#sports-betting

#sports-betting

"We didn't ask to have legalized sports betting," Manfred said before Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday night. "It kind of came, and that's the environment in which we operate. Now we don't have a lot of choice about that, and if it's going to change -- broadly change -- probably the only way it would happen is the federal government."

On Thursday morning, federal prosecutors unsealed two indictments that outlined separate schemes to rig sports bets and poker games. More than 30 people were arrested, including former Clippers player and current Portland head coach Chauncey Billups, who was charged with participating in a conspiracy to fix high-stakes card games run by Mafia families. Also arrested were Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, who is accused of being part of a scheme to provide private insider NBA information to help others profit from online bets, and retired player Damon Jones, who has been charged with taking part in both schemes.

The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people, including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures, on charges of illegal sports betting, has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of professional sports gambling across the United States. Since widespread legalisation, the multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy to place wagers on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone.

On Thursday, the feds sent shockwaves through the NBA when they announced dozens of arrests, including Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. The arrests stem from two big cases. One involves an illegal poker game backed by the mafia, and the other centers on the use of non-public information to wager on NBA prop bets. Officials said the investigation had been going on for years.

"Once people start to develop problems, they gamble on everything," one researcher said.

Every week, we generate fantasy football projections for every game on the slate, and that includes the probability that a player will take the ball into the end zone. Here are my top 25 predicted scorers for Week 8, ordered by their implied odds,* as well as the anytime touchdown money line offered by ESPN BET at time of publication. These implied odds are what my projections consider the fair odds of that player to score on an anytime touchdown bet.

It took almost a year for this dream to become a reality, but one bettor turned a $93, four-leg parlay into a six-figure payday. And the Toronto Blue Jays punching their ticket to the World Series earlier this week was the W the lucky sports fan needed to cash out his winnings. Known on Instagram as @halfwolfhalfish, the bettor strung together a mix of futures bets to build out his parlay with odds of +107765.

Rory Campbell launched the fund in 2017, vowing to beat the bookies with bets on games around Europe, including in England's Premier League and Spain's La Liga. Some were said to have lost up to 500,000 from their involvement in the failed fund. One of the investors reportedly died before receiving his money back. Campbell's father and mother Fiona Millar were reported to be facing losses running into hundreds of thousands of pounds relating to the alleged 5 million Ponzi-style pyramid scheme.

As a general rule each week, public bettors tend to back favorites -- both on the spread and in moneyline parlays -- and the sportsbooks, in turn, cheer for the underdogs to cover or even win outright. When large spreads come around, it can be divisive to bettors, forcing them to choose between a blowout victory or a more competitive game, no matter how large the skill gap between the teams.

Here's what we have: First, analytics writer Seth Walder breaks down three stat trends that could be pivotal this weekend. Then fantasy football writer Eric Moody runs through five players who are rostered in under 50% of ESPN fantasy football leagues as of Saturday and could be started in a jam. That's followed by NFL analyst Matt Bowen predicting three potentially big surprises and sports betting analyst Pamela Maldonado giving her favorite bet for Week 6.

That's where comparisons of sportsbooks come in. There are a lot of platforms vying for bettors' attention, so knowing how to compare odds, promos, and consistency is the best way to get the most money back. You may confidently find your way through the cluttered betting market and choose the platforms that provide you the best edge by using tools like Optimobet sportsbook rankings.

Former Mexico youth international and Macarthur FC captain Ulises Davila, who was named the A-League Men player of the year in 2021, has admitted his role in a lucrative card-fixing scam. Davila, 34, was accused of being the ringleader of the betting scam which saw him and two Macarthur teammates deliberately earn yellow cards to satisfy a betting outcome. The charges related to six football games across the 2023-24 A-League Men season.

The way I look at it, there's no real clear cut, short favorite. This year, it's more wide open at the top, and then you have a whole second tier of teams that are in that 20-to-40 range. There's another 10 teams there. Could the Stanley Cup winner come from there? Absolutely. But the top tier has eight teams that we believe will contend for the title.

EveryMatrix is a leading B2B SaaS provider delivering iGaming software, content and services. We provide casino, sports betting, platform and payments, and affiliate management to 200 customers worldwide. But that's not all! We're not just about numbers, we're about people. With a team of over 1400 passionate individuals spread across twelve countries in Europe, Asia, and the US, we're all united by our love for innovation and teamwork.

On Sept. 1, Detroit owned a 10.5-game lead over the Guardians and was listed at -20,000 to win their division at ESPN BET, meaning a bettor would have to risk $20,000 on Detroit to win just $100. A spokesperson for ESPN BET said the sportsbook did take "a few bets" on the Tigers at that price but declined to provide specifics. The Guardians were 80-1 to win the division entering September.

Are edge rushers Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter in for a huge day against the Titans? In short: Oh yes. The Texans rank third in pass rush win rate this season (49%), while the Titans are below average in pass block win rate (57%). Star rushers Anderson and Hunter both rank in the top 10 in pass rush win rate at edge and each have multiple sacks on the season, despite the fact that Houston is winless.

The United States will be favored going into the 45th Ryder Cup, with sportsbooks giving the Americans a slight edge over the talented European team by virtue of the notoriously rowdy Ryder Cup gallery. USA holds -150 odds to Europe's +150, with the tie showing +1200 on the three-way Tournament Winner line, according to ESPN BET lines. The United States maintains those same odds in the two-way To Lift The Trophy market,

Not only can players earn potential bonus bets when wagering on the NFL, but they can also enjoy $200 in savings on the NFL Sunday Ticket! In addition to this incredible offer, the DraftKings Sportsbook is among the best in the US, thanks to its leading sports betting features. These include several mainstream and niche sports betting markets and competitive odds.

Amazon recently introduced "Prime Vision," an augmented reality broadcast for UEFA Champions League matches in the UK that overlays live metrics such as player speed, jump height, goal probability and tactical maps directly onto the live feed. For you as a viewer, this changes expectations about what a sports broadcast should deliver. At the same time, bookmakers are deploying algorithms that process live data on player injuries, momentum shifts and weather conditions to recalculate odds in real time.

With this first bet, the sportsbook will attach either a $1,500 first bet offer or bet $10, get $150 bonus here. Customers in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia will get to win $150 in bonus bets if their first wager of as little as $10 cash ends up winning. Every other bettor who signs up today will lock in the $1,500 first bet deal, where they will receive bonus bets up to that amount if their starting bet settles as a loss.

Value is value, no matter where -- or how -- you find it. And that's what we'll aim to do each week in this space -- find value. Ben Solak and Seth Walder bring different perspectives into how they approach sports betting. Solak leans on his expertise in player evaluation and the X's and O's to find edges. Walder relies on statistical models to pick out plus-expected value bets.

Former San Jose State player Steven Vasquez was one of three men's Division I college basketball players who had their eligibility permanently revoked on Wednesday by the NCAA after an investigation determined they bet on their own games and shared thousands of dollars in payouts. The NCAA Committee on Infractions released findings from an enforcement investigation that uncovered violations by Vasquez, and former Fresno State players Mykell Robinson and Jalen Weaver.