Why bookie at heart of Ippei Mizuhara saga never asked if Ohtani knew about gambling
Bob Nightengale
USA TODAY
The party was planned months ago to celebrate Mathew Bowyer’s 50th birthday Friday with 140 family members and friends who stuck by him during his troubled times, and only those he still wanted to remain in his life.
This was not only going to be a lavish five-hour affair at the Bottega Angelina restaurant in Laguna Niguel, California but also a celebration of life and bringing closure to a dark chapter in his life.
It was the day, April 4, Bowyer was also going to be sentenced by the federal government for running one of the largest illegal bookmaking operations in the country, captivating the nation and all of Japan, with the ugly involvement of
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.
Bowyer’s sentencing has instead been delayed to Oct. 3, giving him more time to get his life in order, but also adding six more months of stress while thinking about his fate.
“I would have preferred to get this over with, man," Bowyer told USA TODAY Sports. “I know people have told me that the longer the delay, the better for sentencing. It’s just the anxiety of the unknown that sucks.
“I feel like I’m in a pickle between second and third base, but closer to second base."
Bowyer, who pleaded guilty last August to running an illegal gambling business, money laundering and false tax returns, faces 18 years in prison, but says he expects receive a sentence of 17 to 37 months after cooperating with government officials. He’ll certainly receive a lighter penalty than the
57 months in prison that Mizuhara was sentenced for bank and tax fraud, and stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani.
Mizuhara, one of more than 700 clients of Bowyer, placed at least 19,000 bets in excess of $300 million with Bowyer’s bookmaking operation from Sept. 2021 to Jan. 2024, gambling up to $100,000 a game.
It’s the Ohtani-Mizuhara relationship that has fascinated film producers and national media outlets. Bowyer says he has written a 87,000 word, 16-chapter book on his life called, “Recalibrate," that will also be published once he knows his fate.
“My life was like the 'Wolf of Wall Street,’ but if Shohei’s name wasn’t involved in this,’’ Bowyer said, “nobody would give a [expletive] about me. You’re talking about the biggest athlete in the world. I don’t think we’ll ever see a player like this again in our lifetime."
We may also spend the rest of Ohtani’s lifetime wondering just how much Ohtani knew about Mizuhara’s gambling addiction, and whether he had even the slightest involvement.
“I know the whole world wants to know," Bowyer says, “but to this day, I truly don’t know. They are the only two people in the world who really know the truth, Shohei and Ippei.
“I truly believe that Shohei doesn’t gamble, but I think he knew some area of demise with Ippei, just maybe not to that extent."
The federal government and Major League Baseball believe Ohtani was nothing more than a victim of fraud. He was quickly cleared by federal investigators and MLB of having no knowledge that Mizuhara was stealing from his account, nor aware of any of the 19,000 bets Mizuhara placed with Bowyer for nearly 2 ½ years.
“It’s definitely possible Ohtani didn’t know anything, but plausible is a different answer," Bowyer says. “I gambled bigger than most. I hid my emotions better than most. But you can only hide so much when you’re in serious turmoil. And clearly, he was in serious turmoil.
“If this is true that Ippei was the guy, and gambling all by himself the whole time, I don’t know how you could hide that from your best friend, someone you were with almost 24 hours a day? They were inseparable.
“And if you really could hide that from his best friend for so long – then how could Shohei Ohtani not see $17 million gone from his account?"
While Mizuhara has been proven to be a degenerate gambler, there is not a shred of evidence he ever bet on baseball. Not a single bet involving was made with Bowyer involved baseball, Bowyer insists, which was supported by the federal government and MLB’s investigations.
Bowyer says MLB never interviewed him during its investigation, but a person with direct knowledge of the MLB investigation said an attempt to contact Bowyer was rebuffed by his attorney.
“My obligation was to the federal government," Bowyer says. “If we had wanted to talk, there was really no value in it for me."
Considering the exorbitant amount of the wagers, Bowyer assumed all along that Ohtani was aware of Mizuhara’s gambling addiction, particularly with
Ohtani's name on multiple $500,000 wire transfers. Yet, he never met Ohtani. Never talked to Ohtani. Never once sought the truth.
“I never had a discission with Ippei directly on who’s making the bets," says Bowyer, who originally met Mizuhara at a private poker game in 2021 after an Angels-Padres game in San Diego. “People ask me all of the time, 'Why wouldn’t you?’ I say, 'Why would I?’ It’s not my business to pry into their business. How are they getting the money? Who’s betting for who? There comes a point where you don’t want the answer, and I was afraid of the truth.
“I didn’t do drugs. I didn’t harm people. I was just a businessman providing a service to people."
Once Bowyer serves his time, he wants to prove a different type of service. He wants to help athletes avoid the gambling web that ensnared five minor league players last season, including
Tucupita Marcano, a former
San Diego Padres player who received a lifetime ban for placing more than $150,000 worth of bets on baseball games.
Umpire Pat Hoberg, considered one of the game’s finest home plate umpires, was fired last season for his involvement with sports gambling. Atlanta minor leaguer
David Fletcher, who placed smaller wagers on football games with Bowyer, still is being investigated by MLB.
“He never bet on baseball, he just bet on sports," Bowyer said of Fletcher, who was also a golfing buddy. “I feel bad for him. This tarnished him. He did nothing wrong in my opinion. He was just doing what I think more than half of the athletes are doing."
MLB, which is trying to balance its partnerships with legal sports betting companies while maintaining the integrity of the game, permits its players to bet on other sports, but only if it’s done legally in states where sports betting is allowed. California remains one of 12 states that has not legalized gambling.
Bowyer believes that about 50% of athletes gamble on other sports. Most of the gambling is legal, but there, of course, are outliers in all sports with
Jontay Porter of the Toronto Raptors receiving a lifetime ban last year after providing confidential information to sport gamblers.
“Athletes are always going to bet on sports," Bowyer says. “They are competitive people. But at the end of the day, how do they control it? It’s really sad to see some of these guys ruin their lives over this. There’s a big problem here, I don’t know what the exact answer is, but they have to figure it out fast."
Bowyer, who went from a Chevy’s restaurant waiter to a stock broker to purchasing $550,000 cars and flying on private planes and staying in presidential suites, details his life story in his book. He also opened social media accounts six months ago on X and
Instagram.
Bowyer says he "wants to be hired by the NFL or MLB to come sit down and talk to these kids and tell them how to avoid these mistakes ... I want to make them aware of making better choices, better decisions and avoiding these things.
“I’d like to save other people from taking the same footsteps and falling in the same mistakes I made."
In the meantime, Bowyer awaits his sentencing. His court case will be presided over by the same judge who sentenced Mizuhara: U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb.
Bowyer, who grew up a Boston Red Sox fan because of Roger Clemens, says he has cut all of the bad influences out of his life. He’s eager to see what lies ahead and says companies are vying to do a documentary. Video and podcast crews are already filming episodes with Bowyer to be released in the future.
“When you have $5 to $6 million on a football game," Bowyer says, “that adrenaline rush is really hard to replace. But you can still find it in something else, and in my case, its rebuilding my life. I have five kids to feed. I want to leave a legacy for them. I want them to see how their dad dealt with adversity.
“I don’t go hiding in a corner. I don’t resort to drugs and alcohol. I resort to rebuilding my life."
Bowyer, who spoke for five minutes at his birthday party, thanking everyone for being part of his life, says he’s much more emotional than he’s ever been in his life. He no longer takes anything for granted. Not since that morning in October 2023 when federal agents raided his home.
“Everything is so heightened now," Bowyer says. “My freedom. Time with my family. Time with friends. I loved the gambling, the traveling, but sitting on a couch now, doing nothing, watching baseball games on my own, I’m enjoying it. I go to the beach now more than I have in 50 years, walking my dogs, watching my kids play volleyball, just enjoying life.
“I never wanted the FBI to raid my home, but you know, it’s been a blessing in a lot of ways.
“Truly, it gives me a chance to recalibrate."
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