Coffee & Crime

The Greatest Gambling Story by Mark Paul

Do you watch every true crime documentary, or are you hooked on crime podcasts? This book club is for you! Each month, we discuss a different true crime book. Call 864-850-7077 to reserve your copy!

This month we will be reading The Greatest Gambling Story by Mark Paul.

The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told is an inspiring personal narrative about a filly who broke through the male-dominated world of horseracing and inspired crowds of men and women alike, along with a trio of gamblers who embark on an unforgettable adventure that's as epic as the history victory of Winning Colors. It's Seabiscuit meets Narcos, and the best true-life gambling story ever told.

In the late 1980s, a spectacular three-year-old female racehorse named Winning Colors was being groomed for success under her famous "Hollywood" trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, and the billionaire owner of the San Diego Chargers pro-football team, Eugene Klein. Meanwhile, three fun-loving gamblers, Miami Paul, Dino Mateo, and Big Bernie believed that Winning Colors could be the unlikely female winner of the 1988 Kentucky Derby.

When the gamblers unknowingly place their longshot bet with members of a suspected drug cartel at a racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico, they must figure out how to claim their prize -- without getting killed in the process. In a heart-pounding race of their own across the U.S.-Mexico border, the trio come face-to-face with suspected killers, are arrested by the Border Patrol, and fumble their way through the riskiest bet of their lives.