Bill Cosby’s Degenerate Gambling Habit

Bill Cosby had an enabler who not only supplied him with young women, but would also place big money sports bets for him!

At the height of his "Cosby Show" 1980's fame, the crass comedian gambled hundreds of thousands of dollars with bookmakers on pro football games, specifically on his favorite team, the Miami Dolphins, says a former bookie and Mafia family member. “He loved them, bet on them every week,” recalled Chris Colombo — son of infamous crime boss Joseph Colombo.

Columbo claims to have had knowledge of Cosby’s wagers but did not handle them personally. That job went to Frank Scotti, an NBC facilities manager who phoned in the bets for him. He later became Cosby’s personal assistant. Scotti admitted years later that he was the comic's go-to guy when it came to paying off both the bookies and the women, some of whom he is accused of sexually molesting. Scotti would carry Cosby's cash to and from the bookies in bags and would later burn the betting slips, according to Columbo.

Colombo recalled Cosby being most active for four years in the mid-1980's, placing $5,000 on each week on Dolphins' games. That amount doubled if the team made the playoffs, which they did frequently at that time with Hall of Famer Dan Marino quarterbacking them. He came out on the losing end betting on Miami to win Super Bowl XIX in 1985 — dropping $20,000 in the San Francisco 49ers' easy 38-16 win.

Colombo, who remembered meeting Cosby at that time though mutual friend Sammy Davis, Jr. , served a year behind bars himself for running a multi-million dollar bookmaking operation. He also recalled the comic's "code name" when engaging in his gambling activities as, "Dr. Huxtable.”