Marisa J. Lankester (born 1963) is a memoirist whose 2014 book, ''Dangerous Odds'', told the story of her life, from growing up privileged in the suburbs of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and post-grad years in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia, Canada, to working in the heart of the largest illegal

sports betting Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. Sports bettors place their wagers either legally, through a sportsbook or bookmaker (colloquially known as "bookies"), or illegally through priva ...

operation in US history, including arrests in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and Dominican Republic), to living a comfortable life in Switzerland. The book won three awards. In January 2015 discussions began for a movie based on the book starring

Margot Robbie Margot Elise Robbie ( ; born 2 July 1990) is an Australian actress and producer. Her work includes both blockbuster and independent films, and her accolades include nominations for three Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and six BAFT ...

as Lankester.

Early Bookmaking Years

Marisa Lankester was born in Rome, and raised in

Westchester County, NY Westchester County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The county is the seventh most populous county ...

by an English father who worked at the United Nations and German mother, and attended the all-girls Catholic independent Ursuline School. She attended

Marymount Manhattan College Marymount Manhattan College is a private college on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. As of 2020, enrollment consisted of 1,571 undergraduate students with women making up 80.1% and men 19.9% of student enrollment. Columbia University Masters ...

before moving to Vancouver, BC, and later to Los Angeles, CA In June 1987, Lankester was arrested on charges of bookmaking, along with six other employees, after Los Angeles sheriffs, aided by information by two FBI informants, raided the office where she worked as a clerk for Ron (the Cigar) Sacco, operator of a sophisticated horse racing and sports betting operation that processed "at least $40 million" in bets in 1986 and considered the biggest bookmaker in American history. Lankester married Sacco's right-hand man, Tony Ballestrasse, in 1987 and gave birth to a daughter before locating with Sacco's operation to

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

where gambling was legal; although a top model on the Island, she was jailed twice and endured repeated rapes after the FBI and local police raided Sacco’s headquarters in January 1992 (at the time the operation was taking in $100 million/month in bets and considered the "nerve center of American sports betting.") Dominican police corruption included hiding Lankester from the FBI against her will. As an insider, Lankester was also aware of the role off-shore (shell companies) played in Sacco's operation.

Later years

Retiring permanently from bookmaking in 1994, she moved back to New York in 1996 to attend college in Manhattan. She remarried and moved to Switzerland where she had her second daughter (later divorced). She currently resides in

Zürich, Switzerland Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

with her family. Lankester was interviewed by the NY Daily News and active in debates surrounding US gambling laws (refer "Works" below) including input on the recent ban reversal in pro-sports. She published her memoirs, ''Dangerous Odds'', with the book rights optioned in 2015 by

Warner Bros Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American film studio, filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and th ...

to become a motion picture starring

and screenplay by

Andrea Berloff Andrea Berloff (born April 7, 1974) is an American screenwriter, actress, director, and producer. Berloff is best known for writing the screenplays for the drama films ''World Trade Center (film), World Trade Center'' and ''Straight Outta Compto ...

. On February 27, 2018, it was announced that BoldFilms is financing the movie. . Lankester did not approve of the way Bold / Berloff / Robbie wanted to tell her story and declined to further pursue this cooperation. In an April 2019 interview, Lankester expanded on her current life and movie development activities.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lankester, Marisa Living people 1963 births American memoirists American women memoirists 21st-century American women writers