Other poker news goes here.
Buy these useless cruise miles I have a friend who tends to book travel through whatever website seems to have the best price. I always tell them to just book directly through the airline, hotel, rental car company, etc. whenever possible, but that doesn’t always happen. It has caused my friend problems, but nothing dire.… Read more »
Pat Hoberg could return in a year Major League Baseball has fired umpire Pat Hoberg after a year-long investigation and appeals process for violating league rules on gambling. Interestingly, MLB is confident that Hoberg did not bet on baseball games, did not give anyone insider information on games, and did not umpire in such a… Read more »
No official charges or accusations yet The NBA gambling scandal centered around former Toronto Raptor Jontay Porter may be larger than it previously appeared. The Wall Street Journal reports that federal prosecutors are investigating the Miami Heat’s Terry Rozier for possibly manipulating his own performance for betting purposes. Investigators believe that the same group that… Read more »
Begging for some sort of leniency As part of their case against Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, federal prosecutors presented recordings of phone calls with the bank during which the interpreter pretended to be the world-famous slugger. Last Thursday, prosecutors recommended a 57-month sentence for Ippei Mizuhara, who in June pleaded guilty… Read more »
The Global Poker Index and The Hendon Mob have announced the finalists for the 6th Annual Global Poker Awards. Most categories went through multiple rounds of voting before being whittled down to the nominees that were revealed this week. A few awards have already been determined based on 2024 leaderboard standings. Finishing atop the Global… Read more »
Cheap rooms, cheap eats The owner of Circus Circus Las Vegas has indicated that he may soon sell the north Strip casino. Speaking with Forbes, 89-year-old Phil Ruffin said that he has been approached by potential buyers. “Let’s just say there is interest,” he said. “It’s worth $5 billion.” Circus Circus has seen better days.… Read more »
Unusually large bets One can argue whether the spread of legal sports betting in the United States is good, bad, or somewhere in between, but one thing it has certainly done is make detecting shenanigans much easier. ESPN has reported that because of suspiciously large bets, two Eastern Michigan men’s basketball games are being investigated.… Read more »
The World Poker Tour is launching ClubWPT Gold, a free-to-play sweepstakes poker platform, with a $5 million freeroll tournament offering life-changing prizes, including a $1 million top payout. The World Poker Tour (WPT) is setting the stage for a new chapter in its storied history by entering the U.S. sweepstakes market. The brand, already a… Read more »
More than a year after the largest casino theft in the history of Colorado, prosecutors have decided to drop all charges against the employee who actually took $500,000 out of the casino vault. After an extensive investigation, the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office determined that Sabrina Eddy had fallen victim to a scam when she… Read more »
Marcano bet on his own team Major League Baseball (MLB) has banned San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for betting on baseball. In Tuesday’s announcement, the league said that he placed 387 bets, including 231 that involved MLB teams, in two stretches in 2022 and 2023. What got him banned for life, though, was that… Read more »
A long time coming A woman has been arrested for allegedly colluding with a table game dealer at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in 2023. According to KLAS, Yuk Wong faces five felony counts of cheating at a gambling game and one felony count of conspiring to cheat at a gambling game. The Nevada Gaming… Read more »
If you can figure out how to start your own legal, regulated gambling company, I suggest you do it because boy, is it ever easy to make money (unless you’re Donald Trump, apparently). As they say, the glitzy casinos in Las Vegas weren’t built because people win. Case in point: according to sports gambling reporter… Read more »
More Ohtani connections Major League Baseball (MLB) has launched an investigation into allegations of illegal betting by David Fletcher, a former Los Angeles Angel now playing for the Atlanta Braves’ Triple-A squad. Specifically, ESPN has reported that David Fletcher bet on sports with Mathew Bowyer, the illegal bookie who took millions in bets from Shohei… Read more »
Thousands of jobs lost The Mirage will be no longer two months from now. On Wednesday, Resort President Joe Lupo gathered staff to let everybody know that the famed Las Vegas Strip casino and hotel will close on July 17, 2024 as it prepares for its transformation into Hard Rock Las Vegas. It was originally… Read more »
The Mohegan Tribe has announced that it will stop operating Virgin Hotels Las Vegas by the end of this year. In a joint statement with Mohegan, Virgin said that Cliff Atkinson, President of Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, will manage the property once Mohegan exits. “Mohegan’s partnership with Virgin Hotels Las Vegas was, upon inception, and… Read more »
Dwight Manley, the former sports agent and casino high roller who claims he was drugged while gambling at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, has doubled the reward he is offering for information leading to the conviction of the person who allegedly spiked his drink. What was once a $500,000 reward is now $1 million.… Read more »
Performing quite the tap dance, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said that the league was “dragged into legalized sports betting,” while at the same time being better off today now that wagering is out in the open. Speaking at the 2024 Associated Press Sports Editors Commissioners Meetings, Manfred was asked if the league’s position on gambling… Read more »
Reining things in? In the wake of Jontay Porter’s lifetime ban from the NBA for gambling infractions, the league is reportedly talking to sportsbooks about limiting the types of bets that can be offered on games. Both ESPN and Legal Sports Report have said their sources tell them that some ideas being bounced around are… Read more »
Before you read this, please be sure you are sitting down. What you are about to learn is so shocking that you might need some time to recover. Researchers from UNLV and the University of New Mexico (UNM) have found that sports bettors are more likely to binge drink than non-gamblers or those who partake… Read more »
In what seems like just an awful, awful idea and just a cynical money grab, Dave & Buster’s has announced that it will soon offer customers the ability to place bets on games. The restaurant-arcade giant will seemingly get around gambling laws because the wagers will be on “skill” games, not games of chance. Dave… Read more »
I would say nice try, but…. If you are a regular reader of my articles, and I am confident that you are not (because even my wife and parents aren’t), you know that I like a stupid gambling-related crime or scandal now and again. And what’s nice about this one is that it ties in… Read more »
Method to the madness You ever think to yourself when the lottery jackpot gets crazy high, “Man, I wish I could just buy all the number combinations?” Well, someone did just that in Texas and won. The person or persons who did it are unknown, as they bought the tickets under name of a limited… Read more »
The NBA has announced that it has banned Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter for violations of the league’s gambling policy, including tipping-off bettors as to his health status, removing himself from games to affect prop bets, and betting on NBA games. In a statement detailing some of the league’s findings, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said,… Read more »
Earlier, we talked about the ongoing Jontay Porter betting investigation, so let’s cleanse our palettes and talk about a positive NBA story. Boban Marjanović, who stands 7 feet, 4 inches tall, is a treasure of a human being. From Serbia, Marjanović has been in the NBA since 2015 and while he has been a limited-action… Read more »
It might turn out to be nothing, but a new report details the extent to which the Toronto Raptors’ Jontay Porter was involved in sports betting. Porter, who is under investigation for his potential role in suspicious NBA wagering, reportedly bet millions of dollars on FanDuel from 2021-2023, this according to Action Network. Action Network… Read more »
