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Matt Bowyer is out of a California prison. Maybe you’ve heard his name, maybe you haven’t, but you’ve surely indirectly heard of his illegal sports betting ring.
Bowyer ran a sportsbook that took hundreds of millions of dollars of wagers from people you know, like Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani’s disgraced interpreter. Yes, this is the guy who took the interpreter’s bets, which spiraled so badly that he began stealing money from Ohtani himself.
That was one of the biggest stories that has hit the legal sports betting industry because of Ohtani’s name. But Bowyer has carved out a name of his own as a high-stakes bookie that ended up on Las Vegas infamous blacklist, reserved for only the biggest criminals.
We’ve written on Bowyer extensively before, mainly because his life reads like a Hollywood plot. A guy who hustles his way to the top, attracts sketchy characters along the way, loses it all, and drags down many with him.
But… Bowyer also paid the penalty. Sentenced in a federal court last year, Bowyer’s prison time spanned over a year. He got out in March, but he’s not a completely free man yet. Bowyer is inside a halfway house until June, with limited ability to go anywhere else (besides a new job he picked up; outside the betting industry for those wondering).
Bowyer did his first interview since leaving federal prison with the folks at iGaming Business. Credit to them, but we wanted to share the biggest nuggets from it. If Bowyers is truly living out a Hollywood story, then that plot needs some juicy prison details, and trust us, there is.
“Prison Was Harder Than I Thought”
Those are the words Bowyer was quoted as saying. His exact quote to iGB was, “prison was much harder than I thought it would be. I knew March would be my time, but I didn’t know the exact date. When there was about a month left, I was ecstatic. I have a much different appreciation for them now.”
Bowyer did hard time at FCI Lompoc in Southern California. Now, don’t think this is a maximum-security place with the world’s toughest criminals. It’s not. In fact, it’s low security, but has housed well-known inmates like Sam Bankman-Fried and Changpeng Zhao (both crypto scammers coincidentally).
While Bowyer did say many of his fellow inmates knew his story of international sports-betting matchmaker, and some even read his autobiography, he didn’t receive any kind of special treatment. He was just another guy at FCI Lompoc. That entailed a 6 am wake-up call, bathroom cleaning duties for 90 minutes (which included milling up blood after an inmate fight one time), and a balanced breakfast of grits, oatmeal, or powdered milk. Every day.
On the bright side, Bowyer fulfilled the classic get-jacked-in-prison arc. After lunch, Bowyer was a gym rat. Lifting. Running eight miles. Even some pickleball with other inmates.
Speaking of which, Bowyer’s said there was a slurping amount of camaraderie among inmates. Bartering and trading goods were ways to make friends. Per Bowyers, the “hot thing” to deal with was carnitas, Mexican pork, for those unaware of the tasty food. A bag of these could go for $5 a pop at Lompoc!
Did Bowyer Gamble Behind The Bars?
You’d think someone like Bowyer, who was taking on massive amounts of risk to take bets, would find a way to get action in prison, right? You’d think wrong. He legally can’t.
As part of his sentencing, Bowyer is to stay off of betting completely for three years. No sports betting apps. Not even inmates wager over pickleball. Nothing!
Though, he told iGB that he observed rampant sports betting throughout the prison. In fact, some inmates had been local bookies before their prison sentencing, so there was no guessing game inside the walls.
All the betting is done the old-fashioned way, no app or prediction markets. Bowyer was actually asked about prediction markets, and he said it was “intriguing.” Ironically, these platforms exploded in popularity in the time that Bowyer was being sentenced and in prison, that short one-year timeframe. It’s caught on inside his own state since California sports betting remains illegal the “traditional” way.
Where Bowyers Goes From Here
As mentioned earlier, Bowyers is expected to be completely free by the summertime. When he is let go, it’ll be the end of a tumultuous three years.
Bowyer’s life was turned upside down in October 2023, when the feds raided his California home in a sting operation. He’s been in courtrooms, prison cells, and chaos in the years that have followed. Of course, his prior actions brought it upon himself, but all this is to say he wants to get on with his life.
And prevent others from falling into the same mistake. Bowyer has said he wants to become a speaker, specifically for athletes, to warn about the dangers of problem gambling. But that might be his last tie with the world of sports betting.
“Most of it is over now,” Bowyer said. “I can move on with my life, rebuild, and show my family what I’m made of.”
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