"The WNBA match between the Dallas Wings and New York Liberty in July 2021 was a nail-biter. The lead bounced back and forth between the teams more than a dozen times. Liberty kept the Wings at bay in the third quarter but Dallas took the lead with just under five minutes left in the fourth. Thirty seconds later, the score was tied. Kyle Hudson, 22, was on the other side of the world from that Brooklyn basketball court, but he was heavily invested. In his parents' house in Werribee, at around 1am local time, he had placed a $5,000 bet on the final score."
"Hours later, at 10.43am, he placed another bet of $1,300, a long-odds combination bet, known as a multibet, one leg of which tipped Dallas to win. It was almost all the money he had. The final score was 99-96. Dallas lost. Hudson's partner of seven years, Ashley Baker, was in Bendigo with her family that day. She started receiving a flurry of text messages from Hudson's friends, asking if she knew where he was. He wasn't answering the door of his Melbourne home or his phone."
"His mum said his keys and wallet were still on the kitchen bench. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Baker's sister-in-law, a nurse, quietly asked if anyone had checked the shed. Hudson's older brother, Ryan, told the Victorian coroner's court this week that his family had no notion of the depth of Kyle's gambling. He was the last person any of them thought was at risk of taking his own life. He hid his gambling from immediate family, and his mum in particular, Ryan said."
"But the companies Hudson bet with did know something about his gambling. And coroner Paul Lawrie wanted to know: did they accurately assess Hudson's risk of harm? And what could be done to prevent something like this happening again? Balance, poise and plans for the future Hudson excelled at maths, and was a deeply passionate and gifted athlete."
A Dallas Wings–New York Liberty game in July 2021 featured frequent lead changes and ended 99–96, with Dallas losing. Kyle Hudson, 22, placed a $5,000 bet on the final score and later added a $1,300 long-odds multibet, using nearly all his money. After the game, his partner Ashley Baker in Bendigo received messages from friends because Hudson was unreachable and not answering at home. His keys and wallet remained inside. Family members later told a coroner’s court that they did not know the extent of his gambling and were shocked by his death. The court focused on whether betting companies accurately assessed his risk of harm and what prevention could be done.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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