The story involving a player filmed complaining that Caesars Sportsbook refused to pay him his $500,000 winnings after he admitted to using a beard has gotten new life.  Manny Cortez, a betting influencer, won $500,000 at Caesars Sportsbook on the Boston Celtics' 2024 NBA Finals victory. However, Caesars refused to pay, claiming he used a third party ("beard") to place the bet, which violates their rules against fraud and money laundering.

While this story has ranked among the top reads almost daily here at Gambling911, it wasn't until Thursday night that a massive surge in readership began flooding the site right into Friday with record numbers likely.

This comes following news that a gambler must pay around $2 million in restitution for fictitious deposits after exploiting “a system vulnerability” on the Caesars Sportsbook site.

Most of the traffic was coming in via X.  By 1 pm ET, some 38,000 impressions were tallied for this particular X post linking to Gambling911 with thousands coming to the Gambling911 website.   The original post has received nearly 2 million views (made Friday morning).

In addition to today's NBA Playoffs slate, betting on the second round of the NFL Draft continues as well.

Dude wins $500,000 on a sports bet and casino refuses to pay him out pic.twitter.com/jOvi1B9OV8

— I Post Forbidden Videos (@WorldDarkWeb) April 24, 2025

Lakers vs. Timberwolves

Los Angeles Lakers (50-32, third in the Western Conference) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (49-33, sixth in the Western Conference)

Minneapolis; Friday, 9:30 p.m. EDT

Timberwolves -3; over/under is 206 - This line has moved from -2 to -3.5 at some books with mostly balanced action.

WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Series tied 1-1

BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Timberwolves host the Los Angeles Lakers in game three of the Western Conference first round with the series tied 1-1. The Lakers beat the 110-103 in the last matchup. Rui Hachimura led the Lakers with 18 points, and Anthony Edwards led the with 27 points.

The Timberwolves are 33-19 in conference matchups. Minnesota is eighth in the Western Conference in rebounding with 44.3 rebounds. Rudy Gobert paces the Timberwolves with 10.9 boards.

The Lakers are 36-16 against conference opponents. Los Angeles is 4-6 in games decided by less than 4 points.

The Timberwolves score 114.3 points per game, 2.1 more points than the 112.2 the Lakers give up. The Lakers average 13.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.6 more makes per game than the Timberwolves give up.

TOP PERFORMERS: Edwards is averaging 27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists for the Timberwolves. Julius Randle is averaging 19.2 points, seven rebounds and five assists over the last 10 games.

Gambling911.com Free Picks Record

• April 25 - LA Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves - Minnesota Timberwolves -3.5 ()
• April 19 - Minnesota Timberwolves vs. LA Lakers - Minnesota Timberwolves +4.5 (WIN)
• April 6 - New York Yankees vs. Pittsburgh Pirates - Pittsburgh Pirates +138 (WIN)
• April 5 - Houston Cougars vs. Duke Blue Devils - Houston Cougars +5 (WIN)