OT: Is this the result of the marriage between sports betting and sports?

[dcf4psu]

NBA stars and mafia among more than 30 arrested in illegal gambling crackdown as Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier arrested - follow live

NBA stars Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones are among those arrested in two illegal gambling cases, according to the FBI.

www.bbc.com

Not good.

 

[BobPSU92]

I’m sure it’s all just a misunderstanding.

 

[PSUSignore]

Watching ESPN turn off the sports ticker with the ESPN Bet ads in the corner while actively reporting this story was amusing.

 

[Erial_Lion]

NBA stars and mafia among more than 30 arrested in illegal gambling crackdown as Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier arrested - follow live

NBA stars Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones are among those arrested in two illegal gambling cases, according to the FBI.

www.bbc.com

Not good.

From the sports betting (non-poker) point of it...

It's a result of it from a positive standpoint...pre-legalization, stuff like this would likely never have been uncovered. But now that people are placing some of these bets through legal channels, they are flagged, investigated, and ultimately uncovered. It's another example of how legalizing it is helping to clean up sports.

 

[Warlerski]

NBA stars and mafia among more than 30 arrested in illegal gambling crackdown as Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier arrested - follow live

NBA stars Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones are among those arrested in two illegal gambling cases, according to the FBI.

www.bbc.com

Not good.

NBA stars and mafia among more than 30 arrested in illegal gambling crackdown as Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier arrested - follow live

NBA stars Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones are among those arrested in two illegal gambling cases, according to the FBI.

www.bbc.com

Not good.

I think a big problem is sports betting addiction. I would bet (pun intended) that there are thousands of mostly males who are in debt up to their nose from it and the wife/girlfriend doesn't know it. At least not yet.

 

[s1uggo72]

I think a big problem is sports betting addiction. I would bet (pun intended) that there are thousands of mostly males who are in debt up to their nose from it and the wife/girlfriend doesn't know it. At least not yet.

I wouldn't take that bet. I have a friend who is a mid level manager at the local plant, so how much does he make? IDK but I saw him make 10 $250 NBA bets on Wednesday night. There were more on the weekends etc, let alone college and pro football. And yes he lives in a rat trap and drove a junk car, and had cleaned out his 401k. He tells me he stopped doing that, but IDK, he did recently lease a car so maybe he has.

 

[KingLando]

I wouldn't take that bet. I have a friend who is a mid level manager at the local plant, so how much does he make? IDK but I saw him make 10 $250 NBA bets on Wednesday night. There were more on the weekends etc, let alone college and pro football. And yes he lives in a rat trap and drove a junk car, and had cleaned out his 401k. He tells me he stopped doing that, but IDK, he did recently lease a car so maybe he has.

I'm sure that's a common story. I wager a lot but I set limits so I dont just throw money on games because I lost a couple trying to break even. That ends badly.

 

[ChiefJusticeMarshall]

The big thing now....with all of these betting sites is not point shaving or throwing games.....it is these prop bets. You know, Billups has a o/u of scoring 14.5 points this game and he misses or passes up a shot because someone paid him off to stay under. Or a WR with like 4.5 catches, and he drops one or runs lazy routes. Just like the Indians pitcher who they bet his first pitch would be a ball and it was.

That is new "fixing" brought by all of these gambling sites where you can bet on anything.

 

[NoSoup4U]

I wouldn't take that bet. I have a friend who is a mid level manager at the local plant, so how much does he make? IDK but I saw him make 10 $250 NBA bets on Wednesday night. There were more on the weekends etc, let alone college and pro football. And yes he lives in a rat trap and drove a junk car, and had cleaned out his 401k. He tells me he stopped doing that, but IDK, he did recently lease a car so maybe he has.

 

[Pa$ky859]

I think a big problem is sports betting addiction. I would bet (pun intended) that there are thousands of mostly males who are in debt up to their nose from it and the wife/girlfriend doesn't know it. At least not yet.

Just watched this happen with a friend.

None of us knew until he was in very deep and lost his home. His wife was the type who let him handle all the finances. Now they are divorced. It’s sad. I knew he was playing draft kings, etc a ton, but I had no idea how compulsive he was.

 

[PSU Mike]

I think a big problem is sports betting addiction. I would bet (pun intended) that there are thousands of mostly males who are in debt up to their nose from it and the wife/girlfriend doesn't know it. At least not yet.

Ruined my best friend’s life in the course of only 1-2 years, or at least that was his ex’s contention. I never asked him directly but he did admit to making a big mistake after the fact, and he clearly has a fraction of money he once had (and even before the divorce).

 

[mh-larch]

I agree sports betting has gone too far. But the stories I read indicate this was illegal poker games tied to the mob and the players are accused of steering "fish" to the games by offering to play at tables with famous athletes. Not betting on sports in this case.

Not that this is much better as I can imagine once the players get tangled with the mob, who knows how they end of getting forced to throw games, etc.

 

[PSUSignore]

I agree sports betting has gone too far. But the stories I read indicate this was illegal poker games tied to the mob and the players are accused of steering "fish" to the games by offering to play at tables with famous athletes. Not betting on sports in this case.

Not that this is much better as I can imagine once the players get tangled with the mob, who knows how they end of getting forced to throw games, etc.

It was both. The poker games allegedly used equipment (marked cards, altered card shuffling machines able to stack the deck, x-ray tables that could identify face down cards) and famous people to draw others into the games to rip off unsuspecting players. Apparently this had mob crime family ties.

There was a second scandal around sports betting. One example was an active player taking himself out of a game by faking injury in order to pay off the under on a prop bet, telling others he was doing it in advance so they could profit, then meeting up with them sometime later to count the proceeds and for the player to take a portion for himself. Essentially point shaving but on smaller prop bets instead of game outcomes.

 

[Warlerski]

Just watched this happen with a friend.

None of us knew until he was in very deep and lost his home. His wife was the type who let him handle all the finances. Now they are divorced. It’s sad. I knew he was playing draft kings, etc a ton, but I had no idea how compulsive he was.

I wouldn't take that bet. I have a friend who is a mid level manager at the local plant, so how much does he make? IDK but I saw him make 10 $250 NBA bets on Wednesday night. There were more on the weekends etc, let alone college and pro football. And yes he lives in a rat trap and drove a junk car, and had cleaned out his 401k. He tells me he stopped doing that, but IDK, he did recently lease a car so maybe he has.

Draft Kings is getting sued over this scenario by the ex-wife. She claims Draft Kings addicted him thru "free" bets etc. and left them broke and highly indebted. It seems much like the opioid crisis only using gambling instead of drugs. Bad idea as the NBA apparently has just found out.

 

[DaytonRickster]

Just watched this happen with a friend.

None of us knew until he was in very deep and lost his home. His wife was the type who let him handle all the finances. Now they are divorced. It’s sad. I knew he was playing draft kings, etc a ton, but I had no idea how compulsive he was.

How sad for his now ex wife.

 

[WVilleLion23]

I’ve only done it twice several years ago. Found out I really have no interest, thank goodness.

 

[mh-larch]

I have enough vices I battle, but thank God gambling isn't one of them. Sports are exciting enough without it. No appeal to me whatsoever....casino, sports, horse racing.

A good first step would be to ban sport's betting ads on TV. Way too many (way up there with drug ads). And they act like drug dealers offering free money to get started and hooked.

 

[dcf4psu]

Ex-mobster on the NBA scandal - very interesting.

 

[LB99]

I think a big problem is sports betting addiction. I would bet (pun intended) that there are thousands of mostly males who are in debt up to their nose from it and the wife/girlfriend doesn't know it. At least not yet.

It’s starting younger and younger also. Online sports betting is huge with young males right now. TV commercials etc glorify it and make it look very attractive.

 

[donaldfair71]

From the sports betting (non-poker) point of it...

It's a result of it from a positive standpoint...pre-legalization, stuff like this would likely never have been uncovered. But now that people are placing some of these bets through legal channels, they are flagged, investigated, and ultimately uncovered. It's another example of how legalizing it is helping to clean up sports.

Pre legalization, I wonder how many bookies were offering individual player prop bets.

 

[Nittering Nabob]

I wouldn't take that bet. I have a friend who is a mid level manager at the local plant, so how much does he make? IDK but I saw him make 10 $250 NBA bets on Wednesday night. There were more on the weekends etc, let alone college and pro football. And yes he lives in a rat trap and drove a junk car, and had cleaned out his 401k. He tells me he stopped doing that, but IDK, he did recently lease a car so maybe he has.

Is he a friend or an acquaintance?

 

[Bison13]

It’s starting younger and younger also. Online sports betting is huge with young males right now. TV commercials etc glorify it and make it look very attractive.

I don’t know how they get away with it, but I’ve seen 16 year-old kids with DraftKings and other online accounts.

 

[Erial_Lion]

Pre legalization, I wonder how many bookies were offering individual player prop bets.

Plenty of them, especially the offshore books. There were/are some good offshore books that had/have very extensive options when it comes to props.

However, not so much of the “micro” stuff like the result of a pitch, serve, etc. I’m in full agreement that some of the legal books offering that is asking for trouble.

 

[donaldfair71]

Plenty of them, especially the offshore books. There were/are some good offshore books that had/have very extensive options when it comes to props.

However, not so much of the “micro” stuff like the result of a pitch, serve, etc. I’m in full agreement that some of the legal books offering that is asking for trouble.

I’m talking in, say, 1990, but fair point. I can remember a friend doing the dumbest stuff on offshore sites all the way back in the early 2000s.

 

[Erial_Lion]

I’m talking in, say, 1990, but fair point. I can remember a friend doing the dumbest stuff on offshore sites all the way back in the early 2000s.

Sure. I doubt you could play player prop stuff in 1990 outside of something like the Super Bowl. But for the last 20+ years, it’s been available for those looking for it.

 

[ChiefJusticeMarshall]

I agree sports betting has gone too far. But the stories I read indicate this was illegal poker games tied to the mob and the players are accused of steering "fish" to the games by offering to play at tables with famous athletes. Not betting on sports in this case.

Not that this is much better as I can imagine once the players get tangled with the mob, who knows how they end of getting forced to throw games, etc.

Not totally. One of the charges involved an NBA player (Rozier) who had some prop bet that he would get hurt and leave the game early and he did.

These prop bets once were cute little things usually involving the Super Bowl, but now with Fan Duel and all of these other sites it has become big business.

 

[ChiefJusticeMarshall]

It’s starting younger and younger also. Online sports betting is huge with young males right now. TV commercials etc glorify it and make it look very attractive.

If I see that Thrillionaire ad one more time I am going to shoot up a casino.

 

[1995PSUGrad]

I had a buddy in high school/post high school who had a gambling addiction. We lived about 2 hours from Atlantic City. Every pay day he needed a ride down there since he had no car as a result of his gambling. We would head down around 9:00 PM. He would leave a $20 in the glove box (this was when people still used cash) to pay for gas on the way home in case he lost everything else. Some nights we were there until 7-8 in the morning and he would win thousands and some nights we were home by 2:00 AM. I was too young to realize that I was just enabling him, but I had a lot of fun nights in Atlantic City! His addiction was sports gambling but blackjack. He lost relationships, jobs, just about everything because of it.

 

[JoeBagobagels]

From the sports betting (non-poker) point of it...

It's a result of it from a positive standpoint...pre-legalization, stuff like this would likely never have been uncovered. But now that people are placing some of these bets through legal channels, they are flagged, investigated, and ultimately uncovered. It's another example of how legalizing it is helping to clean up sports.

Entirely wrong, you have it backwards. It's making it worse.

Ddo you think people don't use bookies? As Michael Frances says, the more access you give the more problems you will have.

He breaks it down here:

 

[JoeBagobagels]

I agree sports betting has gone too far. But the stories I read indicate this was illegal poker games tied to the mob and the players are accused of steering "fish" to the games by offering to play at tables with famous athletes. Not betting on sports in this case.

Not that this is much better as I can imagine once the players get tangled with the mob, who knows how they end of getting forced to throw games, etc.

Again:

 

[JoeBagobagels]

I personally have no desire to gamble in anyway. My gambling means I'd buy a local ticket for that fire company raffle, the little league etc. is more of a donation. I will put a few bucks on Powerball like 3 to 6 dollars when it's high just to pizz some money away.

So I make one exception to this, that is the Super Bowl. I take 50 to 60 bucks and put it on one of those betting sites and bet a bunch of random one dollar bets like it's some kind of Chinese auction thing.

I'm literally doing it just for fun but otherwise I don't play cards, I don't play slots I don't bet on sports etc. I just think it distorted your mind and how you look at things.

And honestly podcast that feature ads for these outfits just pizz me off.

 

[JoeBagobagels]

Ex-mobster on the NBA scandal - very interesting.

Sorry I didn't see your pulse. I saw something similar when I fell was talking about legalizing various devices. For example take weed, do you think the cartel stop selling weed? No in California to grow illegally and undercut the legal prices sometimes allowed a little fentanyl for fun.

They also realize you could sell a child or a human human being multiple times over as opposed to selling drugs just.

Anytime you legalize advice you make it harder for law-enforcement to bust people that are doing or offering advice legally. Whether it be prostitution or any kind of drug or gambling.

 

[JoeBagobagels]

A friend of mine used to place bets with an ex Penn State football player. For what it's worth he told me that he was doing it while he was playing for the team.

Gambling is so integrated in sports that I don't know how you'd fix it.

 

[lemonears]

I'm sure that's a common story. I wager a lot but I set limits so I dont just throw money on games because I lost a couple trying to break even. That ends badly.

Sports betting is just like slot machines, the Pennsylvania scratch offs, etc. It is taxation of the stupid. People who think they are going to make money at any of this don't understand the rudiments of statistics. Every single betting scheme (except blackjack with card counting) favors the house. The "law of large numbers" in statistics guarantees that in the long run every better will lose money. Our school system should be teaching the fundamental of statistics but they don't. Sports betters who think they will win money are stupid people.

 

[StamfordBridgeVikingatLeftOffensiveTackle]

Sports betting is just like slot machines, the Pennsylvania scratch offs, etc. It is taxation of the stupid. People who think they are going to make money at any of this don't understand the rudiments of statistics. Every single betting scheme (except blackjack with card counting) favors the house. The "law of large numbers" in statistics guarantees that in the long run every better will lose money. Our school system should be teaching the fundamental of statistics but they don't. Sports betters who think they will win money are stupid people.

I knew a couple of people who failed miserably at gambling. One bet on football and the other craps at the casino. Each was going to win back their losses with a system and beat the house. Both ended up broke.

 

[Erial_Lion]

Entirely wrong, you have it backwards. It's making it worse.

Ddo you think people don't use bookies? As Michael Frances says, the more access you give the more problems you will have.

He breaks it down here:

Pretty much everything that he says speaks to my point. He's talking about illegal gambling, getting in trouble with the mob, owing debts that you can't pay and needing to find a way out, etc.

You don't have integrity monitors flagging bets from stuff that the mob is getting down on thru illegal channels. With legalized books, you do. Guys placing these bets at legal US sportsbooks is what uncovered it all. And people making legal bets are posting their $ up front, and not getting into a situation where they owe 6 figures to a bookie and they need to either find a way out of it or deal with threats of violence.

To me, the legality itself isn't an issue...in many ways, it's a solution to bring more checks and balances into play (and raise tax revenue for $ that would otherwise be going offshore or into criminal hands). Aspects of it certainly bring about more issues...the micro-bets, the advertising (I'd certainly be fine with more restrictions on it), etc.

I certainly come at it from a biased point of view (gambling is a source of income), but I think many have such a negative view of gambling that they miss the positives that legalization has today...if the Terry Rozier bets were placed thru Costa Rica, he's likely playing for the Heat tonight and no one knows anything about this.

 

[Erial_Lion]

The "law of large numbers" in statistics guarantees that in the long run every better will lose money. Our school system should be teaching the fundamental of statistics but they don't. Sports betters who think they will win money are stupid people.

"Every" isn't the right word to use there...there are some that make a living at it.

 

[Wow]

Entirely wrong, you have it backwards. It's making it worse.

Ddo you think people don't use bookies? As Michael Frances says, the more access you give the more problems you will have.

He breaks it down here:

You mean like guns?

 

[lemonears]

"Every" isn't the right word to use there...there are some that make a living at it.

Some is not the right word. You should say Very Few, like one in a million, can make money at gambling in the long run. These people are usually brilliant and mathematically inclined. James Holtzhauer of Jeopardy fame comes to mind. He studies different games day and night and is able to exploit subtle nuances in various games. 99.99% of the betters don't have the time or expertise to do what people like Holtzhauer does. If "normal" people gamble they need to understand that they are paying for entertainment and will lose money.

 

[Erial_Lion]

Some is not the right word. You should say Very Few, like one in a million, can make money at gambling in the long run. These people are usually brilliant and mathematically inclined. James Holtzhauer of Jeopardy fame comes to mind. He studies different games day and night and is able to exploit subtle nuances in various games. 99.99% of the betters don't have the time or expertise to do what people like Holtzhauer does. If "normal" people gamble they need to understand that they are paying for entertainment and will lose money.

Since we're talking gambling, I'd definitely take the "over" at one in a million.

I think that "very few" is fair (and more accurate than "some"), but I wouldn't call everyone that I work with that makes $ gambling as "brilliant"...a lot of it is working hard, being mathematically inclined, understanding how to process the information you obtain, etc.