Running athletes busted for gambling thread

That just looks shady as hell. Two games where he leaves early and it just so happens that the individual unders are heavily bet. It is going to be very hard for him to credibly claim that he wasn’t involved.

 

Miami United (not Messi's team, but a lower-division squad) players reportedly bet on their match in the US Open Cup.

https://x.com/BeatinTheBookie/status/1775999238826033487

 

Don't forget Peyton Manning's wife in the "Fall Guy" hall of fame.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...erpreter-negotiating-guilty-plea/73283987007/

I'll reserve judgement on how "guilty" the interpreter is until I see how long he serves and where when his plea deal is announced. Still curious about a) what games and sports were being bet on b) if the interpreter ever funneled money "back" to Ohtani when he won and c) what the bookmaker who is the target of the probe says.
The wealth and influence of people with a vested interest in seeing this thing "go away" is not something likely lost on the prosecutors and investigators.

And sure, Ohtani is probably "bigger" than this crime. Its always struck me how big stars/movie producers/etc can get away with abusive behavior for years, but as soon as they are at the end of the line - it all comes out. Cosby, O'Reilly, Paterno - indiscretions were ignored/paid off/covered up when they were at the height of their careers.

Now who is the "better friend" in the different scenarios? The interpreter for taking the fall and doing time to save Ohtani's career or Ohtani for paying off the bets?

 

Dude was averaging 25 bets per day. 25!

 

I guess if there's one good thing with these betting scandals, it's that the mechanisms to spot them seem to be working. The Jontay Porter thing was flagged immediately, and so was the Alabama baseball coach last year. Calvin Ridley and Kayshon Boutte as well, IIRC. The leagues, the sports books and the oversight groups all seem to be working well together to jump on anything suspicious.
Ohtani's interpreter was going through a bookie, so there's probably not much you can do to catch that until it reaches critical mass the way it did.

 

There is stupid… and then there is betting a prop bet involving a dude on a two-way contract that would pay out more than a million dollars and thinking you’ll get away with it.

 

Whoever could have guessed such a thing.

 

There was an alternate "bet" broadcast of the NBA playoff game the same day as the Porter suspension.
Nice.

 

I was listening to some Ohtani talk in the car, and it struck me that I've always considered it a nothingburger.

Why in the world would it be implausible to anyone that Ohtani had no idea what was being done with his funds? People get embezzled from every day.

Gang, I haven't seen my checkbook in years. The woman to whom I'm related by marriage is an outstanding, professional money manager. She gets my card receipts each month, and occasionally I check to see where we stand overall. Millions do that. I'm not saying that SHOULD be everyone's SOP ... I'm saying it just IS.

Ohtani is also of a single-minded purpose -- to be the best MLB player in history. This is exactly the profile of someone who tells others, "You oversee the rest of my life while I'm concentrating on tonight's pitcher."