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MLB Embraced Gambling While Trying to Preserve Its Integrity and Now They Are Paying the Piper
The Washington Post's Chelsea Janes delves into Major League Baseball's questionable relationship with gambling while attempting to maintain the sport's integrity following the suspensions and one lifetime ban of nearly a half dozen players last week.
San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano received a lifetime ban for betting on baseball last season when he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“You know, I’m going to be quite honest: [The betting] was dumb,” Washington Nationals Manager Dave Martinez told The Post. “It’s frowned upon. It has been. In spring training, we go through meetings. Every now and then, we have someone come through from MLB telling us that gambling on baseball is not allowed. It’s not. Why do it? Why take a chance?”
And now for the hypocritical part. During the news conference, behind Martinez, dozens of BetMGM ads dotted the monitors.
Janes writes: "As clear as MLB’s message to players is and has always been when it comes to gambling on its games, its embrace of legal sports betting partners and the money they deliver is not only muddying moral waters but also drawing road maps to temptation in clubhouses around the country."
And there exists another problem, as highlighted in her Washington Post piece. Players are not the only people in major league clubhouses who have access to the kind of information that could help them or others win bets.
In addition to coaches and other team staff members, television and radio broadcasters are often employed by the team or broadcast companies. Their training is limited when it comes to the league's gambling policy. Some are often uncomfortable reading betting-related ads.
Janes writes: "After one of its members was approached for information about awards voting that might have informed bettors last year, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America sent a letter to all of its members reminding them of best practices. The circles around clubhouses are not small, and everyone in them sees the tightrope MLB is walking as it tries to preserve the integrity of its games in an era when gambling has never posed a more accessible threat."
This Mizrachi Brother Gets 5th WSOP Bracelet
Robert Mizrachi just won the WSOP $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship ($333,045). He is now a five-time WSOP bracelet winner.
The final three in Event #13: $10,000 Dealer's Choice Championship returned for Day 4, with Ryutaro Suzuki and Michael Martinelli falling just short as Mizrachi picked up $333,045 after topping a field of 141 players.
The result comes ten years since his victory in the $1,500 Dealer's Choice Championship, and sees him draw level with his brother Michael with a handful of WSOP titles.
"It feels great," he said. "I'm playing my best game right now — probably better than ever. I'm so happy. I just want to focus and be there for my family and hopefully good things will happen."
Man Hits Jackpot Twice Playing Poker at Pittsburgh-Area Casino
A western Pennsylvania man hit the jackpot not once but twice at Live! Casino Pittsburgh this year, raking in more than $621,000.
On May 20, Stephen Mcrae of Somerset Township pulled a royal flush to win a nearly $241,000 progressive jackpot playing Texas Hold 'em. His hole cards were the 10 and jack of spades and then flopped the ace, king and queen of spades, the casino said.
Prior to that he hit a $380,000 jackpot with another royal flush back in January.
"Mr. Mcrae will be remembered for a long time around here," said Live! Casino Pittsburgh general manager Sean Sullivan in a news release. "Royal flushes are so rare. To hit two in a matter of months was truly an exciting moment for all of us, and we couldn't be happier for him."
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