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Coincidence? Hot on the heels of the Shohei Otani scandal involving his interpreter allegedly stealing millions from him to pay off gambling debts comes another developing scandal in the NBA. According to ESPN’s David Purdum, Brian Windhorst, and Adrian Wojnarowski, Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter is under investigation for a possible connection to multiple betting… Read more »
Tipico is far from the biggest name in the US sportsbook market; in fact, I would wager (see what I did there?) that most people have never heard of the company. Despite lagging in market share, however, the operator has achieved that its bigger rivals have not: it has become the first US sportsbook to… Read more »
Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton reminded people that professional athletes are human, not just entertainers and stat generators. Athletes have always been under the microscope, but Haliburton pointed out that the spread of sports betting in the United States has also been a problem for them. In a media gaggle on Tuesday, The Athletic’s James… Read more »
Not as much fun in the sun As the weather gets warmer in the United States, people are looking for their next vacation destination. On of those, particularly for adults on the east coast, has long been Atlantic City. Though Las Vegas has more glitz and casino glamor, Atlantic City has gambling plus the Boardwalk… Read more »
I have an obscene number of hours on the absolutely delightful poker roguelike deck building game Balatro since it was released on February 20, 2024, and it looks like I’m not the only one. On Monday, the game announced that it hit the lofty milestone of 1 million copies sold. Balatro is a runaway smash… Read more »
NCAA’s March Madness is the talk of the sports world right now. With the First Four games starting tonight, basketball fans and betting fans are abuzz with an exciting few weeks of college hoops about to tip off. But let’s not forget the NBA, which is in the home stretch of the regular season. Just… Read more »
A member of the Iowa House of Representatives is pushing to rescind part of the state’s gambling laws that would require casinos to maintain lists of people who are barred from sports betting. The rule was put in place in 2019 when sports betting became legal in the state, but does not have to be… Read more »
Elaborate scheme A former Jacksonville Jaguars employee who stole over $22 million from the organization has been sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced on Tuesday that U.S. District Judge Henry L. Adams also ordered 31-year-old Amit Patel to pay full… Read more »
Roundball Rock Online sports betting went live in North Carolina at noon on Monday, March 11, just in time for March Madness. With both men’s and women’s conference tournaments in full swing (some are already done), sports fans in one of the basketball-craziest states in the country have plenty of opportunities to throw a few… Read more »
Joint venture never worked Online gaming giant 888 Holdings has announced that it will undertake a “strategic review” of its business-to-consumer (B2C) operations in the United States. The end result could result in the company selling its US B2C business, exiting the US market, or any of a number of other moves, whatever it feels… Read more »
Ohio and, most recently, Maryland have both prohibited sports books from offering individual college player prop bets. The decisions resulted largely from a request by the NCAA. The Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) announced its decision on February 23, giving operators until the end of the month to reach full compliance with the order. Maryland’s… Read more »
Iowa’s Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) screwed up and the state knows it. On Friday, March 1, Assistant Story County attorney Benjamin Matchan filed a motion to dismiss illegal gambling charges against four former Iowa State University student athletes because DCI investigators used geolocation software inappropriately. Former football players Isaiah Lee, Jirehl Brock and Eyioma… Read more »
Leading live streaming platforms Twitch and Kick have been banned in Turkey, allegedly because of concerns that they promote gambling. The news first hit last week, on February 21, when journalist Ibrahim Haskoloğlu tweeted that Kick was blocked in the country. “Turkish officials I spoke to stated that Kick’s entry into Turkey was to attract… Read more »
The Mohegan Tribe has announced that it will step down as operator of Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino Hotel at the close of 2024. Ending a 12-year run, the tribe originally agreed to run the country’s first casino outside of Las Vegas in 2012 after Dennis Gomes, the casino’s co-owner, passed away. His death left an… Read more »
Shining stars from around the poker world were celebrated this past weekend at the 5th Annual Global Poker Awards. The kudos were spread around, as while there were some familiar faces receiving trophies, not one person or entity dominated the night. Bin Weng won GPI Player of the Year based on his 2023 points total,… Read more »
The American Gaming Association has announced that US commercial gaming revenue hit annual record for the third straight year, coming in at $66.5 billion in 2023. The fourth quarter also set a record for the highest quarter ever at $17.4 billion. The two figures were 10.0% and 9.5% increases from their respective 2022 counterparts. More… Read more »
It appears that WynnBET is all but done in the US sports betting industry, as it is leaving one of just two states in which it still had a presence. On Tuesday, Caesars Entertainment announced that it has agreed to acquire WynnBET’s Michigan online gaming business. The company also inked an extension of its partnership… Read more »
There are many different types of nightmares and a Washington D.C. man is living one: he rightfully thought he won $340 million in the lottery, only to be told he didn’t when he tried to redeem the prize. John Cheeks bought his Powerball ticket on January 6, 2023 for the next day’s drawing. He didn’t… Read more »
Might want to get the paperwork Atlanta-based daily fantasy sports operator PrizePicks has agreed to a settlement with the New York State Gaming Commission in which it will pay a $15 million fine and stop offering real money contests in the state. It will continue to offer free-to-play games. The agreement says that PrizePicks has… Read more »
Bet on college basketball games The NCAA has determined that Brody Curry, the former head women’s basketball coach at the University of the South (also know as Sewanee), violated both the NCAA’s sports betting and ethical conduct rules for wagering on sports between 2021 and 2023. According to the NCAA’s Tuesday announcement, Curry placed more… Read more »
New York state of mind Penn Entertainment is acquiring the New York sports wagering license of Wynn Interactive Holdings. Specifically, Penn is buying WSI US, LLC, the entity that technically owns the license, for $25 million. Penn will use the license to launch ESPN BET in the state. “This is an important development that will… Read more »
Sportsbooks did not like overtime Let’s be honest – Sunday night’s Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Franciso 49ers was boring until the fourth quarter. It was just 10-3 at halftime and 13-10 after three quarters and though it was obviously two premier defenses showing out, it felt more like… Read more »
Customers of the WinStar casino in Oklahoma might be well-advised to check their financial accounts regularly for a while, as the casino’s app’s database was hacked, making patrons’ personal information easily visible. More accurately, the app wasn’t specifically hacked, but rather the customer database was left unsecured on the internet, allowing bad actors to potentially… Read more »
Not a good time to be an Oakland sports fan Las Vegas is set to get yet another professional sports team next year, as MLB’s A’s plan to relocate from Oakland to the gambling capital of the world following the upcoming season. One would think that those in charge in Las Vegas would be over… Read more »
Moral obligation differs from legal obligation A judge has thrown out a New York man’s lawsuit against the Borgata and its parent company, MGM Resorts International, saying that Atlantic City casinos – and their online gambling sites – do not have to stop people from gambling, even if they are displaying compulsive behavior. In her… Read more »
