A professional gambler who was accused by the Nevada Gaming Control Board of running a multi-million dollar bookmaking operation has had all criminal charges against him dismissed.
William West Roberts, 57, of Las Vegas, said he is now looking to clear his name. He called the investigation into him a “witch hunt” and said the case was started when the mother of his child, who is currently engaged in Family Court proceedings with Roberts, contacted investigators and made what Roberts contends are false allegations.
“The FBI said there is no meat on this bone,” Roberts said. “We don’t see anything in this case at all. They want nothing to do with it. The Gaming Control Board obviously kept it for some strange reason.”
Roberts is not quite out of the proverbial woods yet, however. Clark County prosecutors served him with a Marcum notice, meaning he is potentially the target of a grand jury investigation. Clark County prosecutor Austin Beaumont told the Las Vegas Review-Journal after the dismissal of charges that he intends to take the case to the grand jury.
Roberts’ attorney, Chris Rasmussen, said the allegations against Roberts are false.
“My client is a gambler with a sports information service,” Rasmussen said. “The notion he is a bookmaker was a fiction. The FBI investigated him for years and closed the matter. Bringing him to a state court does not change the evidence that he is innocent.”
The Nevada Gaming Control Board declined comment on this story. The mother of his child, Catrina Andrino, denied trying to influence their Family Court proceedings when she reported Roberts to authorities.
“Because there is active Family Court litigation involving our child, I have been advised to be extremely careful about discussing those proceedings publicly,” Andrino said in an email. “My priority is protecting my child and allowing the court to address custody matters based on evidence presented through the proper process.”
She added: “I am also aware that Mr. Roberts has alleged that I initiated the criminal case in an effort to influence the Family Court proceedings. I strongly dispute that characterization.”
Roberts was arrested in Las Vegas in April. He was charged with felony operating a gaming establishment without a valid license, receiving compensation for bets without a gaming license, and a gross misdemeanor count of receiving unlawful wagers from a person in Nevada. The charges were dismissed on Aug. 13 and Roberts was served with the Marcum notice on the same day, according to online court records.
The investigation was started based on an email from Andrino in April 2022, the Gaming Control Board said in an arrest report. A lengthy investigation relied on an informant and undercover investigators posing as gamblers, according to the arrest report.
Authorities alleged Roberts was recorded by authorities talking about the bookmaking operation. He is accused of taking bets using a website based in Costa Rica and commingling funds with finances from his two businesses, Ace’s Family Fitness, 7171 N. Hualapai Way, and his social media gambling tip business called Wild Bill Sports Consulting Inc.
Roberts readily acknowledges he is a prolific gambler, but he said he is not a bookie.
“I know I am a degenerate gambler,” Roberts said. “I mean, that goes without saying.”
He said when he files his taxes he lists himself as a professional gambler and submits his win-loss statements from the casinos. The lifestyle, he said, is a roller-coaster ride.
“I wouldn’t say a lot of money,” Roberts said when asked if he routinely places large wagers. “I just wager all the time.”
“Lots of ups and downs,” Roberts said.
He turned his gambling skills into a business enterprise via his Wild Bill Sports Consulting Inc. gambling tout service, which sells sports betting picks to gamblers for a fee. He has over 1,300 followers on Instagram, and he records regular videos detailing his picks.
The Gaming Control Board, with the assistance of the FBI, said it reviewed casino records showing Roberts has wagered about $8 million in Nevada sports books. The board said his sports book picks were aimed at “hedging” for the alleged bookmaking operation. It said multiple financial institutions closed Roberts’ accounts due to suspicious banking activity.
From January 2022 to January 2026, Roberts was listed in 334 cash transaction reports totaling more than $7 million.
When authorities investigated further, they decided to deploy an informant as part of their investigation. The Gaming Control Board said from September 2025 through January 2026 the informant placed 23 wagers with Roberts through an online platform in Costa Rica.
The informant also met with Roberts at a local steakhouse and gave him cash to pay down his balance on the online gambling account, the control board said. Authorities also deployed an undercover law enforcement agent to place wagers with Roberts, the arrest report states.
Any reference to a Costa Rican website is misleading, Roberts said, because he simply looks at offshore websites to monitor fluctuations in sports betting lines and that money given to him by the informant were for sports picks. He said the allegations against him are false, aimed at unraveling the primary custody he has of his child.
“We live in a town of gambling — a world of gambling,” Roberts said. “If I was a bookie wouldn’t there be 20 to 30 people coming forward? Nope. There is one person, and that person is an informant.”
He said the arrest has had a devastating impact on him: his house and business were searched by authorities and his finances have been torched after paying for a legal defense. He said some longtime associates have abandoned him. He was also briefly banned from some of his favorite casinos, but those bans are slowly being lifted.
He said if anyone vets the facts in the case they will find he didn’t do anything wrong.
“There’s nothing,” he said. “If you’re looking for water in the desert, you’re not going to find it. There’s no water in the desert. I’m the desert. You’re not gonna find any water with me.”
Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com.
