U.S. Open match under investigation; AGA estimates $90 billion to be bet on football

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. 

Stumble upon something you think we should include? Email info@bettingtalk.com.

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A first-round women’s singles U.S. Open match is under investigation by the Tennis Integrity Unit after irregular betting patterns were detected.

The match, in which 15th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland beat Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia, 6-1, 6-1, was played on Aug. 30.

A “match alert” regarding suspicious betting was sent to the integrity unit by the Russian bookmaker Fonbet. Another online gambling site, Bet365, appeared to have suspended betting for two games during the match and also to have decreased the maximum wagers permitted.


Earlier this week, the American Gaming Association estimated $90 billion will be bet on football this season in the United States  — most of it illegally.

“The American appetite for sports betting has never been greater,” Geoff Freeman, the group’s president, said.

The AGA predicts that $88 billion will be gambled through illegal channels. It said the estimate is based on a National Gambling Impact Study Commission report and legal gambling activity at Nevada sports books.

 

A new Gambling Compliance report estimated that a legal sports betting market in the United States would be worth $11.9 billion.

The nationwide market in the US would dwarf the UK, which is the largest market in the world currently. The UK generates $2.8 billion annually, but California alone would bring in $1.3 billion, and New York another $900 million.


The German state of Hesse has gone rogue and legalized sports betting following the collapse of the German State Treaty on Gambling.

The legal mechanism Hesse is using is to offer operators a temporary period of “tolerance,” in effect guaranteeing that the state government will not prosecute operators under the provisions of the Interstate Treaty.

This is a bizarre legal workaround that will give Hesse the opportunity to collect gaming taxes from sports betting. Whether there is any value in operators taking advantage of the proposal is another matter.


Las Vegas sportsbooks have seen a large number of bets being placed on the Cleveland Browns to win the Super Bowl.

Caesars Palace has accepted close to 750 bets on the Browns, and the ticket count on Cleveland at sportsbook operator CG Technology is approaching 500 and includes a $1,000 bet at 175-1 and a $500 bet at 200-1.

“City of champions, right?” MGM assistant manager Jeff Stoneback said with a laugh. “We’ve had the Cavs; the Indians are good. Why not the Browns?”


A feature on ESPN Chalk takes a look at the Westgate SuperContest proxy industry.

Kornegay estimates that roughly 30 percent of entries used a proxy when he first joined the LVH in 2004. In 2015, on a total entry pool of 1,727, more than 50 percent used proxy services.


An article published by Legal Sports Report lists three things that need to happen for federal action to legalize sports betting to occur.

The simpler fix is for Congress to repeal or amend the roadblock that is PASPA. This might sound simple in theory, but getting Congress to vote on anything — let alone revisiting a law that would lead to the largest expansion of gambling in the nation’s history — is no small task.


A Canadian columnist points out that playing daily fantasy sports is one of the few risky things easier for his countrymen to do than for Americans.

But there’s one way in which Canada can claim libertarian superiority over the land of the free: daily fantasy sports. As close to 20 states have either banned the rapidly growing products or moved to regulate the manner in which they are delivered, Canada, fussy old Canada, has taken no threatening action toward the industry, and its two main players: DraftKings and FanDuel. We haven’t even given them the side-eye.


Illinois is still debating whether or not DFS should be legal within the state.

Because the proposal remains in limbo, Illinois doesn’t have a clear way to regulate daily fantasy sports.

“They’re operating in a legal vacuum,” said state Rep. Mike Zalewski, a Riverside Democrat and lead negotiator on the issue. He said Madigan’s opinion is advisory.