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Monsieur X: The incredible story of the most audacious gambler in history
*William Hill Sports Book of the Year award winning author*
Monsieur X is a dazzling tale of glamour, riches, violence and ultimately tragedy.
Patrice des Moutis was a handsome, charming and well-educated Frenchman with an aristocratic family, a respectable insurance business, and a warm welcome in the smartest Parisian salons. He was also a compulsive gambler and illegal bookie.
Between the late 1950s and the early 1970s, Des Moutis made a daring attempt to beat the French state-run betting system. His success so alarmed the authorities that they repeatedly changed the rules of betting in an effort to stop him. And so a battle of wills began, all played out on the front pages of the daily newspapers as the general public willed Des Moutis on to ever greater triumphs. He remained one step ahead of the law until finally the government criminalized his activities, driving him into the arms of the underworld. Eventually the net began to close, high-profile characters found themselves the target of the state's investigation, and people began turning up dead.
Monsieur X is a dazzling tale of glamour, riches, violence and ultimately tragedy.
Patrice des Moutis was a handsome, charming and well-educated Frenchman with an aristocratic family, a respectable insurance business, and a warm welcome in the smartest Parisian salons. He was also a compulsive gambler and illegal bookie.
Between the late 1950s and the early 1970s, Des Moutis made a daring attempt to beat the French state-run betting system. His success so alarmed the authorities that they repeatedly changed the rules of betting in an effort to stop him. And so a battle of wills began, all played out on the front pages of the daily newspapers as the general public willed Des Moutis on to ever greater triumphs. He remained one step ahead of the law until finally the government criminalized his activities, driving him into the arms of the underworld. Eventually the net began to close, high-profile characters found themselves the target of the state's investigation, and people began turning up dead.
- GenresBiographyNonfiction
320 pages, Hardcover
Published May 8, 2018
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33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 23, 2019
This true story of 1960s and 1970s French racing life through the lens of Patrice Des Moutis - named Monsieur X in court documents - as he took on the PMU, the monopoly betting pool provider who went to war with him, was quite enjoyable.
The story is quite well known in certain circles, and Jamie Reid retells it well, prompted he says in the acknowledgements by conversations with Victor Chandler, who knew Patrice well.
So why marked down? I might be being harsh, but...
There is no insight here into how Patrice walked away with millions in prize money - in fact I’m left with the view he was more involved in the criminal elements from Marseille and Corsica than he might have let on - but Reid paints a picture of a dashing and suave character, taking on the bureaucratic machine like 007 takes on a table at Baccarat, without us really understanding how he lucked out the way he did.
Whilst the background on the Algerian war and the OAS gave a little flavour of what France felt like in those years, the detail feels a little laboured in this context, and took something away from the pace of the story.
The final chapters have a sense as serving as a naming exercise of long-dead Mediterranean mafia types, and so the book limps a little towards the end.
By the last page, it is not obvious what really happened through all of this, but it’s a well told story that kept me entertained as a racing and betting fan, there were just elements that left me feeling like I was dealing with detail that didn’t help me gel with Monsieur X himself.
The story is quite well known in certain circles, and Jamie Reid retells it well, prompted he says in the acknowledgements by conversations with Victor Chandler, who knew Patrice well.
So why marked down? I might be being harsh, but...
There is no insight here into how Patrice walked away with millions in prize money - in fact I’m left with the view he was more involved in the criminal elements from Marseille and Corsica than he might have let on - but Reid paints a picture of a dashing and suave character, taking on the bureaucratic machine like 007 takes on a table at Baccarat, without us really understanding how he lucked out the way he did.
Whilst the background on the Algerian war and the OAS gave a little flavour of what France felt like in those years, the detail feels a little laboured in this context, and took something away from the pace of the story.
The final chapters have a sense as serving as a naming exercise of long-dead Mediterranean mafia types, and so the book limps a little towards the end.
By the last page, it is not obvious what really happened through all of this, but it’s a well told story that kept me entertained as a racing and betting fan, there were just elements that left me feeling like I was dealing with detail that didn’t help me gel with Monsieur X himself.
May 3, 2021
A very nice and enjoyable read of an intriguing charachter in French racing circles from the 1960s and 70s. The author provides some nice background to monsieur x and historical context to French life during this period. Highly recommended for serious racing fan of for more casual general sports fans like myself.
December 7, 2020
This is indeed an incredible story...but a very sad one, too. Patrice des Moutis is the sort of character that modern day horse racing sorely misses, and Jamie Reid does a wonderful job introducing you to the man, his great charm and undeniable brilliance.
People say that the French move the goalposts and invent rules and laws to suit themselves but not their enemies. But here is an example where jealousy caused them to cut of their nose to spite their own face: cruelly driving one of their own to tragically take his own life.
Quel Dommage!
People say that the French move the goalposts and invent rules and laws to suit themselves but not their enemies. But here is an example where jealousy caused them to cut of their nose to spite their own face: cruelly driving one of their own to tragically take his own life.
Quel Dommage!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews