Top Trending: Bookie in Ohtani Interpreter Case Sentenced to Over a Year

A Southern California bookmaker who took thousands of sports bets from the former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani was sentenced Friday to just over a year in prison. Scroll down for all the latest gambling headlines from across the globe, including interviews with the bookie in question.

Mathew Bowyer, 50, pleaded guilty last year to running an illegal gambling business, money laundering and filing a false tax return.

He was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison and ordered to pay $1.6 million in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service, which his lawyer said he has already paid. That sentence is well beyond the maximum 18 years he could have faced behind bars. 

Bowyer's defense attorney Diane Bass had argued for leniency in this matter, hoping to get the sentenced reduced even further. 

A document was filed two weeks ago in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California noting that Bowyer had no prior legal trouble and expressed a willingness to cooperate in this matter. She described her client as a “gambling addict” who “has faced his demons" and is seeking house arrest as well as time served. 

“The bottom line is, I am remorseful. I have made many poor choices in my life,” Bowyer told the court, with his voice trembling.

The case against Bowyer drew international attention because he counted among his clients Ohtani’s former Japanese language interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.

Mizuhara was sentenced earlier this year to five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after stealing nearly $17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player. 

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More Headlines Gambling911 is Following

Crime 

• Bookie at Center of $17M Ohtani Interpreter Scandal Speaks Out - CNN’s Nick Watt sits down with former bookmaker and gambler Matt Bowyer, who was recently sentenced to a year in prison for his part in a scandal that saw millions stolen from the famed LA Dodgers pitcher by Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuharu. (watch here)
   
• Rolling Stone Extensive Interview With Bowyer and the Room the Feds Could Not Find - “Do you want to see the one room,” he asks, “that the feds couldn’t find in the raid?” Bowyer makes his way to his garage. Now 50, he is an affable guy who always seems to have just finished a punishing workout, and who emits a steely calm that can charm and unnerve in the span of a few seconds. He stops at what seems to be a banal metal shelving unit, save for the fact that it is secured to the wall by a discreet padlocked chain. Unlocking it, he slides the shelf to the side to reveal a narrow doorway. (full story here)
   
• Ducky Bhai Challenges Physical Remand in Gambling App Case - YouTuber Ducky Bhai, real name Saadur Rehman, has filed an appeal against a Lahore magistrate’s decision to extend his physical remand. He is currently in custody of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), which is probing his alleged role in promoting illegal online gambling apps. The appeal claims that the magistrate failed to fully examine the facts before granting remand.  Filed by lawyer Ch Usman Ali, the appeal was accepted for hearing by a Lahore sessions court. The court has asked the NCCIA to respond by Monday. Ducky Bhai has been in NCCIA custody since his arrest at the Lahore airport on August 17. His remand was most recently extended on August 28 until September 1.   A judicial magistrate in Pakistan on Thursday extended the physical remand of YouTuber Saadur Rehman, known as Ducky Bhai, for four more days at the request of the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) in a case linked to the promotion of illegal gambling apps on social media. The next hearing is scheduled for September 1. Bhai is a popular YouTube influencer who is accused of regularly promoting gambling websites, including bet365. 
   
• Russian Criminals Build Scalable Affiliate Network for Slick Crypto Gambling Scams - In July, investigators at KrebsOnSecurity identified a sudden proliferation of what are being called “scambling” sites — online gaming portals that entice players with large promotional credits only to demand cryptocurrency deposits when it’s time to cash out, then vanish with the funds. ehind the campaign is an affiliate operation known as Gambler Panel, which openly calls itself a “soulless project … made for profit.” The platform supplies its partners with a fully customized “fake casino engine,” designed down to the pixel to appear legitimate even to longtime gamblers, KrebsOnSecurity reports. This is how the scam works: victims see ads on social media touting an exclusive partnership with athletes or influencers and get offered a $2,500 credit in exchange for signing up with a promo code. Once in, they play the games and appear to win — but when they attempt withdrawal, they’re told a “verification deposit” of roughly $100 in crypto is required. After depositing, users are gently coaxed into making even more wagers, and almost invariably lose everything. (source: Casino.org)

Gambling 

• Federal Court Upholds Arkansas Referendum Blocking Legends Casino in Russellville, Arkansas - A federal judge says a statewide amendment to the Arkansas Constitution approved last November was legally binding and did not violate a commercial gaming company’s rights under the United States Constitution.  Last November, Arkansas voters passed Issue 2 with 56% support, an amendment to the state constitution that said the Arkansas Racing Commission (ARC) can only consider commercial casino licenses for counties where local referendums field majority support for slot machines, table games, and sports betting. Issue 2 additionally repealed the gaming license that ARC awarded to Cherokee Nation Entertainment in 2024. CNE had planned to build a $325 million destination called Legends Resort & Casino in Russellville.  CNE, a subsidiary of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma’s commercial conglomerate, Cherokee Nation Businesses, sued the state of Arkansas and the Racing Commission on allegations that Issue 2 violated its rights under the U.S. Constitution. (source: Casino.org)
   
• Mass Gaming Commission Approves Rewrite of DraftKings Rules - They approved 5-0 a complete rewrite of DraftKings' House Rules on Aug. 14. One section now says that bets made where bettors beat DK to key public info can be deemed errors & thus voidable. (source: fairplaygov)

Las Vegas 

• Las Vegas local hits $1 million jackpot at Red Rock Casino - The lucky local hit the jackpot while at Red Rock Casino in Summerlin on Thursday, according to a Station Casinos spokesperson. "CONGRATS to this lucky local, hitting for $1,016,561.42 on a $25 spin playing Dragon Link in Red Rock's High Limit Slot Room on August 28. This marks the second time the $1 million Dragon Link Grand Jackpot has hit at Red Rock in exactly three months."

Entertainment

• Odds Now Available on Taylor Swift Engagement Post on Instagram Becoming the Most Liked - Swift's Tuesday announcement of her engagement to Kelce shattered records, garnering over 20 million likes (and counting) along with 1 million reposts in under six hours. It is so far ranking among the most viral moments in Instagram's history. As of early Wednesday afternoon, that number had surpassed 30 million. To date, the Instagram post with the most likes is Lionel Messi's post celebrating Argentina's 2022 FIFA World Cup win. As of late 2024, the post had surpassed 78 million likes, making it the most liked post on the platform. BetOnline has released dozens of Swift-Kelce wedding prop bets following Tuesday's announcement. 
   
• BetOnline Releases Map of US States Most and Least Excited Over Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce Engagement - For example, tracking tweets like, "Taylor Swift is engaged!!!" "So excited for Taylor Swift," "So happy for Taylor Swift," "freaking out about Taylor Swift being engaged," "Taylor Swift's engagement ring is gorgeous," "Taylor Swift's engagement ring is massive," "her ring is beautiful," #TaylorSwiftEngaged, #TaylorKelce, #SwiftKelceEngaged, #TAYVIS, etc. (read more from Gambling911)

Poker 

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• ACR Poker Announces $50 Million in Guaranteed Prize Pool for Upcoming Event - The Online Super Series XL (OSS XL) is back—and it’s flexing harder than ever with over $50 million in guaranteed prize pools. We’re talking Main Events stacked higher than your favorite burger and enough multi-flight madness to make your mouse sweat.

Sweepstakes Casinos 

• California’s Sweeps Ban Bill Advances To The Final Senate Stage - During its suspense hearing Friday, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to remove Assembly Bill 831 from the suspense file and advance it along to the Senate, where it will be put on the schedule for a full vote. Friday’s hearing did not feature any testimony for any of the bills committee members considered, giving it a different feel than any of the prior three hearings for AB831. Suspense hearings are only meant for votes, where committee members have already made their decisions behind closed doors and are simply making those decisions public. Up next, AB831 will be voted upon by the full Senate. It needs a simple majority to pass in the Senate, so 21 out of 40 votes. If it passes in the Senate, AB831 will be sent back to its originating chamber, the Assembly, because this current version is entirely different from the original AB831 that passed in the Assembly this spring. It just needs to pass two hurdles the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee, then the full Assembly, where it would need 41 of 80 votes to pass. From there, AB831 would be sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk for his signature. (source: Sweepsy)

Betting Markets

• $43 million bet on college football this weekend as of Friday evening, and still counting, at Kalshi
• Kalshi traders see a high likelihood that the Fed will cut rates by 25 bps in September, with “yes” priced at 77¢ (77%).
• Will Trump sue California? - 34% chance - New market (Kalshi)
• Taylor Swift pregnant in 2025 - 16% chance, $70,000 volume (Polymarket)

South Africa 

• South Africa Gambling Debate Gets Heated Amidst Clamours for Reform - South Africa’s online gambling industry has come into focus once again, this time as industry stakeholders and politicians engage in a standoff regarding the industry’s future. One of the most eminent voices in this argument is that of Makashule Gana, a Member of Parliament for the Rise Mzansi Party. Gana has not held back in calling for radical change forthwith, criticising operators for preying on susceptible groups, particularly the young. During an interview with TechCentral, he stated that operators are delivering casino-like games, regardless of the legal constraints that currently exist. Gana warned that if those operators neglect to take responsibility for the damage they are causing, taxpayers will undoubtedly have to pay. He stated, “If these companies do not pay for the damage they are causing, we will be left with a huge burden where a portion of the money that is supposed to go towards development will have to be used to rehabilitate online problem gamblers.“ (source: Sigma)

Sports Betting

• $1,000,000 Survivor Sales Picking Up Ahead of NFL 2025 Regular Season -  As of this morning we've collected $337,215 ($662,875 overlay). This time last year we collected $254,730.  $100,000 Spread Survivor going to fly over. As of this morning, $91,500 has been collected. No rake so every $ goes to the pot. Details at BetOnline Here

Politics 

• Where is Donald Trump? Wild Rumors Swirl Around President Heading Into Weekend - Several reporters claimed that the president has been oddly out of the public eye for most of the week. “Trump has not been seen publicly since his cabinet meeting on Tuesday,” Public Notice’s Aaron Rupar wrote on X while resharing a post from journalist Laura Rozen. Rozen posted on Friday: “Trump has no public events scheduled all weekend. Don’t believe he was seen today either.”“Donald Trump hasn’t been seen in public since Tuesday and has no events scheduled all weekend,” the Republicans against Trump account wrote on X. “Where is he? Who’s running the country?”  Toss in the fact that Vice President JD Vance recently said in an interview with USA Today that he was ready to step in for Trump if something happened, and the conspiracy theories were all over the place over on Elon Musk’s platform.  Vance's odds of becoming the next US President have skyrocketed in recent weeks at sites like BetOnline.  
   
• Republican Sen. Joni Ernst Won't Seek Re-Election in Iowa in 2026 - The Republican Senator plans to announce that she will not run for re-election next year, according to three people familiar with her decision.  The move, first reported by CBS News, would open up another potentially competitive race in Iowa, months after GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds announced she wouldn’t run for re-election either.  The Democrats have not won a Senate race in the state since 2008.  Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, is planning to run for the open Senate seat to replace Ernst, according to two sources familiar with her plans. A former local TV news anchor who flipped a Democratic-held House seat in Northeastern Iowa in 2020, some Republicans view Hinson as a strong contender.  US Senate odds are available at BetOnline here

- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher