DC Attorney General Said to Be Investigating Intralot Contract

• Intralot's Washington, DC lottery and sports betting contract is the subject of a new investigation, according to Axios.
• Polymarket sees 60 percent reduction in business since elections, FBI raid of CEO apartment.
• Big pay day for Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight even though the event was universally considered a "dud".
• Five individuals enter guilty pleas in Michigan illegal gambling biz case.
• Missouri sports betting could be on life support.

Gambling News

DC Attorney General Said to Be Investigating Intralot Contract

Intralot's Washington, DC lottery and sports betting contract is the subject of a new investigation from the District's attorney general's office.

Axios cited anonymous sources today (18 November) in saying that attorney general Brian Schwalb’s office requested more information related to the contract last summer.

The DC Intralot contract has been mired in controversy over the past few years.

D.C. regulators claimed last year that Intralot was failing to meet the terms of its deal to run the city’s sports wagering system. And, in turn, that company blamed the politically connected subcontractor, that being Emmanuel Bailey and a highly flawed GambetDC.

The D.C. regulators further asserted the Greek company that won the District’s controversial $215 million sports betting contract back in 2019 continued to violate the terms of its deal with the city by not sending enough work to Bailey's firm.

DC’s Office of Lottery and Gaming (OLG) approved Intralot’s request to have FanDuel replace GambetDC.

Greek-based Intralot has run the DC Lottery since 2009 and was placed in charge of running sports betting in the district.

The exact motive of this latest investigation and timeline remain unclear.

Gambling News

Polymarket Survives Post-Election Drop-Off Though Volume Falls 60%

Polymarket made waves leading up to the U.S. general election, then made headlines for all the wrong reasons days later after an FBI raid of that company's CEO's New York City apartment, along with the seizing of electronics.  We still don't have details as to what led up to that action.

Since the election, Polymarket has seen a 60% reduction in volume.  It's not immediately clear if the FBI raid has had much of an impact, if any.

From CryptoSlate:

Per Dune Analytics data, Polymarket recorded peak engagement for the “Presidential Election Winner 2024” market, with daily user participation exceeding 49,000 in the days surrounding the election. Sporting events like the Champions League and the Super Bowl have also seen strong interest.

Specifically, the “Super Bowl Champion 2025 market” maintained steady user participation and daily figures consistently reaching the thousands. This reinforces the platform’s post-election ability to attract a broad audience base beyond financial and political predictions, tapping into mainstream entertainment and sports.

Other markets, which primarily relate to potential crypto price movements, also garnered consistent traction, reflecting the platform’s appeal among participants seeking market-aligned insights.

One of the big questions surrounding last week's raid involves Polymarket's claim it does not take bets from those in the U.S.  The company claims to check users to ensure they’re not using VPNs, a tool used to obfuscate users’ location.

Joanna Wright of DLNews isn't buying it.

Some of Polymarket’s most prolific users are American. Take Las Vegas-based user Domer, for example, who made north of $700,00 on the platform before losing out in a bad election bet.

The Treasury Department is reportedly investigating Polymarket for accepting trades from US-based users.

Context suggests the raid might be more about regulators’ fears of market manipulation on these platforms.

Boxing/MMA

Mike Tyson-Jake Paul Fight Draws Record Betting for a Combat Sports Event

Jake Paul’s unanimous victory over former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson might have been disappointing from a competitive standpoint, but it drew record betting.

BetMGM said the fight between the YouTube star and the 58-year-old Tyson, who showed his age by being a sitting target, was its most-bet boxing or mixed-martial arts fight. The sportsbook took three times the number of bets and four times the money of any combat sport in BetMGM’s history.

Craig Mucklow, vice president of trading at Caesars Sportsbook, said the fight was on par with an NFL Monday night game.

“We knew there would be tremendous interest in the fight, as the betting suggested it was a generational matchup in customer demographics,” Mucklow said. “Those old enough to remember a prime Mike Tyson got to live the nostalgia one last time, while those not old enough to know Iron Mike were firmly on the Jake Paul side of the counter.”

Crime

Michigan: Five Plead Guilty to Running Illegal Gambling Biz

The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) and the Michigan Department of Attorney General Monday announced that five individuals recently entered guilty pleas in connection with an illegal gambling operation.

The five defendants were charged in connection with the operation of Hot Spot Skill Arcade in Flint.  The business did not hold a gaming license and operated 41 computer gaming stations that offered casino slot-style gambling.

“The Michigan Gaming Control Board’s investigation into the unauthorized and unlicensed Hot Spot storefront casino in Flint underscores the agency’s commitment to upholding gaming laws and ensuring fair play,” said MGCB Executive Director Henry Williams in a statement. “Thanks to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and her team, who are such important enforcement partners in these cases, the upcoming sentencing of the defendants on December 2nd will mark yet another significant and successful outcome resulting in accountability and enforcement of gaming regulations to protect the integrity of gaming in Michigan.”

The five defendants in the case, all employees of Hot Spot Skill Arcade, are: Michael Bixby, 48; Jeffrey Ladd, 52; Victoria Adams, 64; Michelle Teall, 58; and Courtney Thompson, 57. 

It should be noted that the restaurant and entertainment chain Dave & Busters previously announced the intention to allow gambling on arcade games throughout the U.S.  No word yet on when - or if - that will begin.

Gambling News

Recount Likely With Missouri Sports Betting Ballot Initiative 

Missouri’s Amendment 2 sports gambling vote was already a nail-biter with voters narrowly approving based on Election Day counting.  

This week we are learning that the Christian County clerk added an additional 9,800 votes to the county’s certified total submitted to the Missouri Secretary of State’s office. Clerk Paula Brumfield says those were absentee, mail-in, and provisional ballots.  Much of these were not in favor of the amendment.

KY3 Springfield reports that, in the late hours of election night, the clerk postponed the count of those ballots until Wednesday morning. According to the clerk, her team did not count them on election day because the machines would have erased all of the ballot data if they had been shut down. Brumfield said the decision was made with the agreement of the Republican and Democratic party representatives in the office.

The certified votes from Christian County brought the narrow margin of the unofficial results on Amendment 2 (sports betting) to around 400.  As of 9:15 a.m., the updated difference was 747 votes.

That number could change throughout the day as counties finish the certification process.

A recount is likely as a result of the updated vote count.