Bill is his name, and gambling is his game. In particular, baseball is the game of choice for Billy Marzano from Seminole, Florida.

Bill grew up engulfed in spring training baseball in the Tampa/St. Pete area. Ask him the lineup of any team in the big leagues during the 1980s, and he'll rattle it off like he's reciting the pitching matchups for tomorrow's MLB slate.

When it comes to baseball, no handicapper in America will outwork Marzano. His summer days consist of sports pages, box scores, pitching matchups and umpires. Most of all, his days are spent watching games and picking apart the players who are playing well and/or slumping.

Bill isn't a stats dork who crunches numbers all day. He's familiar with the personnel and knows the ins and outs of the game. Most importantly, he was a player himself before shoulder woes ended his playing career.

As a former player, Marzano knows when a pitcher has a tired arm, and he knows when a hitter has no chance against a hot hurler. To Bill, it's all about matchups, tendencies and production.

Bill spent the late 1990s living in Las Vegas and slamming the books. But now he's back in the Sunshine State, where he often visits spring training camps in preparation for the upcoming baseball campaign.

Marzano began handicapping for VI in 2004, finishing second in money during the '04-'05 NBA season with a tally of plus 3,490. His "dime clients" netted a payoff of $34,900 for the year despite a slump in the playoffs.