Somach Blasted For 60 Minutes Billy Walters Snafu
It hasn’t gone unnoticed here that Gambling911.com’s fiery reporter Thomas Somach found himself in quite an embarrassing situation over the weekend. Somach, a seasoned crime reporter and regularly featured columnist on the Gambling911 website inadvertently slammed the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes for airing a piece on the world’s biggest sports bettor, Billy Walters, at the same time the Jets-Patriots game would be airing on Fox.
Only problem, the Jets-Patriots game is not airing on Fox. It is being broadcast on CBS with the Billy Walters segment immediately following.
“WHAT AN IDIOT!” one reader proclaimed in the comments section of Somach’s article. “First off I want to say how much I love this site and read it about every other day but give me a fucking break. This guy really thinks that the Jets game is going to be played on Fox? Do your homework. I enjoy this guy on occasion but he really dropped the ball here. Just saying.”
Said another: “Tom Somach is a total hack. I, too, read this site daily----but try to make a point of skipping any articles written by this moron (until I'm just looking for a laugh or unless I'm bored and just looking to see how many inaccuracies I can find in his writing)”
Gambling911.com Senior Editor Payton O’Brien has been fielding emails throughout the weekend related to the piece.
“Our accuracy rate is about 99.5 percent, which is better than a majority of the mainstream media – witness reporting on Congresswoman Gabby Giffords death last week when she was still alive,” O’Brien said. “This is one of those .05 percent times when there was an inaccuracy and readers have every right to vent.”
One email read: “Somach puts his foot in his mouth more than (poker pro) Daniel Negreanu, who he berates all the time for putting his foot in his mouth. That’s saying plenty.”
O’Brien added: “It’s good to eat a little humble pie once in a while.”
He got one thing right. 60 Minutes did blunder by airing a segment on sports betting years back while another game was playing on Fox.
The elusive Walters is finally speaking publicly ahead of an upcoming book release.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
