Is Roundball A Square Game? Sports Betting Takes Another Hit

The most-heard response to last week’s FBI arrests of NBA stars in a gambling sting was “Why do athletes earning millions need to win thousands betting spots?” Coming on the heels of the apparent Shohei Ohtani coverup— his translator took the fall—it also begs the question just how legitimate are the games on which the public bets? Especially with pro sports now partnering with legalized gambling outfits.

There have long been stories of the high-stakes poker and golf games played by Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and other mega sports celebrities. There was the shocking scandal of former NBA referee Tim Donaghy fixing games for gamblers. Hockey fans remember the tawdry 2006 episode of Wayne Gretzky letting his wife take the fall for betting debts with former NHL star Rick Tocchet. 

Now this. NBA Hall of Fame member Chuancy Billups, the suspended coach of the Portland Traiblazers, and Terry Rozier of Miami Heat were the eye candy in the arrest, but the problems go much deeper. If you listen to people like former mob guy Mike Franzese, who now is a security consultant, the reality is not The Sopranos method of busting limbs and shooting deadbeats. It’s more subtle.

According to Franzese the biggest fear for those caught in the web of underworld gambling is exposure of their mistakes. They will do anything to avoid these problems becoming known to their families, their friends and, most of all, their employers. They think the best way to avoid exposure is to play along with mobsters, become a small pawn in crooked betting and poker rings. As if.

So how do they get caught up in there first place? As Franzese explains, “The competition they have on the field spills over into the dressing room, where athletes on the same team often compete with each other in what they think is innocent betting on other sports.” In short they feel like big shots in Guys and Dolls tossing around dice. No one will ever get caught. Pretty soon, these naïve young men are racking up debts in the tens and even hundreds of thousands. 

Because they can’t go the bank to finance their debts they end up looking for money on the streets from bookmakers connected to the mob. (It’s why the underworld knew long before the news went public about the bets coming via Ohtani’s translator) And that’s where they get hooked. 

The people holding their debt are happy to let their marks get even deeper in debt, so as to have a better grip on them. While the mob guys threaten violence, what they want most is a conduit to the action. So, in the case of Rozier or former Raptor Jontay Porter, they’re asked to shave points on the proposition bets offered on their production. In the case of Billups, they’re asked to front corrupt poker games with whales (big bettors) lured by the promise of celebrities at the table. 

Whatever the hook, they hope they can quickly escape the trap, but soon they discover they’re captives till they are of no use in fixing results of drawing big card players. Because they’re often panicked or broke from a divorce or bad investment they try to make the money back quickly. For the reason that even a 60 percent winning percentage is considered high, repeat winners in the 80-90 percent range tip off authorities. Betting pros know not to be conspicuous but to accept a medium return over a long term. But Billups fleecing guys for big stakes in poker is not inconspicuous.

Most often they face the option of going bankrupt or turning evidence to the Feds to escape. Neither is an acceptable fate for someone who, until their habit tripped them up, was considered heroes and role models. 

So how straight are the games that people trust for honesty? Especially now that legalized gambling has expanded the pool of bettors incrementally. With everyone looking for an edge or a secret source it’s a temptation trap. The pro sports leagues have security departments always win the lookout for suspicious behaviour, but they are loathe to expose those athletes who have gotten into the trap. 

The leagues are also their own worst advocates. Even though Tocchet admitted to the 2006 gambling allegations the NHL has seen fit to let him coach in modern-day NHL. Gretzky turned in his innocence card when MGM needed a front man for its sports betting operation.

Current Tigers manager A.J. Hinch was the manager of the wining Houston Astros when they cheated in the 2022 World Series. And Ohtani continues to star with the Dodgers, despite leaving his gambling-addicted translator in the dressing room of the California/ L.A. Angels for almost five years to soak up the kind of info the mob craves.

Likewise the casinos and betting sites want no exposure from reckless gamblers. Combined with the addictive appeal of betting to the players and fans, the problems are not likely to diminish. As a famous robber once said when asked why he robbed banks, “Because that’s where the money is.”

Bruce Dowbiggin @dowbboy is the editor of Not The Public Broadcaster  A two-time winner of the Gemini Award as Canada's top television sports broadcaster, his new book Deal With It: The Trades That Stunned The NHL And Changed hockey is now available on Amazon. Inexact Science: The Six Most Compelling Draft Years In NHL History, his previous book with his son Evan, was voted the seventh-best professional hockey book of all time by bookauthority.org . His 2004 book Money Players was voted sixth best on the same list, and is available via brucedowbigginbooks.ca.