Twice weekly, we’ll comb through as many articles, tweets and podcasts as we can find related to the world of sports betting and daily fantasy sports, and publish the good stuff here.
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Notorious sports bettor Billy Walters was arrested by the FBI on Wednesday for insider trading.
Mr. Walters’s case bridges the world of sports, gambling and finance, providing an unusual backdrop to an insider trading investigation. In the course of the investigation, federal authorities examined trades not just by Mr. Walters but by some of his friends, including the golfer Phil Mickelson.
The criminal charges against Mr. Walters and Mr. Davis carry a heightened significance for prosecutors, representing one of the most notable insider trading cases since an appellate court overturned two prominent convictions.
Golfer Phil Mickelson isn’t facing criminal charges, but will have to pay the U.S. government more than $1 million, most of which he earned by the insider trading advice in question.
Mickelson ought to consider himself lucky he’s not facing criminal charges, too, like the two big players in the scam. But given his past grumbling about the unfairness of his tax bills, “Lefty” is probably just mad the government is taking his ill-gotten, err, hard-earned money.
Mickelson was not the main player in the insider trading scheme involving Dean Foods that resulted in both criminal charges and a federal lawsuit Thursday. According to the lawsuit, Mickelson “only” got inside information once, and made less than $1 million from it.
“Phil has not been charged with insider trading,” Gregory B. Craig and Pat Swan, attorneys for Mickelson, said in a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports. “Phil was an innocent bystander to alleged wrongdoing by others that he was unaware of. Phil is innocent of any wrongdoing. “
GC Technology (formerly Cantor Gaming) has been accused by the Nevada Gaming Control Board of underpaying more than $700,000 on more than 20,000 winning bets.
The complaint alleges CG Technology initially tried to block the state’s investigation into the incorrect payments.
The company conducts sports and horse racing betting at the M Resort, Hard Rock, Tropicana, Cosmopolitan, Silverton, Venetian and Palms.
Winners who complained they were underpaid were given their full payment. But the complaint says the books never tried to make good on the underpayments to thousands of bettors who did not complain.
The complaint seeks a $100,000 penalty for each of six counts in the complaint and disciplinary action against the company’s license. CG Technology has 30 days to answer the complaint.
VICE Sports’s David Hill spent Kentucky Derby weekend with professional sports bettor Alan Denkenson for an in-depth feature.
But times have changed in Vegas, for Dink and other old school professional sports bettors. The game has been taken over by a younger generation with backgrounds in finance and a knack for analyzing data and markets for value. The information age has made both sides of the betting market smarter, and the result has been tighter lines and fewer opportunities to find value. “Nothing is stealing anymore,” he says. “In the ’70s and ’80s, a college education put you crushingly ahead of everybody out here.”
In order to eke out a good living today, Dink needs to make lots of smaller wagers and spread his risk around. He’s gone from an average bet of around $3,000 a game to something like $500. He’s proud that he’s still standing—”A lot of friends I’ve had over the years have gone broke and moved on,” he says—but is he still a winning player?
“I better be,” he says. “I haven’t had a job in over 40 years.”
Esports betting could easily be coming to Nevada — if esports are considered as a sport.
NGCB Chairman A.G. Burnett explained that under the existing provisions of Regulation 22, esports could be categorized as an athletic sports event (on which betting is permitted by default, meaning no application would be required to offer lines for an esports match) as an administrative decision.
Burnett returned to the issues in questions on the testimony of Arthur N. Manteris, vice president of race and sports operations for Station Casinos.
Governor Sandoval was enthusiastic about not having to take the issue through the legislature, if – and only if – the NGC and NGCB could satisfy themselves that esports legitimately qualifies as a “sport.”