The top deck of Dodger Stadium is far from the action but may have the best view in baseball. Straight ahead are the San Gabriel Mountains. During night games, as the sun goes down, the sky glows pink. Down below, the full choreography of the game is on display, offering a panoramic view shunned by […]
Read MoreTag: GAMBLING
Shohei Ohtani Situation Shows Leagues Have Many Gambling Risks to Watch
Sports leagues of all shapes and sizes have barreled headfirst into gambling in the six years since the Supreme Court struck down a law that limited wagering on games to Nevada. Casting aside decades of resistance, professional leagues have taken millions of dollars from casinos and sports books that are spending heavily to lure new […]
Read MoreThe Billionaire Mattress Salesman Funding the Far Right in Texas
With all the attention the Koch brothers, Harlan Crow, and oil magnates like Tim Dunn receive for their political spending, families like the McIngvales tend to slip through the cracks, but local fiefs like theirs have a long history of tipping the scales in the South. While not as large as their nationally focused counterparts’, […]
Read MoreThe Mattress Tycoon Funding the Far Right in Texas
With all the attention the Koch brothers, Harlan Crow, and oil magnates like Tim Dunn receive for their political spending, families like the McIngvales tend to slip through the cracks, but local fiefs like theirs have a long history of tipping the scales in the South. While not as large as their nationally focused counterparts’, […]
Read MoreInside the World of People Placing Bets on Oscar Winners
On Feb. 23, John Richards traveled more than 100 miles to place bets on the Oscars. He took a train from Washington, D.C., to Wilmington, Del., and then hopped into an Uber car to take him to a truck stop in New Jersey. Once in that state, where bets are legal, he opened his DraftKings, […]
Read MoreTaylor Swift Prop Bets Dominate Super Bowl Action
The Super Bowl always draws crowds to betting windows and online sports books, but some of the most talked about action this year will leave a blank space in Las Vegas. With in-person sports books limited to action on the field, Adam Burns, the sports book manager for BetOnline.ag, found himself capitalizing on the moment […]
Read MoreHow Nevada Is Pushing to Generate Jobs Beyond the Casinos
Before the pandemic brought everyday life to a halt, Joe Kiele supported himself through the industry that dominates Nevada’s economy. He waited tables at a steakhouse inside a casino in Reno. Four years later, Mr. Kiele, 49, remains in Reno, yet he now spends his workday inside a factory. In place of worrying about the […]
Read MoreDon’t Bet on This Former Vegas Mayor Being at the Super Bowl
It was just after 4 p.m. on a recent weekday, and Oscar Goodman, the mob lawyer turned Las Vegas mayor turned civic cheerleader, was sipping perhaps his first Hizzoner of the day. The drink — made with Bombay Sapphire gin, more Bombay Sapphire gin and a slice of jalapeño pepper, served in a large martini […]
Read MoreN.F.L.’s Rapid Embrace of Gambling Creates Mixed Signals
Over the next week, the National Football League’s players, coaches, fans and executives will gather for an event that was virtually unthinkable just 10 years ago: the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the United States. Since the Supreme Court struck down, in 2018, a federal law that effectively banned sports betting […]
Read MoreWe’re Picking Winners For 2024 NFL Wild Card Weekend
The 18-week gauntlet of the NFL regular season is over, and the lights are getting brighter. Wild Card Weekend arrives in mid-January with six games on the docket between Saturday afternoon and the evening of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday. While the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers enjoy some time off after […]
Read MoreNFL Wild Card Weekend Betting Guide: The Trends, Stats, And Matchups You Need To Know
The second annual NFL Super Wild Card Weekend is upon us, as we will be graced with six games over three days this weekend. The expansion of Wild Card Weekend makes for a marathon of football, particularly for those of us who enjoy indulging in playoff football betting. Every year some friends and I take […]
Read MoreMy Family Was Back in Las Vegas for Christmas. The World Was Ours.
It was almost the night before Christmas, and the house was winning. Its creatures were stirring in the secondhand smoke. A man in a knit Santa hat belly-laughed outside the Bellagio, a cigarette in one hand and a Modelo tallboy in the other. Guests race-walked toward the card tables in reindeer socks and plastic antlers. […]
Read MoreWe’re Picking Winners For Week 16 Of The 2023 NFL Season
Christmas is here and the NFL season is ramping up. Week 16 begins on Thursday and covers high-end action on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to boot. Week 15 was relatively friendly to us in this space, even if a 3-1-1 performance almost felt disappointing on account of an unfortunate push from the Chicago Bears. Still, […]
Read MoreBought as an N.B.A. Team, the Mavericks Are Being Sold as Much More
The sales of most professional sports teams are fairly predictable. They happen because owners die or cannot figure out how to pass the team on to their families. They run out of money, are more focused on other pursuits or are pushed out because of misconduct. Once the decision to sell is made, the process […]
Read MoreDallas Mavericks Sale Reflects Growing Links Between Pro Sports and Gambling
For years, professional sports organizations like the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball prohibited liquor companies from buying advertising in locations in stadiums and arenas that could be seen on television, in deference to efforts to curb drunken driving. But in 2009, during the depths of the worst recession since the Great Depression, those […]
Read MoreInside Kick, an Upstart Streaming Competitor to Twitch
One day this summer, the internet personality Adin Ross switched on his camera and started broadcasting himself live to thousands of fans, sipping a Yerba Mate drink and nodding along to Lil Uzi. Mr. Ross soon cut the music and started talking, assuring his fans that he would livestream Jake Paul’s upcoming boxing match, even […]
Read MoreMad Dog Says He’s Lost Between $50,000 And $100,000 Gambling This Football Season
Now that sports gambling is legal in most states, it has become a huge part of sports television (to the delight of some and dismay of many others). No longer do sports commentators have to make winking references to the spread or total, hoping the general public is unaware, and instead can talk freely about […]
Read MoreWe’re Picking Winners For Week 11 Of The 2023 NFL Season
Listen, Week 10 wasn’t kind when it comes to NFL handicapping in this space. After a positive result on Thursday, Sunday brought ugliness to the tune of a winless day and a 1-4 week. The process wasn’t ideal, the results weren’t good, and these things happen. Alas, Week 11 brings more opportunity and, in zooming […]
Read MoreOne of Powerball’s Largest Jackpots Ever Has Been Won
One of the largest Powerball jackpots ever has been won, the lottery group said Wednesday night. At $1.76 billion, it was the second-largest jackpot ever in the United States. The winning numbers were: 22, 24, 40, 52, 64 and the Powerball 10. Huge jackpots have become increasingly common in the multistate Mega Millions and Powerball […]
Read MoreTeens Are Developing ‘Severe Gambling Problems’ as Online Betting Surges
The growing acceptance of online gambling in the U.S. is permeating the nation’s universities, high schools, and even middle schools at a rate that is of growing concern to politicians, therapists, and local helpline workers, who are noticing more underage and youth gamblers coming forward with problems. Since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of […]
Read MoreHow Barstool’s Dave Portnoy Built a Pizza Empire
Tito Ibarra traveled from Clemson, S.C., to New York City with one mission: to eat a slice from all 35 pizzerias at the One Bite Pizza Festival. He was in the city for just about 12 hours: He landed in the morning, after driving two hours to Atlanta and taking a two-and-a-half-hour flight. Then, he […]
Read More‘Dumb Money’ and the Meme Stock Phenomenon
The new movie “Dumb Money” dramatizes the true story of an unlikely messiah named Roaring Kitty who decides to sink his life savings into shares of the video-game seller GameStop and then praise the stock to his fans. So many people buy GameStop shares that the company’s valuation soars, crushing the positions of professional hedge […]
Read MoreWe’re Picking Winners For Week 4 Of The 2023 NFL Season
Every so often, a pick goes haywire and it happens almost immediately. That was the case in Week 3 for us. Granted, we finished the week with a respectable 2-2-1 finish that could’ve easily been 3-2 if not for a backdoor against us on Monday evening. However, it would be hard to be more wrong […]
Read MoreWe’re Picking Winners For Week 3 Of The 2023 NFL Season
The NFL season is heating up at this stage and, prior to the start of bye weeks across the league, 16-game slates provide nearly endless entertainment. That was the case in Week 2, including a Monday doubleheader, and there is another coming this week. At any rate, Week 2 was kinder than Week 1 in […]
Read MorePhil Mickelson Says Gambling Addiction ‘Isn’t Any Fun at All’
Phil Mickelson, the golf great whose issues with gambling have made headlines throughout the years, took to social media on Monday to share details about his addiction, and to offer a warning to potential bettors ahead of this year’s N.F.L. season. As the 2023-24 football season kicked off in earnest, Mickelson posted on X to […]
Read MoreThe Rams Kicked A Last Second Field Goal Down 10 To Cover The Spread Against The 49ers
The Los Angeles Rams played host to the San Francisco 49ers in the annual “road” game for the Niners that is really another home game with the amount of red jerseys in SoFi Stadium. Both teams were coming off of wins, with the Rams beating the Seahawks on the road while the Niners authored one […]
Read MoreAn N.F.L. Stadium Brings Sports Betting Inside
“They know how important betting is to their sport, and more importantly, the betting industry knows how important football is to it,” said Borod, who has worked in the sports betting field for nearly a decade. “In the early days, there was a view that maybe you shouldn’t be able to bet at a sports […]
Read More11 Things You Forgot About the 2023 N.F.L. Season
The N.F.L. off-season has gotten shorter since the regular season was extended to 17 games, and it certainly feels shorter, too, given that once-mundane calendar entries, such as the start of off-season workouts, are now treated like red-carpet events. Yet the down time between last season and this one is still long enough that impactful […]
Read MoreA Last-Minute Oregon Pick Six Handed Texas Tech Bettors The Bad Beat Of The Day In College Football
After Texas Tech lost in overtime on the road at Wyoming and Oregon hung 81 on Portland State in their opener, many raised an eyebrow when the Ducks were posted as just a 6.5-point favorite on the road in Lubbock on Saturday. That line continued dropping and for most of Saturday, the Red Raiders rewarded […]
Read MoreThe Annual Freakonomics Kentucky Derby Predictions
May 1, 2015 (Photo: Florian Christoph) Almost a decade of blogging had worn me down, but after some time off, I’m ready to jump back in the saddle. I can’t think of a better way than by embarrassing myself with the annual Kentucky Derby predictions! I can’t remember the last time I was so excited about […]
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