Bruce The Bookie: Real Life Story Gambling Sport
Australian History Memoir Biography True Crime Criminology Horse Racing Organised Crime Sports Gambling
Bruce the Bookie: Real Life Story Gambling Sport is the gripping, 182-page paperback memoir that true-crime and racing fans have been hunting for. Co-written by Grantley Bernard and Australian basketball legend Lindsay Gaze, it recounts Bruce’s rise from humble turf accountant to the biggest illegal bookmaker in Victoria, his inside view of the notorious “Fitzroy Syndicate,” and the police pressure that ultimately landed him in Pentridge Prison. Packed with track-side anecdotes, colorful Melbourne underworld characters, and first-hand details of the tactics used to stay one step ahead of the law, the narrative reads like a fast-paced thriller while remaining solidly non-fiction.
What makes this copy especially appealing to collectors is its pristine, very-good condition: clean, unmarked pages, no ex-library stamps, no inscriptions, and a tight, square spine that shows no sign of the usual reading creases. Because the title was never reprinted in large numbers, finding an unmolested paperback is increasingly difficult—this is the edition that regional-history buffs and true-crime completists routinely list as “missing from my shelf.”
For readers beyond the racing fraternity, Bruce the Bookie doubles as a social history of 1960s–1980s Australia, touching on changing gambling laws, police corruption inquiries, and the cultural shift from SP betting to the totalisator. Young-adult and adult audiences alike will appreciate the candid reflections on risk, loyalty, and the price of living outside the law, making the book a perfect discussion piece for criminology courses, local-history groups, or anyone who loves a no-holds-barred autobiography.
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