Ezekiel Logan "Zeke" Caress (1884–1968) was an American bookmaker. He worked in Mexico at the Agua Caliente race track and at Santa Anita in California.[1] He bought Jim Jeffries' saloon at 326 S. Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles in 1917, and the building became something like a central headquarters for the Los Angeles organized crime organization run by Guy McAfee that was known as the Syndicate.[1] Caress was sometimes called the "king of the bookies".[2] He handled off-track betting for clients, including reportedly actors of the Los Angeles film industry, and according to Time magazine in 1935 readily took bets of US$25,000 (equivalent to $555,583 in 2023).[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Local lads grabbed early rackets, graft". Daily News. 1952-03-21. p. 47. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
- ^ "Ask New Trial in Race Track Gambling Case". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 1920-10-07. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
- ^ "Sport: At Churchill Downs". Time. 1935-05-13. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
External links
edit- jhgraham (2016-12-04). "Zeke Caress". J. H. Graham. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
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