What would make a straight-A student, loving husband, and father of two paint his face black, put on a Bob Marley wig, grab a gun, and start robbing bodegas in Newark, New Jersey?

For Bo Joseph, it wasn’t greed. It was gambling — the invisible addiction that nearly took everything.

In this jaw-dropping episode of Nothing’s Off the Table, host Louis Ruggiero sits down with Bo, the author of An American Loser, for one of the most shocking, brutally honest comeback stories ever told. From being minutes away from abortion to building a $20-million business empire, Bo’s journey is a rollercoaster of chaos, crime, desperation, and redemption.

Before the money, before the mob threats, and long before success, Bo was a teenager just trying to save his family’s home. What started with $5 handball games in the schoolyard turned into a compulsive gambling spiral that left him owing hundreds of thousands of dollars to violent bookies and loan sharks. When the debts piled up, he stole, scammed, and lied — and when that wasn’t enough, he crossed the line most people never could.

“I painted my face black, put on a Bob Marley wig, and robbed bodegas to pay off my gambling debts.”

Bo’s story gets darker: mobsters beat him in public, his wife was terrorized, and his daughter was handed a note at school that said, “Next time, she won’t come home.”

That was his breaking point.

What happened next was a moment of pure transformation — a decision that changed his life forever. From that night on, Bo swore he would never gamble again. He started from nothing — sleeping in his mother’s pink childhood bedroom, working minimum-wage jobs, rebuilding his integrity piece by piece.

Now, decades later, Bo is a respected businessman, husband, and father again — living proof that even the darkest rock bottom can lead to redemption if you’re willing to face the truth.

This conversation isn’t just about gambling. It’s about the human condition — addiction, survival, forgiveness, and rebirth.

If you’ve ever battled demons, chased losses, or wondered how far desperation can push a person — this episode will shake you to your core.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices