On a typically torrid June afternoon in Las Vegas, while lunching on a turkey club sandwich and a glass of iced tea at Egg Works, Jay Rood recounted his steps up the sportsbook ladder. It started quite on the bottom rung, as a ticket writer at Caesars Lake Tahoe in 1992.

"I simply wished to get into business and ski, and Tahoe looked like the spot," Rood, a New Mexico native, told Covers. "I skied when while there, and the task board at Caesars had a post that stated 'sports author.' I thought to myself, 'Well, I was not the very best at writing in college, however let's see what it's everything about. Young and dumb!

"I thought I was going to an interview for blogging about sports. I didn't recognize it was a teller position until the interview. After an hour with Gene Kivi, which I was told was about 50 minutes longer than any other interview he ever did, I had the task. And I was relieved to know that I wasn't going to need to test my journalism skills."

In late 1993, Rood got an opportunity to leap to Las Vegas, once again as a ticket author, this time part of the team opening the brand-new sportsbook at the MGM Grand. That marked the start of more than 25 years at MGM Resorts for Rood, who worked his way up each level, ultimately ending up being the company's vice president of race and sports in 2008.

But with the sports wagering landscape significantly changing and broadening in the past year - thanks to the Supreme Court striking down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act - new opportunities was plentiful, especially for somebody as skilled and well-respected as Rood. So in May, two-and-half decades after signing up with MGM, Rood chose it was time to leave the business and try to find a new obstacle.

It didn't take long to discover it, as on June 18, Rood accepted the post of primary threat officer for Bet.Works, a U.S.-based iGaming and sportsbook platform.

"It seemed like the correct time," Rood said, while discussing that Bet.Works is a complete turnkey option for clients aiming to go into the sportsbook niche. "We've placed ourselves as uniquely American. Our primary focus is American sports. We have a truly good executive group. Individuals put together for this group are probably the primary reason I chose to go. It's an interesting chance."

Bet.Works expects its sportsbook platforms - both land-based and mobile - to be especially appealing to industry newcomers outside Nevada and New Jersey. That said, the very first customer to launch will be sports mobile app giant The Score, with a targeted August debut of a mobile wagering app in the New Jersey market.

"There's a particular comfort level I had entering into this," Rood stated. "Being a B2B (business-to-business) service provider, instead of an operator, is a different difficulty, definitely various than my 25 years with MGM. But I have no doubt that MGM will continue to succeed in the sportsbook industry."

Rood's profession is dotted with memorable moments behind the counter, nearly all of them - that very first interview regardless of - coming at MGM properties. Following are the five minutes he considered most remarkable:

The Night The Lights Went Out

On the night of Saturday, August 31, 2002, the UNLV football team opened its season in your home versus Wisconsin. The Badgers, who brought with them to Vegas a legion of fans, opened as 3-point favorites, however the line surged to as much 6 or seven points.

With Wisconsin rolling 27-7 and Badgers wagerers excited to cash those tickets, the arena lights went out with 7:41 staying in the fourth quarter. The game did not resume, as Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez and UNLV coach John Robinson agreed to call it, giving the Badgers a 27-7 victory.

That would look like a Wisconsin cover, too, except that Nevada sportsbooks have a guideline that 55 of the 60 minutes of guideline need to be finished for a result to be main. The video game fell a couple minutes brief of that requirement.

"I was the shift supervisor on responsibility that night at the MGM," Rood remembers. "There were a lot of individuals at the game, and a lot had come back early since Wisconsin was way ahead. So they were filtering back into the hotel, concerning the book to cash their tickets."

But that rule prevented such transactions, indicating all bets on both sides were refunded, much to the chagrin and suspicion of Wisconsin backers. Rood, though, said the suspicion was ill-founded, a minimum of at MGM.

"We needed Wisconsin, since UNLV was a wiseguy play since the number had run a lot," he said. "We were on the very same side as all the Wisconsin individuals, and they had no idea. They presumed we needed UNLV which we were doing this to screw them."

Rood recalled connecting to then-MGM Grand vice president Debbie Nutton, who helped develop a solution to quell the riled-up crowd.

"Everybody's shrieking. So I call Debbie and say, 'What are we gon na do?' She said to go up to the bar and inform any person in red that they can consume for free up until we close."

That just totaled up to about an hour, as the video game ended late Saturday night.

"It didn't appease numerous," Rood stated. "That was an interesting night."

Y2Krazy - Or Not

On New Year's Eve 1999, Rood could once again be found on the night shift at the MGM Grand book. In addition to it being the turn of the millennium, it was a Friday night, so the Vegas Strip was as crazy as it's ever been for New Year's festivities.

There was also great concern over the so-called Y2K bug. Many thought that at the stroke of midnight, computers would go haywire and there 'd be all sorts of interaction issues and such.

"Nobody understood what to expect," Rood said. "We had a ticket author so went nuts by Y2K that he gave up 4 months previously, moved to Texas and became a doomsday preparer."

Rood wasn't getting ready for completion of days, however he did have a just-in-case service that night.

"We normally remain open late, however everybody thought chaos was gon na occur, so we closed early and took all the cash to the casino cage," Rood stated. "Me and one author remained until midnight, and if absolutely nothing happened, we were gon na resume til 1 a.m. But we didn't reopen. It was a strange scenario. It was dead in the casino. Y2K passed extremely quietly in the sportsbook world."

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Bite Night

On June 28, 1997, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson clashed for a second time at the MGM Grand Garden, a couple of months after Holyfield earned an upset technical knockout of Tyson. The rematch itself was rather a phenomenon, with Tyson disqualified following the third round after twice biting Holyfield's ears.

That wasn't almost as much an issue for Rood as what happened on the adjacent casino floor at the MGM Grand Hotel. As fight fans submitted out of the arena and into the casino, some idea they heard gunshots.

"A champagne bottle, a gunshot, whatever it was, all I understand is we had bars on the sportsbook cage, which I appreciated that night," Rood said. "We were by an exit to the pool. A bunch of individuals were going through the sportsbook to the pool. Me and my team struck the deck and army-crawled to the back space. I called the gambling establishment cage and stated we need security. We had a great deal of money on hand in the book, due to the fact that of the battle.

"My other half called and asked if I was all right. I said, 'Yeah, but how do you know what's going on?' She stated, 'It's all over CNN.' And we switched on the TV, and there was the big green building."

As it ended up, the shots-fired scare was an incorrect alarm, as authorities later on identified there was no gunplay that evening.

"Bite Night was intriguing," Rood said. "Being the night supervisor at a sportsbook, you see a terrible lot."

Looks Can Be Deceiving

The Sunday night game on opening weekend of the 2014-15 NFL season was a dandy, with Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts taking a trip to Denver to face the Broncos, led by previous Colts QB Peyton Manning. The Broncos opened as 7-point favorites and reached as high as -9, before the video game closed at 8.

One wagerer at The Mirage was especially keen on Luck and the Colts - a lot more so than Rood expected upon first look.

"This is the 'Don't evaluate a book by its cover' story," Rood stated, noting the gambler was disheveled, to put it well. "He asks just how much he could bank on the Colts. I said, 'Buddy, you can empty your pockets.' He yanked out an old Walmart bag and starting taking out $100 bills. He said he wanted to bet $200,000. So I was sort of caught off guard."

Rood needed to run that wager by higher-ups to get approval.

"He desired the Colts +7.5. It was Luck vs. Manning, and the Colts lose by 7," Rood remembered, with Indy covering on a goal with 3:26 remaining in a 31-24 loss. "As nondescript as he came up when he wager, he came back, got his money, put it in the old Walmart bag and left. I never ever saw him again.

"That taught me the art of settlement. Understand what they want to do before you put your foot in your mouth. It definitely aided with Bettor X."

Which brings us to ...

Bettor X and Mattress Mack

The 2017 World Series between the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers helped present the betting world - and many in the public - to Bettor X. But before Bettor X got his name, he was simply a semi-regular gamer at MGM books.

"He was a guy we had actually handled betting mixed martial arts," Rood stated, keeping in mind the customer was eastern European. "He had a very high hit rate, not necessarily betting big favorites. He 'd select favorites and 'pet dogs, 2 to 3 on every card.

"Then he showed up for the World Series of Astros-Dodgers. And we had another gentleman, Mattress Mack, betting too," Rood stated, pointing to the Houston furnishings shopkeeper who had used a huge refund promotion to his consumers if the Astros won the title. "He was attempting to hedge the Astros."

Bettor X was betting game-by-game, while Mattress Mack was primarily betting on the series price as it changed with each video game. However, both bet on Game 1, with Bettor X taking L.A. - which notched a 3-1 triumph - and Mattress Mack losing on his home town group. Both wagerers were throwing around seven-figure wagers throughout the series.

Rood and his threat team had the ability to handle the liability from both wagerers by adjusting video game and series prices to draw in money from the rest of MGM's customers.

"We had truly good action and we were in a good position," he stated. But unsatisfactory to hold up against Bettor X. "We might never get him. He went back and forth, zig-zagging on the games, and he went 6-0 betting 7 figures. It was so volatile, however he kept getting there on his plays."

Bettor X chose versus betting on Game 7 - Houston won it to claim the champion - however he wasn't finished with MGM books simply yet.

"He strolls away that night, and our next interaction is Eagles moneyline in the Super Bowl versus the Patriots, for $3 million at +150," Rood recalled, keeping in mind another big ticket that cashed after Philadelphia's 41-33 upset triumph. "I would not call him a sophisticated bettor. We accommodated his bets by moving the cost on him a bit and getting buyback in the market. But that was just an extraordinary run. He had an incredible quantity of luck."

Patrick Everson is a Las Vegas-based senior writer for Covers. Follow him on Twitter: @Covers_Vegas.