Sportsbook reported inconsistencies in prop betting markets Investigation surrounded irregular activity around March game ‘It’s an addiction’: NBA’s ties to betting trouble players The NBA has banned Toronto two-way player Jontay Porter after a league investigation concluded that he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and wagered on games. The league said in a statement on Wednesday that an investigation found that Porter disclosed confidential information about his own health status to an individual he knew to be an NBA bettor ahead of a 20 March game against the Sacramento ..read more

The league has forged close links to betting. But many worry about how such relationships will affect athletes and fans In life, there is one constant – change. For professional sports, the biggest change of late has to do with gambling. Most US states now offer fans the chance to bet on games and player props legally. And big professional sports leagues like the NBA have embraced that recent change in legislation, too. What was once a third-rail topic is now a major source of income, with ESPN’s financial guru Bobby Marks saying this year the NBA is “projected to receive $167m in revenue from ..read more

Tropicana, once host to celebrities, criminals and 007, will be replaced by the city’s new focus of attraction, a sports stadium Las Vegas’s famous Tropicana hotel is no more. Its guests were abruptly asked to leave earlier this month and its gold-domed casino closed – signaling the end of an icon of classic Sin City life where glamor, celebrity and crime seemed to go hand in hand. Now the old building will be elaborately demolished with explosives – a tradition of Nevada’s desert gambling mecca – to make way for a sports stadium, symbolizing for many modern Vegas’s image of sanitized mass tou ..read more

I was heckled during my time as a college player in the late 1990s. But young athletes today must endure an ocean of bile from all areas of the internet Throughout this year’s men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments, athletes have reported receiving death threats on social media. After LSU’s loss to Iowa last week, an emotional Angel Reese said she has been receiving such threats since winning the national title in 2023. Days later, Iowa’s Gabbie Marshall deleted her social media altogether due to threats hurled her way after she drew a game-clinching foul against UConn in the Final Four. On the me ..read more

Staff at Merkur’s Stockport branch reportedly looked away as customer lost £2,000 over two days of play The high street slot machine company Merkur is under investigation by the Gambling Commission over its alleged exploitation of a vulnerable customer, the Guardian understands, casting a shadow over its UK expansion drive. The German-owned company operates Britain’s second-largest network of “adult gaming centres”, increasingly popular venues often open 24 hours a day, where customers can play £2 a spin slot machines ..read more

Government criticised over decision to let companies self-regulate gambling-style features after expert finds numerous breaches The UK government’s decision to let technology companies self-regulate gambling-style loot boxes in video games has been called into question, after some of the developers put in charge of new industry guidelines broke their own rules. In the past six months, the advertising regulator has upheld complaints against three companies involved in drawing up industry rules, including the leading developer Electronic Arts (EA), for failing to disclose that their games contai ..read more

Sportsbook reported inconsistencies in prop betting markets Forward currently listed as out because of personal reasons The NBA has opened an investigation into Toronto two-way player Jontay Porter amid gambling allegations. Raptors coach Darko Rajaković says he learned of the news shortly before the team’s game on Monday night. ESPN first reported the investigation, which it said was focused on Porter’s performance in games on 26 January and 20 March. In both games, Porter played briefly before leaving citing injury or illness. Porter was not with the team on Monday and the Raptors said tha ..read more

Ippei Mizuhara allegedly took millions from star’s account Dodgers star says he has never bet on baseball Shohei Ohtani addressed the media on Monday after allegations emerged that his former interpreter stole millions of dollars from his bank account to pay an illegal bookmaker. The Los Angeles Dodgers star, the most famous active baseball player in the world and a huge celebrity in his native Japan, addressed journalists in a press conference but did not take any questions from the media ..read more

Inside Gambling Anonymous, the 12-step program offering compulsive gamblers help, and hope Each man enters the room, one by one, escaping the dark night outside. Before long some two dozen are sitting in a horseshoe. They hail from different worlds and different generations, but have been united by the same problem. For decades, Gamblers Anonymous (GA) has offered compulsive gamblers a place to share their stories, and listen to others, in the hope of turning their lives around. Veterans of the 12-step program say it is now experiencing a sharp rise in interest from troubled young addicts. Fin ..read more

Like every other US sports league, baseball pushes betting on its fans at every turn. Now its biggest star is associated with a gambling fiasco This is Major League Baseball’s worst nightmare. The face of the league, its one, true international star, who this past offseason joined one of its biggest teams on a $700m contract, is associated with allegations around an illegal sports betting operation. The story so far: the Los Angeles Dodgers fired Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, the team’s two-way phenom, on Wednesday after an investigation revealed $4.5m in wire transfers se ..read more