Report: Sports Bettor Bill 'Krackman' Krackomberger Illegally Obtained Player Data From MGM
A high-stakes gambler-turned-FBI confidential source has spent much of his time warning of Las Vegas casino execs engaging in questionable behavior such as using casino assets to pamper a big name Southern California bookie whose clientele included at least one Major League Baseball player.
The main subject of R.J. Cipriani's wrath over this time it's safe to say was none other than one Scott Sibella, former President at MGM and Resorts World.
Following months of speculation, the MGM Grand and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas casinos entered into settlements that require them to pay a combined $7.45 million, undergo external review, and enhance their anti-money laundering compliance program following an investigation by the Bank Secrecy Act.
That's all courtesy of Mr. Sibella.
Investigators say big time bookie Wayne Nix was permitted by Sibella to gamble at MGM Grand and affiliated properties with illicit proceeds generated from the illegal gambling business without notifying the casino's compliance department.
Sibella also allegedly allowed Nix to receive complimentary benefits at the casino, including meals, room, board, and golf trips with senior executives and other high-net-worth customers.
The 61-year-old has pleaded guilty to one count of failure to file reports of suspicious transactions. Sibella served as president of the MGM Grand from August 2017 until February 2019.
With Sibella out of the picture, for now, Cipriani is now focused on professional sports gambler Bill "Krackman" Krackomberger.
He sent out the following tweet Thursday afternoon:
KRACK WHACK IS FINALLY EXPOSED!
— Robin Hood 702 (@robinhood702) February 1, 2024
SCUMBAG SPORTS DEBTOR BILL KRACKOMBERGER takes advantage of his customers on https://t.co/sVSLXWfjBM
He used to tell me how much he hated what Vegas Dave did to his customers!
What a hypocrite!@VitalVegas@LasVegasLocallyhttps://t.co/KRJq9axdJE pic.twitter.com/X4VgcvdPfn
So what gives?
Dana Gentry of the Nevada Current reports that Krackman "illegally obtained MGM player data".
When MGM Resorts surveillance employee Joseph Tatonetti got caught providing confidential player information to sports bettor Bill Krackomberger in 2019, Tatonetti lost his job, Gentry writes.
In the early 2000's, Krackman grew a following in the world of sports betting posting forums, specifically on ThePresciption.com.
At the time he also worked for Casino Times Magazine (later rebranded as CTN), run by the founder of Gambling911.com, Chris Costigan.
Eclipsing Krackman's popularity was the bubbly half Southern Belle with a splash of Asian fusion, Jenny Woo. She, too, worked for CTN and would later go on to become a tour de force on the pages of Gambling911.com.
(pictured above: Jenny Woo, Bill Krackman)
Ms. Woo once wrote a scathing review of Las Vegas' Worst Buffets. At the top of her list: The iconic, now demolished, Imperial Palace buffet.
To our shock, the executives of the Imperial Palace offered to fly Ms. Woo in to...well, test the buffet again.
Fearing they might try to poison her, we had them fly Krackman out in instead.
They ended up pampering Bill in all of their restaurants...what buffet? When all was said and done, you'd swear Krackman had eaten at the famed Osteria Francescana after reading his review. The steak, lobster, wagyu, caviar, oysters, truffles, the Golden Opulence Sundae, they were all scrumptious.
“He is a bad guy and should not be working in the gaming industry,” MGM Resorts International general counsel John McManus said of the man who passed on the confidential player info to Bill, Tatonetti. The 2019 text to professional gambler R.J. Cipriani from McManus was sent after a sting operation was set up to catch Tatonetti in the act of sharing Cipriani’s player data with Krackomberger. “I have less than zero sympathy for surveillance guy. … And your friend (Krackomberger) is not a sympathetic person either.”
Gambling911.com founder Chris Costigan says Krackman always seemed like a stand up guy back in the day.
"The magazine's owners (an elderly couple, Robert and Suzanne Cole) thought of him like their son," he relayed to us. "His brother was a police officer in the town I grew up in."
Years after his stint at CTN Magazine Krackman would go on to be a featured host at Countdown to Kickoff Presented by BetMGM on FOX Sports Radio. That gig came after the Tatonetti incident.
Dana Gentry of the Nevada Current writes that a spokesman for MGM Resorts International says McManus reported the breach of player data to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, which apparently took no action.
From the Current:
Cipriani says before Tatonetti and Krackomberger were exposed, Krackomberger “offered multiple times to get into players’ accounts for me. I said ‘for what?’ He said, ‘Well, whatever you want to find out. I got a guy on the inside. He can find out anything you want to know.’ He told me he was getting people to open offshore betting accounts so he could move lines,” a reference to the practice of betting enough money on one side to affect a bookmaker’s odds.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
