LAS VEGAS — In the early hours of June 22, Greg Matson sat at the long bar at the Westgate SuperBook, highlights from Friday’s game playing on giant screens stretching from left to right.
But he was focused on his smartphone, propped horizontally on top of a video poker machine, watching a live Korean baseball game, as he boasted to his customers about the 11-plus runs the NC Dinos had scored in a game against the SSG Landers, with the Landers leading 9-3 in the top of the fourth inning.
The KBO watched intently as always.
Occasionally, bartenders and other patrons would ask about the small screen: “What are you looking at on your phone?” they said.
Similar scenes can be seen at spots like the Golden Nugget, Harrah’s and Matson’s in Lake Tahoe, and at Beer Thirty in Santa Cruz, Calif., where nearly every liquor store and bar employee knows him.
Matson, 40, has overcome a lot, from a love of baseball that began at his grandfather’s beach house in Capitola to career-changing Tommy John surgery and entering the KBO handicapping ranks in 2019.
I’ve been trying to write an ode to the KBO ever since the coronavirus pandemic all but shut down sports around the world in 2020. Thankfully, Korean baseball was barely broadcast on ESPN during those chaotic months.
Matson had confidently scouted the game while making money for his handicapping clients at California Wager. He knew all about the KBO when it was the only game on television. Through a mutual friend, I met Matson later that Saturday.
“I just went with the flow,” he says. “For the past three years, I’d been working really hard, 16-18 hours a day, putting out content, coming up with new angles, etc. When everything shut down, I still had something to talk about.
“The early success was huge, the momentum was huge. The trend was obvious. It was so easy to beat, that’s why some sportsbooks didn’t even post odds for the KBO.”
Selective shopping
Matson has expanded into college baseball, having performed well in some areas in the past.
When Penn State visited Stanford’s Klein Field at the Sunken Diamond, a short walk from Matson’s home, in late February, he knew the Cardinal were losing and the Nittany Lions were solid.
Matson had 10 betting slots and bet on Penn State to win Game 1 at +330, which ended up being 15-4. He bet on Game 2 at +320, with Penn State winning 13-2. He bet on Game 3 at +290, with Penn State losing 9-5.
The California Wager generated a profit of 5.5 units on this series alone, and a staggering profit margin of 110 units on the campaign that just ended with Tennessee winning the College World Series.
Florida State won the lion’s share of the money, cashing in 25-to-1 futures tickets just to travel to Omaha, Neb., the site of the CWS. Overall, Cal Wager finished with 208 wins, 86 losses and 3 ties in college baseball in 2024.
When I met Matson, his horses had won five of the last six days. Since 2019, he has recorded a whopping 356 KBO wins. Monthly rates start at $50.
His record in the KBO this season is 49 wins, 44 losses and two ties, giving him a 5.7-point lead, which he attributes to the juice the shop has lowered from +150 to +125 and -120 to -140.
College basketball, football, NASCAR and golf are also among his targets.
Last weekend’s Rocket Mortgage Classic VIP card payout of 20 units was bet on Akshay Bhatia and Ming Woo Lee to finish in the top five or top 30, but they both finished in a four-way tie for second place.
In his five years of spot betting golf, this is his best return on investment. Many top players turned down Detroit.
“We don’t have a lot of big-name players so I felt more comfortable attacking some younger guys. I’ve been cautious with the VIP stuff until I have a good system in place and can really trust what I’m seeing,” he said.
Touching the grass
Matson fell in love with baseball as a kid growing up in his grandfather’s beach house in Capitola, east of Santa Cruz, with a wiffle ball and bat in one hand and a cocktail in the other, as Richard Lynn hit liners at him.
“It was a missile,” Matson said. “I was my father’s only grandson, and he was determined to raise me to be a baseball player.”
Lynn died in 2011 at age 95. Not long ago, at the family’s Monterey residence, Dave Matson woke up just before 5 a.m. to begin his usual financial duties and find Greg sitting at the table.
With charts, notes, an open computer and a flat-screen TV watching KBO baseball games, Matson was preparing for the day ahead. He also has two children from a broken marriage.
The brave new world of sports betting may be unknown to many parents, but it has brought Matson stability and success.
“My dad always worked hard and still does,” Matson said. “He’s my hero. He was definitely a big influence on me and always motivated me and pushed me.”
Logan asks his father, “Did you have a good day? Are you awake?” Matson responds, “Dude, you’re seven! Stop it.”
“It’s motivating,” Matson says with a laugh, “and it shows.” [Logan] Consistency.”
“Touch the grass,” Matson said. On Tuesday, he took Logan, who prefers to play barefoot, to the golf course.
“That’s a motto I tell everyone, from my clients to my kids,” Matson says. “It’s important to get out there, put things in perspective, and understand that there’s more to life than just a job.”
