The story of Marisa Lankester was interesting from the start. Born in Rome, Italy, in 1963, Marisa Lankester had the best of all worlds, if you could call it that. First of all, she was the fruit of the union of two people of European origin: the daughter of an English father employed by the United Nations and a German mother. The family relocated to New York when her father accepted a position with the UN. Growing up in Westchester County, New York, Marisa attended the Ursuline School, an all-girls Catholic institution. She was able to pursue higher education at Marymount Manhattan College prior to moving to Vancouver, British Columbia, to continue her studies at the University of British Columbia.
Everyone could see that Marisa’s formative years were quite privileged, as she was able to attend the best schools in the area and lived in the better neighborhoods. So where did it all turn awry? What made her pursue a different calling – something that she never in her wildest dreams thought she would be involved in?
Entry into the world of illegal sports betting
In the mid-1980s, when she was in her late 20s, Marisa moved to Los Angeles, California, seeking new opportunities and experiences. And in fact, it was there that she became involved with Ron "The Cigar" Sacco, a notorious bookmaker operating the largest illegal sports betting organization in the United States. Sacco’s sports betting ring was so successful that it processed a minimum of approximately $40 million in wagers in 1986 alone. As a girl at that time, we can only speculate about the attraction of such a lifestyle to Marisa, who was perhaps dazzled by it all. Drawn by the thrill and seemingly endless allure of the underground gambling scene, Marisa began working as a clerk in Sacco's operation.
Because she was smart, intelligent, and highly adaptable, it was no surprise that she quickly made herself a valuable asset in the male-dominated world of illegal bookmaking.
Challenges and legal troubles
So where did it all begin to unravel? Needless to say, Marisa's involvement in the illicit betting industry was filled with danger from the very beginning – and again, we speculate that the adrenaline rush became quite addictive. Like a moth to the proverbial flame, perhaps she could not get away – and was perhaps even willingly drawn to it. In the summer of 1987, she was finally arrested alongside six other staff members during a raid by the sheriff’s department in Los Angeles. The operation was considered the largest of its kind in American history at the time. But despite the many legal setbacks, the organization continued its operations, adapting to law enforcement pressures by relocating and evolving its methods.
Relocation to the Dominican Republic
At the time of the raid, Marisa saw herself getting deeper into the business, and this time, there was a personal angle to her involvement as well. She ended up marrying Ron Sacco’s right-hand man in 1987, effectively becoming Mrs. Tony Ballestrasse, in 1987. After having a daughter with Ballestrasse, she relocated to the Dominican Republic capital of Santo Domingo, where the Sacco operation was deemed legal.
In Santo Domingo, they all felt they were in a safer haven for their operations, and Sacco and his team thrived – after all, the gambling laws were more lenient! In fact, it was there where they established one of the first offshore gambling operations, pioneering a model that would later become widespread in the industry. However, their activities did not go unnoticed. In January of 1992, their headquarters were raided once again – this time by local authorities in collaboration with the FBI. During the time of the raid, their sophisticated operation was already said to take in an estimated $100 million per month through sports bets and horse racing wagers alone, and it was believed to be the nerve center of illegal sports betting in the whole of the Americas.
When their office was raided for the second time, unfortunately, Marisa was arrested – but not only that, she endured harrowing experiences during her imprisonment, including repeated assaults and even rapes. The pervasive corruption within the Dominican police further complicated her ordeal, as she was hidden from the FBI against her will.
Life after bookmaking
But how did she free herself from that kind of life? It wasn’t easy, but she was able to do it. After retiring from the bookmaking business in 1994, Marisa returned to New York in 1996 to start over – and the first thing she did was resume her education. After this, she further cut her ties with the lifestyle she had gotten used to by remarrying and relocating to Switzerland, where she gave birth to her second daughter. She is now currently residing in Zürich, and Marisa has become an active voice in discussions surrounding gambling laws - and has shared her unique insights through various platforms, both online and off.
"Dangerous Odds" and attention from the media
What makes Marisa’s story doubly interesting is her tell-all book, Dangerous Odds: My Secret Life Inside an Illegal Billion Dollar Sports Betting Operation. If you, like many of those who know or have heard the inside story, were thinking that her life and experiences could very well be a telenovela filled with all sorts of twists and turns, you’re definitely not alone. And she finally (bravely, we might add) bared it all in her book.
In 2014, Marisa published her memoir, "Dangerous Odds," detailing her experiences within the illegal sports betting world. The book brings us to the inside, secret world of illegal sports betting, crafting a tale of intrigue coupled with romance and, eventually, abuse and betrayal. It’s a true-crime memoir at its finest, and the story begins with a tale of a privileged ‘rich girl’ somehow lured into the underworld and becoming fascinated with its trappings. It’s the allure of fake gold – and Marisa was sucked right into the center, especially when she fell in love with the right-hand man of her boss. It’s a tale as old as time, true enough: but instead of walking off into the sunset and having her own version of ‘happily ever after,’ she was instead left grappling with a life of crime and abuse.
The prologue of the book is fascinating in itself: Marisa’s story begins in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, where Marisa moves with her boss and her husband after staying in the United States. It’s a flashback, where Marisa recounts the distressing events leading to her arrest and stay in a rat-infested prison in the Dominican Republic.
Here is an excerpt:
“I sat at my desk. Roger had another coughing fit in the next room. “Time to quit, Roger!” I called.
Roger managed the Small Office, where bets on a single game were limited to a mere $2,000. I clerked for Carmine in the Big Office. We took wagers from the professional gamblers, customers we referred to as “wise guys” or “smart money.” The kind of men whose daily bets could total $100,000.
I was addicted to the adrenaline rush that came with working there. At the moment, though, there was nothing to do. The phones were silent; the cubicles that lined the room were empty.
Suddenly, the stillness was shattered by loud shouts from outside. I looked out of the window and my heart tightened into a fist. Waves of heavily armed soldiers were swarming over the outer wall. A troop of machine-gun-toting men in combat fatigues rushed across the driveway. Our guard dropped his weapon and was brutally wrestled to the ground.
“What the hell’s going on?” Carmine gasped as we peered out of the window. More and more soldiers were pouring over the wall. The sound of their heavy leather boots pounding against the concrete grew louder and louder. Roger came running over in alarm.
It’s a coup, I thought. It must be a revolution! The country had been simmering with discontent for a long time. It wouldn’t have been the first politically unstable country in this region to descend into martial law.
No other explanation made sense. I reached for the nearest phone and stabbed the numbers to Tony’s cell. He would know what to do.
Pick up. Pick up.
With shouts and crashes the soldiers charged into the house from several different directions. I heard glass shattering, then crunching under heavy boots. They stormed into the room, weapons drawn, screaming at us in Spanish to put our hands up. Amidst the commotion I heard Tony answering his phone. Someone yelled, “Drop the phone!”
“Don’t come in!” I blurted out. The blood rushing in my ears drowned out every other sound. I watched, frozen, as Carmine and Roger, both in their sixties, were roughly pushed up against the wall.
“Put the phone down! NOW!” A young soldier was advancing on me.
I stared at him but held tightly onto the receiver. Tony needed to hear what was going on. The soldier raised his hand to strike me. I flinched. When he came close, he stopped and took a step back. Even though I was wearing a baseball cap and a shapeless, baggy T-shirt, he recognized me instantly. To him I was the Constanza Girl, the glamorous blonde model who lounged seductively on a boat strewn with pillows. The cigarette commercial ran constantly on the local channels.
The terrace doors crashed open and our lawyer, Gustavo Flores, was unceremoniously shoved inside. I’d never had much confidence in Gustavo’s abilities as a lawyer. Right now, however, his flushed, jowly face was a welcome sight. He was always boasting about his powerful connections. Surely he would put a stop to this madness.
Gustavo flailed around comically before recovering his balance. He straightened up, and mustering whatever dignity he could, pulled his shirt back down over his potbelly. His eyes blazed with indignation and he addressed the soldiers in a booming voice: “Soy Gustavo Medina Flores. Abogado!”
All eyes swiveled toward the lawyer, and the room fell silent. Then a soldier viciously drove the butt of his rifle into Gustavo’s belly, sending him crumpling to the floor.
Click.
I looked away from Gustavo and found myself staring down the barrel of a gun. The young soldier who had been gawping at me in surprise had regained his fierceness.
In a low, dangerous voice he said, “Put . . . the . . . phone . . . down.”
I let the receiver slide out of my hand to the floor, hoping that Tony had heard enough.”
In the popular media, it was headline news. One headline from the Los Angeles Times read, $40-Million-Dollar Bookie Ring Broken. Another headline from the San Francisco Chronicle went, Betting Ring Links to Mobsters.
Needless to say, the book garnered significant attention, winning multiple awards and shedding light on the intricacies of underground gambling operations. And that’s not all - the compelling narrative caught the eye of Hollywood, and in January 2015, discussions began for a film adaptation starring Margot Robbie as Marisa. But despite initial enthusiasm, creative differences led Marisa to step away from the project, as she did not approve of the direction it was taking.
As of February 2025, Marisa has led a quieter, more tranquil existence. After her escape, she went to Switzerland, and she continues to reside there, focusing on her writing and participating in debates related to gambling legislation. While her memoir and its potential film adaptation have contributed to her public profile, specific details about her current net worth are not publicly available. Given her diverse experiences and ventures, it is reasonable to infer that she maintains a comfortable lifestyle, but exact figures remain undisclosed.
But just to give you an idea of the extent of the wealth of her boss, Ron Sacco: in 1993, his illegal bookmaking business was reportedly earning over $1 billion each year, so we could safely assume that Marisa was also taking a big chunk of the proverbial pie, especially as her then-husband was The Cigar’s right-hand man. But after she left him, we could only speculate how much she was able to save – but her book has also earned her a substantial income, and, better yet, the film rights to the actual book are said to be more substantial, perhaps resulting in a cozy nest egg.
At the end of the day, Marisa Lankester's life story is a testament to the complexities of navigating a world filled with high risks, moral highs and lows, and legal ambiguities. From her privileged beginnings to her entanglement in illegal sports betting, and ultimately to her efforts to share her story with the world, Marisa's journey demonstrates the profound impact of personal choices and the resilience required to overcome adversity. She says it best in the end: “Being arrested three times in the United States and charged with illegal gambling did not stop me from bookmaking. Nor did it deter me from moving offshore to take bets. People have been gambling since the beginning of mankind and they are going to continue to do so in ever increasing numbers.”
Now, at least, sports betting is no longer the clandestine activity it was a few years ago – it has become legal and regulated in over 38 states, and this number is only set to grow in the coming years. But its beginnings were fraught with maneuverings done behind the scenes, and only the lucky few were brave enough to tell their story. Marisa was one of them.
