeff Edelstein asked him about that 2020 stroke. Dave recounted how he briefly lost the ability to speak.
“They took out the blood clot through my hip and I woke up 3½ hours later with a new sense of everything, a new sense of life and appreciation for every single thing,” Sharapan told us. “I had that dream, and that vision and that light, and my dad sat me down and his message to me was stop worrying. ‘You have to stop worrying, Dave.’ And he was as calm as could be and he was honest and I hugged him and he said goodbye, and when I said, ‘One more thing, one more thing,’ he disappeared into his light and I told him I wasn’t ready to go. …
“Now I get to sit and talk about sports and sports betting. I am so thankful every day for that. … My superpower is talking, and it got taken away from me for about probably four, five hours, and I don’t ever take that for granted. So now I don’t really worry about [the small] stuff.”
We separately posted a short clip from that interview, of Dave gushing about his daughters and talking about keeping the little things like sports bets and such in perspective:
Tributes galore
Social media site X overflowed Sunday with heartfelt and heartbroken remembrances of one of the industry’s most universally liked people, starting with his co-host Perrault:
Sharapan also received a shoutout on Monday’s episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast from fellow sports betting media personality “Cousin” Sal Iacono.
“Super nice fella, and one of the few — maybe the only sports gambler –who’s loved by everyone,” Iacono said. “Rest in parlays, Dave.”
