Bookie Season 1 Review

Last year, Bookie, a comedy series by Chuck Lorre and Nick Bakay came out on November 30, 2024. When I first heard about it, I thought it would be fun to watch, I mean anything from Chuck Lorre is TV gold right? Thus, I thought I would make this review fun by making a Bookie Season 1 Review.

The show is about Danny, who makes a living as a bookie and how he handles his job and personal life. The premise itself is interesting thought it would give regular folks an inside view on the life of a bookie. However, did it really do that?

Before you keep reading, the Bookie Season 1 Review will have spoilers. Therefore, keep reading at your own risk!

Bookie Season 1 Review from Different Perspectives

Bookie definitively has an all-star cast starring Sebastian Maniscalco as Danny who is the protagonist of the show. In addition, it also features Omar Dorsey as Ray who is Danny’s partner who serves as his muscle.

Furthermore, Andrea Anders plays Sandra, Danny’s wife, Vanessa Ferlito stars as Lorraine, Danny’s sister and Jorge Garcia as Hector.

I think the cast had a good synergy working together and they brought to life a good comedy. However, while they did a good job, the portrayal of the bookie was severely lacking. Instead, of showing the life of a modern bookie, they kept at it with the

Bookie Review from a Bookie Point of View

From a Bookie point of view, there is not a lot to say about this series. If anything, the way Danny runs his bookie business is a bit unrealistic. My first gripe was how in episode 3 and 4 of season 1, he takes on a punter who makes larger bets. While there is nothing wrong with that, the amount was too much for him to handle financially.

When bookies take on these bets, they lessen the burden by placing the same bet with other sportsbooks or bookies. The amount will of course depend on how greedy but the rule of thumb is to only accept bets they can afford to take. In short, bookies often lessen the financial burden from large bets by putting the same wager with other sportsbooks. For someone who has years of experience and a mentor, it was a dumb move that no self-respecting bookie would risk.

In fact, I have seen this done by several new bookies and sportsbook owners lose their business doing just that. They either take in too many bets that they can’s cover or give out bonuses that are too large for them to payout.

The same could have been say in the S1E7 episode where he makes bank from the Super Bowl. Real bookies will stay away from these situations by playing with the odds so the betting won’t be all one-side. Some bookies may be fine with it if they have a hunch and can afford to cover the losses. However, Danny was obviously not in that situation.

A Poor Attempt at Portraying the Modern Bookie

They did make an attempt to show that bookies use modern technology as they had an online betting platform. In addition, his office setup di remind me of several sportsbooks I had worked at in the past. That is with cameras and secure access to it.

One thing I thought was odd was that he only took cash for payments and payouts. It may have been fine a couple a decade or so ago but not anymore. Especially since he has businesses to launder his money. Heck, he could have taken cryptocurrency payments as it is big amongst bookies. Well, let’s just say that bookies have lots of ways to accept money that are anonymous.

Bookie TV Series Review from a Normal Viewer Point of View

Overall, I think it was a well-made comedy series and I was laughing non-stop. It was hilarious to see them collect a debt from Charlie Sheen. In fact, any Charlie Sheen and Chuck Lorree fan must have appreciated the humor of it all.

The show tends to center a lot of its humor around the preconception of bookies. That is bookies being tough leg-breakers that dress like Italian mobsters. In a way, it works despite being derogatory towards actual bookies and sportsbook owners.

The show Bookie Give Sports Bettors a Negative Representation

In addition, it tends to portray bettors as degenerate gamblers that need to be put out of their misery. While there is some truth to it, they are by far a very tiny minority. Most sports bettors just have fun doing it and keep to their bankroll. I understand why they did it

For example, in S1E2, Danny and Ray go out to collect money and their client is trying to kill himself due to money problems. While the money problems have nothing to do with his gambling habits, he is seen as a scumbag who got what he deserves.

It is unfortunate that they make fun of sports gamblers. Or at least the ones that have an addiction though as a gambling addiction is a serious problem. In one episode, you see Danny and Ray collecting money from a gambler with obvious problems. When they cut him off, you see him making a $10 bet with a neighborhood kid. They really went above and beyond on that one to show how bad bettors are.

Instead, they should have shown normal people making a bet on a game while watching a game with their friends. Of course, that probably would have made the show boring. However, they could have at least shown one scene portraying realistic scenes of bettors.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the show had a real opportunity to show what a modern bookie is like. Unfortunately, they instead went in the opposite direction by putting bookies in a negative light. This is because they instead went with bookie jokes showing preconceptions about bookies from the old days.

On the other hand, as far as being a fun show to watch, they did a good job.  It was funny and several noteworthy moments.

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