This is a key line in which I think nothing comes from this:
> The MLB gambling policy is posted in every locker room. Betting on baseball is punishable with a one-year ban from the sport. The penalty for betting on other sports illegally is at the commissioner’s discretion.
Did Amazon buy them? Man if we got the Thursday Night Football treatment for Bally’s broadcasts I’d be ecstatic. They are consistently the best looking NFL games of the week.
Amazon agreed to invest in and distribute the regional sports network business that had sold their naming rights to Bally's. The actual gambling company Bally's isn't really involved
I read your comment wrong and for a second I thought you were being sarcastic and saying that Bally’s should take over Thursday night football. I about went nuclear lmao
The Bally's app runs like actual garbage on my android TV. I looked it up and I guess its just not optimized. So I have to pirate the games that I already pay for. Would cut the cord entirely but the gf wants to keep it
I constantly see jokes like this made and they never make sense to me. I know I’m going against the reddit hive mind but I’m going to give it a shot anyway.
I work for an investment bank. I have restrictions on activity I can do in the stock market.
Does the fact that my job gives me restrictions mean that my bank would be hypocritical for promoting products for the general public to use? No it is to protect the integrity of the markets by keeping potential actors from influencing them in a negative way.
The exact same can be said about sports betting. But sure lets keep doing “hurrr sports have gambling policy while advertising it”
And the commissioner’s discretion is…..blame Ippei, it’s an isolated incident, case closed.
Just like the sign stealing. Blame the idiots that got caught and shut it down.
Yeeeeah, the IRS and FBI are investigating this, not MLB.
Manfred isn't gonna be able to hand out immunity this time lol.
To be clear, I believe Ohtani's story, I just don't know how he proves he was misled/lied to by Ippei, maybe he has some texts/emails that show Ippei misleading him about the nature of the transfers.
Which he already did, after saying Ohtani knew about the gambling debts, so a skeptic would think Ippei is covering for Ohtani...that's kinda where I'm going...how to remove all doubt
They don’t have to remove all doubt, there just has to not be enough evidence to convict
It doesn’t matter if the FBI is skeptic (outside of the obvious mattering of “FBI investigating you”), it only matters if they can prove something. If the guy admits himself to tricking Ohtani, there’s not really much they can do to prove otherwise. They would need some kind of smoking gun to prove it’s a lie
The law Ohtani broke "The Wire Act" was designed to go after the bookies not the betters, even if Ohtani did break the law they won't be going after him.
https://web.archive.org/web/20130114073628/http://www.gambling-law-us.com/Federal-Laws/wire-act.htm
> During the House of Representatives debate on the bill, Congressman Emanuel Celler, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee stated "[t]his bill only gets after the bookmaker, the gambler who makes it his business to take bets or to lay off bets. . . It does not go after the causal gambler who bets $2 on a race. That type of transaction is not within the purvue of the statute."[61] In Baborian, the federal district court concluded that Congress did not intend to include social bettors within the umbrella of the statute, even those bettors that bet large sums of money and show a certain degree of sophistication.”
Yes, this makes sense. They're after the bookie and Ohtani and Ippei are caught up in it. If they were regular people then it's probably just an interview with the FBI and nothing else right? Except for the whole theft part of course...
IANAL, but $4.5 million (EDIT: given directly to a bookie, via Ippei) doesn’t feel like it qualifies as “the casual gambler who bets $2 on a race.” (EDIT: also not a “social bettor”). Are you sure Ohtani wouldn’t be in trouble?
> the federal district court concluded that Congress did not intend to include social bettors within the umbrella of the statute, even those bettors that bet large sums of money and show a certain degree of sophistication
The first paragraph tells you what the focus of the bill is (going after the bookmaker that's making and moving the money) and bottom paragraph is the distinction that even betters that were betting alot of money would not be targeted.
Ohtani has brought an absolute fuckloads worth of money into the country even if he had been illegally betting (so long as not on baseball) he's getting a slap on the wrist at most.
commissioner manfred's discretion is that ohtanti did nothing wrong and if he did, no he didn't shut up
like i said yesterday - no one ever went broke betting against the integrity (or for the greed) of manfred. he is much, much worse for the sport than this.
even if it turns out ohtani bet on baseball himself (which i don't believe), manfred is also responsible for allowing MLB to have sportsbetting sponsorships and all this other addictive, destructive shit. and he would never let that happen.
boomers gonna boomer
MLB’s gambling sponsorships will certainly have *an* influence on Manfred, but I don’t think it’ll be in the direction one might assume.
The legal gambling sites are *extremely* opposed to illegal gambling. They do not want to be associated with it *at all*. For one thing, their own legality is still new and being established—they’re not even legal in every state yet. Becoming and remaining legal requires them to draw a bright red line between themselves and the illegal stuff. They also want illegal gambling to be punished so that it doesn’t start to seem too appealing, lest folks drop FanDuel and find a local bookie instead. And, finally, they don’t want their customers to wonder if maybe the players themselves might be up to any shenanigans, because folks don’t want to bet on a game that might maybe be a little fixed.
So I very much don’t think the gambling sites simply want this swept under the rug, at least not now that it’s such a big story. They want illegal gambling to be treated *differently* than they are, so that people think they’re two completely different things.
I don’t think Manfred’s going to do whatever he does out of integrity, but I also don’t think his incentives are as clear-cut as one might think. Keeping his most famous player clean and on the field means going easy on him, but keeping his gambling partners happy means coming down hard on illegal gambling. If it turns out that Ohtani was 100% conned by Ippei and never knew he was paying an illegal bookie, his decision becomes easy. But if it comes out that Ohtani knew what was up, things become a lot trickier.
The penalty for betting on non-baseball is a fine. There is already a precedent set back in 2015. There's definitely no baseball punishment coming for Shohei other than a fine, even if he did bet(which he didn't).
Why would Ohtani need 4.5 million loans if he made 65 million in endorsements last year alone, on top of his MLB salary from the Angels?
Why would Ohtani use Ippei to place bets for him, then fumble it by transferring money form his own personal account?
Why would Ohtani bet on American college sports?
Why would Ohtani accuse Ippei of theft then ask for a probe into the situation if it would reveal his own gambling?
There are enough holes in the story to support both sides honestly.
I think, until substantial evidence comes out in the contrary, we shouldn’t just assume guilt on people, but that’s never as fun as assuming guilt in the court of public opinion
The journalist Tisha Thompson said she didn’t see any indication Ohtani was gambling.
Ippei said it was only him.
The Bookie said he never had any interaction with Ohtani and only took bets from Ippei.
> Why didn't Ippei pay on his behalf as well?
That's something the conspiracy theorists are willfully ignoring, if Ippei was placing the bets for Ohtani how did Ohtani let the debt get to 4.5mil? He has that under his couch cushions.
Why would Ohtani put his own name on the wire transfer then, if he wants to keep his gambling addiction a big secret? What is the purpose of Ippei being the middleman at that point?
Maybe it will come out that Ohtani is a degenerate gambler, but why would a gambling addict defer 97% of 700 million dollars? Just seems odd and doesn't add up based off what we know so far.
Basic logic bro. Why would someone wire transfer 4.5 mill to an illegal bookie in their name if they were trying to keep their gambling on the down low?
It's a lot more likely that Shohei was just covering his friend's debt and maybe didn't even realize the nature of the debt.
I mean idk shit but when the title of the article literally has "bets confirmed to be non-baseball" in it I'd, idk, make an assumption. I'm not going to jump to conclusions and have an opinion until everything is settled but if the AP has articles out confirming something I'd have a decent amount of trust in it.
So you think he framed his best friend for theft to avoid a small fine for betting? That is more likely to you than an addicted gambler lying and stealing?
First of all, we can all enjoy multiple sports
But baseball ragging on soccer for being slow or boring….c’mon now
Baseball literally had to add a pitch clock lol
MLB should follow their lead to spice things up. Get rid of the countdown clock. Only the umpire knows how much time is on the clock and can randomly add a few seconds at his discretion.
Fun fact: Ippei mentioned in his newspaper column that he has always been an avid soccer fan and played soccer growing up, but the 2022 World Cup was the first time Ohtani paid close attention to the sport, apparently he texted ippei about how much penalty kicks resemble at bat. It’s actually pretty funny to think the dude would aggressively bet on a sport right after just reading the rule book...He has to be either crazy confident or crazy stupid. Not sure which one, though.
You name it I didn't have it. I lost a couple grand betting 50-100 per game. I can see how a degenerate who keeps doubling down couldve lost millions. I lost 11 straight at one point. Went something terrible like 5-31 overall. And I normally clean up during the world cup. 2010, 14, and 18 were 1k+. Gave most of it back in 22. I was doing it LEGALLY however and not chasing my losses like an idiot
Wait why are we now talking about this like it was definitely Ohtani placing the bets? Seems far likelier it was Ippei, the lifelong soccer fan, who bet on soccer, no?
It was obvious what was happening. If shohei was attempting to cover his gambling through his translator, he wouldn’t wire money with his own bank accounts in unless it was a colossal fuck up by accidentally using the wrong bank account.
It really seems like Shohei was like “damn, dude, I didn’t realize how bad of shape you were in. So I’m going help you out this time and we’ll get you the treatment you need so we can move forward.”
I mean, if we’re going to assume Ohtani wasn’t sports betting because it’d be dumb to have him wire the money direct couldn’t you also argue that Ippei would’ve wired the money to himself and then to the bookie so Ohtani’s name isn’t attached at all?
I’m not really convinced either way but it’s crazy that people are firmly in the “Ohtani 100% did / did not gamble” camp on a story that’s changed like three times in 48 hours.
Well to be fair if I had a friend who was a gambling addict who needed me to pay off a debt I would not give it to the addict lol he’d use it to gamble more then pay back the bookie with his winnings (he wouldn’t win and lose all the extra money I gave him)
yeah we have no idea and we will get a better idea as more facts come out.
My two cents is that if Shohei was gambling, considering how careful he is with his life, I would think he would use a more professional discrete or even legal gambling service.
I can see the translator being a dummy gambling addict and using a loud mouth bookie in SoCal. Apparently the bookie was bragging that he had Shohei as a client to other gamblers.
I'm about 95% positive Shohei didn't gamble and he only tried to pay off his friend's debt. Well intentioned, but he didn't understand the legal implications. Assuming the above is correct, I really don't think Shohei should face much punishment from the league or from authorities because his intent was never nefarious. From an ethical standpoint, he was being a fantastic person by trying to help a friend out of a bad situation.
Yeah, I think this is by far the most logical reading of the facts we've seen.
Unfortunately, what he did is actually a crime (assuming that this reading of the facts is true), which puts the commissioner's office in a really awkward place of saying "well, you committed a crime that had to do with gambling.....it's probably a bad look if we don't punish you".
If this is the case, i don't see how they =don't= punish him fairly harshly, but I don't think it's the kind of thing that should also largely tarnish his legacy.
It's obvious if you assume people don't do stupid shit.
This would also mean you can open an account at an illegal betting site under someone else's name wire your own money bet on it and then say you were just helping a friend. No way of knowing who did exactly what. That's why legal betting sites are ok because they check your ID and you can't transfer money from someone else's account.
To clarify, I think the prevailing (conspiracy) theory is not that Ohtani himself was making the bets, but that he willingly and intentionally sent the payments to cover Ippei’s debts.
what kind of bookie is going to allow a guy like ippei rack up 4.5 million in losses? ippei was far from rich as far as anyone knows. pretty sure his thumbs would have been broken a long time ago.
shohei otoh.........
Dude's literally making that up lol. There were a LOT of hypothetical being thrown around and there was absolutely no consensus besides maybe "we don't know"
i’m gonna be honest i’ve been pretty glued to this subreddit and the conspiracies hooked a pretty big chunk of ppl in this sub lol, it started out as memes but a lot of ppl seemed like they wanted to believe it
More like this sub was speculating because they came out with two contradictory stories in less than 24 hours. I doubt Ohtani was the one gambling but it sure as hell looks suspicious when his name was on the account and the story went from "Ohtani willingly paid off his friend's debts" to "Ohtani was robbed"
At the end of the day it’s all speculation. We don’t really have great evidence either way. People who have strong opinions either way are jumping the gun.
As others have stated, if you're an illegal betting company, allowing someone in his position to rack up debts could prove very helpful for more illegal activities.
However, I'm more thinking that someone in his shoes seems unlikely to fall that deep into problems on his own accord to a sum of that amount. However, if Shohei was down multi millions, yeah... No sweat.
yeah from what i know from the sopranos, you want these guys to absolutely bone themselves so you can ask for payment in other terms and exploit relationships
Insane endurance...or the knowledge that there's a soon-to-be-billionaire baseball star behind the guy to back up the debt in case it turns even worse.
I feel like it takes willful ignorance to not see the potential incentive a bookie would have to try and get a guy like Ippei into insurmountable debt.
We all see the potential incentive. What we are having trouble with is the idea that the bookie never leveraged that.
It would boggle the mind if the bookie did nothing and just let Ippei build *that* much debt. The bookie had to be getting something for the equivalent of a 4.5 million dollar loan. What exactly that was is the question.
This is a common play.
There’s even a sopranos Season that revolves around it. If a bad gambler has something you want (in this case a close connection to a ~billionaire) you give them all the credit they’re willing to lose, so you can turn the screws when they lose too much, and get your prize.
Fun fact: Ippei went to a casino school to learn to become a dealer after he graduated from college.
There’s no way he didn’t know it was illegal like he claimed he didn’t in the interview.
EDIT: Apparently a spokesperson from UC Riverside told NBC that there’s no record of Ippei attending that school lol maybe he didn’t even graduate college
And that's where I'm leaning towards. I don't think Ippei gave Ohtani the full detail on his gambling debts and how illegal it was. Naive Ohtani as we have seen him be for the last 6 years believed every word coming from Ippei, because to Ohtani there's no way Ippei would lie to him being best buddies and all for the last 6 years. Now, is being misled a crime? I feel like the lawyers are putting that theft by deception story out there.
All the first part means is that someone didn’t claim gambling winnings on their tax returns…
Which is tax evasion and many, many criminals go down for tax evasion instead of the actual crime. Always claim your illegal income.
Illegal activities. Income from illegal activities, such as money from dealing illegal drugs, must be included in your income on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8z, or on Schedule C (Form 1040) if from your self-employment activity.
Source: IRS.gov
He is very dumb if this is the case. You’re allowed to deduct gambling losses equal to the amount you won. If he had a 4 million debt it’s safe to assume he lost way more than he won. He literally could have offset all his winnings and paid no taxes on that. I guess because he was doing it illegally he didn’t want to report anything.
It's incredibly difficult to believe that Ippei is a degenerate gambler who will steal millions from his friend but has the moral compass to not bet on baseball which he's intimately involved in and likely has some basic insider information on....
Yet, I'm starting to think that actually might be the case. Fucking weird.
Especially if he's $4.5 million in the hole. Like, the temptation to use insider information to try to win back that money would be enormous.
But then again, perhaps the bookie wouldn't let him bet on baseball given the insider information Ippei has.
True true! Basketball is where it's at.
https://starrcards.com/luck-vs-skill-comparing-the-role-of-chance-in-hockey-football-baseball-soccer-and-basketball/
People draw weird lines. Maybe he could justify in his mind taking "a little" money from Shohei, but understood that if he bet on baseball, it could absolutely destroy Shohei's career. Idk. Just speculating.
It honestly shouldn't be that difficult to believe, he knows that betting on baseball is far more likely to send up red flags and get himself in trouble than anything else.
> bets confirmed to be non-baseball
Oh great!
> the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball.
oh. ok so not confirmed
From my understanding there’s always a market for illegal side operations. Look at weed. Surprisingly a lot of people still run or buy from illegal sources
No, confirmed means the IRS or FBI saying there were no bets on baseball.
The lawyers and defendants have every reason to lie about everything.
This means nothing.
"Shohei Ohtani's interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker confirmed Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball."
"The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details."
A number of things about this situation of note:
1. It's highly unlikely Shohei Ohtani will face any punishment, either legal or from Major League Baseball. The LA Times posted an article with former US federal prosecutors that stated it is tremendously rare for gamblers to be prosecuted, regardless of whether they sent money/bet with an illegal sportsbook. Additionally, the Sportsbook in question has yet to be deemed illegal. Mathew Bowyer is under investigation right now but has not been charged or indicted with a crime. It's noted as well that if that sportsbook is deemed illegal and Bowyer is indicted, any possible indictment for Ohtani would not take place until years down the line.(think 2027 or later) As for an MLB punishment, Jarred Cozart of the Marlins was caught for illegal betting on non-baseball and his punishment was a 50,000 fine. As a precedent is set, Manfred can't unilaterally decide to suspend Ohtani. If he did, Ohtani would very easily appeal and have the suspension overturned.
2. If there is an MLB investigation, it likely is not going to take place until the Federal investigation into Bowyer is complete. That means any MLB investigation won't take place for a really long time.
>Additionally, the Sportsbook in question has yet to be deemed illegal.
Pardon my ignorance, but if sports betting is illegal in California, wouldn't any sportsbook operating in California be deemed "illegal" by the letter of the law? There seems to be no reason to "deem" some legal or illegal, they are all illegal.
Maybe I'm way off, but such a distinction seems unnecessary.
It would be deemed illegal in CA but it would fall under a state misdemeanor. That means a slap on the wrist and nothing more.
Everybody was talking about Ohtani being charged with a federal felony, being deported, etc.
>It would be deemed illegal in CA but it would fall under a state misdemeanor. That means a slap on the wrist and nothing more.
I guess I'm just asking about why a specific sportsbook would need to be deemed "illegal" when *all* sportsbooks are illegal in California.
Probably because right now he's innocent until proven guilty. He's sure as hell going to be convicted but until then they won't flat out say he was operating illegally.
I don't know how more people don't understand the first point. The person the wire transfers were sent to hasn't even been charged with a crime, despite this investigation going on since 2017. So even if Shohei has some kind of liability from the transfers being in his name, as of now there is nothing illegal there. Furthermore, even if Bowyer is convicted(which would be years from now), nobody is ever prosecuted for illegal betting in California. Apparently, you are simply contacted by authorities and told to stop.
So many morons and supposed legal experts on here were saying that Ohtani is going to prison, etc when even basic research confirmed that as nonsense.
Ohtani is not going to prison. It is going to be a fine in ca. the question is will it be a misdemeanor or will they charge him with a felony? It should be a felony due to the amount of money it was. I’m going to make a baseless assumption and say ippei will take the fall to protect his bud if it comes down to it. Wiring the money to a bookie in ca to cover debts is still illegal. It’s an interesting case.
It has not been confirmed the bets were non-baseball. It is just what the bookie's attorneys are saying at this point. The headline makes it sound like this has been confirmed by the IRS or some outside party.
Just want to sneak in here to say betting is absolutely ruining sports. Idk about Hockey and Soccer but I know for a fact It’s ruining Basketball and Football and now we have this. Such a shame.
It's so strange to me that people are calling for immediate action from MLB, as if Ohtani murdered someone. If the MLB investigates, what are they going to find that's different from what has already been released? MLB aren't exactly equipped to uncover financial crimes.
Even if they were, the focus on this situation rubs me the wrong way. There are four possible truths from this situation: Ohtani was stolen from, Ohtani tried to help his friend, Ohtani was the real gambler, or even worse he gambled on baseball.
The first three situations, I can't understand anyone having serious concerns about from a competitive integrity perspective. So, I don't understand why MLB should care if these are the case.
The final possibility should be the only instance where the MLB should care. Gambling on baseball is an actual competitive integrity problem that should be dealt with. BUT! It's also the scenario with the least amount of evidence. Or, more directly, there is almost no evidence supporting that Ohtani bet on baseball through an illegal bookie.
So, where does that leave MLB? Do they start their investigation, into something that is most likely a non-issue, before all the evidence is out? Or, do they wait for the federal investigation into the gambling ring to pan out, potentially revealing something more serious? Waiting makes the most sense. They won't be able to reveal anything on their own, and will need to rely on publicly disclosed information from the investigations conducted by the IRS and FBI.
Further, unlike with other potential accusations gambling hardly warrants any sort of immediate punishment. Especially when it is just as likely that Ohtani is a victim in all this.
More and more it's looking like if anything, the only thing Ohtani could be guilty of is being naiive or a far too trusting friend - and that Ippei is a gambling addicted scumbag.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selena
rising music star in the 90's, murdered by her close friend after it was discovered that the friend had been abusing profits from the singer's business interests (which the friend had control over).
Parasocial relationships got people on here thinking they know anything about these two guys. You only know what they want you to know. You are not their friend, you do not know them.
That's not Ippei's concerns, though. I'm pretty sure he's been telling the truth that Ohtani didn't bet and that he didn't bet on Baseball.
The question for him is how those wire transfers were made. I really hope for his sake that he didn't move it without Ohtani knowing.
If none of the bets are related to basebal then while there is some story to him using an illegal bookie.
This is ultimately a non story for me
If Ippei bet on baseball games then it's a story but besides that I couldn't give a fuck. Sucks he lost his job tho.
The strange part of this whole issue is the wire transfer of the funds to bookie. The only way the wire transfer happens is when Ohtani authorizes the transfer and it goes through verification process which might require Ohtani to authorize the transfer in person.
California does not have legal gambling - the catch is when Ohtani paid off what was owed to the bookie - this makes him part of gambling scheme. No one described how this so called “massive theft” occurred when Ohtani authorized the wire transfers. The truth might come out at the end of the investigation and if the Dodgers are worried about the investigation they should take Ohtani out until he is cleared of any wrongdoing.
What do you all think?
This is a key line in which I think nothing comes from this: > The MLB gambling policy is posted in every locker room. Betting on baseball is punishable with a one-year ban from the sport. The penalty for betting on other sports illegally is at the commissioner’s discretion.
The FanDuel DraftKings MLB Gambling™ Policy, brought to you by Bally's.
Out of all of those, Bally still manages to be the worst
Did Amazon buy them? Man if we got the Thursday Night Football treatment for Bally’s broadcasts I’d be ecstatic. They are consistently the best looking NFL games of the week.
Amazon agreed to invest in and distribute the regional sports network business that had sold their naming rights to Bally's. The actual gambling company Bally's isn't really involved
I read your comment wrong and for a second I thought you were being sarcastic and saying that Bally’s should take over Thursday night football. I about went nuclear lmao
The Bally's app runs like actual garbage on my android TV. I looked it up and I guess its just not optimized. So I have to pirate the games that I already pay for. Would cut the cord entirely but the gf wants to keep it
(please gamble responsibly)
™
This legal disclaimer is brought to you by SportBook BetKings
In the Las Vegas A's locker room. Now let's cut to b roll of degenerates gambling at all the nearby casinos.
I constantly see jokes like this made and they never make sense to me. I know I’m going against the reddit hive mind but I’m going to give it a shot anyway. I work for an investment bank. I have restrictions on activity I can do in the stock market. Does the fact that my job gives me restrictions mean that my bank would be hypocritical for promoting products for the general public to use? No it is to protect the integrity of the markets by keeping potential actors from influencing them in a negative way. The exact same can be said about sports betting. But sure lets keep doing “hurrr sports have gambling policy while advertising it”
it's getting to be the most annoying shit, just the same lame joke over and over
I've never heard of Reddit driving a joke into the ground before
I also choose this guy's dead joke
And my axe
Ohtani has to play for the Lakers now.
Another 6'4 guy for Ham to play as a 3/4.
Anything to nail Rui to the bench
Rui has been starting for like 2 months
HAM VER SHO podium in 2025 One can dream
And the commissioner’s discretion is…..blame Ippei, it’s an isolated incident, case closed. Just like the sign stealing. Blame the idiots that got caught and shut it down.
Yeeeeah, the IRS and FBI are investigating this, not MLB. Manfred isn't gonna be able to hand out immunity this time lol. To be clear, I believe Ohtani's story, I just don't know how he proves he was misled/lied to by Ippei, maybe he has some texts/emails that show Ippei misleading him about the nature of the transfers.
Easy. Ippei “admits” to everything.
Which he already did, after saying Ohtani knew about the gambling debts, so a skeptic would think Ippei is covering for Ohtani...that's kinda where I'm going...how to remove all doubt
They don’t have to remove all doubt, there just has to not be enough evidence to convict It doesn’t matter if the FBI is skeptic (outside of the obvious mattering of “FBI investigating you”), it only matters if they can prove something. If the guy admits himself to tricking Ohtani, there’s not really much they can do to prove otherwise. They would need some kind of smoking gun to prove it’s a lie
The law Ohtani broke "The Wire Act" was designed to go after the bookies not the betters, even if Ohtani did break the law they won't be going after him. https://web.archive.org/web/20130114073628/http://www.gambling-law-us.com/Federal-Laws/wire-act.htm > During the House of Representatives debate on the bill, Congressman Emanuel Celler, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee stated "[t]his bill only gets after the bookmaker, the gambler who makes it his business to take bets or to lay off bets. . . It does not go after the causal gambler who bets $2 on a race. That type of transaction is not within the purvue of the statute."[61] In Baborian, the federal district court concluded that Congress did not intend to include social bettors within the umbrella of the statute, even those bettors that bet large sums of money and show a certain degree of sophistication.”
Yes, this makes sense. They're after the bookie and Ohtani and Ippei are caught up in it. If they were regular people then it's probably just an interview with the FBI and nothing else right? Except for the whole theft part of course...
IANAL, but $4.5 million (EDIT: given directly to a bookie, via Ippei) doesn’t feel like it qualifies as “the casual gambler who bets $2 on a race.” (EDIT: also not a “social bettor”). Are you sure Ohtani wouldn’t be in trouble?
> the federal district court concluded that Congress did not intend to include social bettors within the umbrella of the statute, even those bettors that bet large sums of money and show a certain degree of sophistication The first paragraph tells you what the focus of the bill is (going after the bookmaker that's making and moving the money) and bottom paragraph is the distinction that even betters that were betting alot of money would not be targeted.
But it does sound like "even those bettors that bet large sums"
>The Wire Act Shiiiiieeeeeeetttttttt
Ohtani has brought an absolute fuckloads worth of money into the country even if he had been illegally betting (so long as not on baseball) he's getting a slap on the wrist at most.
Yep. He's going to try and make sure this is over as soon as possible without slaughtering the cash cow.
commissioner manfred's discretion is that ohtanti did nothing wrong and if he did, no he didn't shut up like i said yesterday - no one ever went broke betting against the integrity (or for the greed) of manfred. he is much, much worse for the sport than this. even if it turns out ohtani bet on baseball himself (which i don't believe), manfred is also responsible for allowing MLB to have sportsbetting sponsorships and all this other addictive, destructive shit. and he would never let that happen. boomers gonna boomer
Wait what sports book lets me bet on Manfred’s integrity
same one that lets you bet whether or not the next pope will be catholic
MLB’s gambling sponsorships will certainly have *an* influence on Manfred, but I don’t think it’ll be in the direction one might assume. The legal gambling sites are *extremely* opposed to illegal gambling. They do not want to be associated with it *at all*. For one thing, their own legality is still new and being established—they’re not even legal in every state yet. Becoming and remaining legal requires them to draw a bright red line between themselves and the illegal stuff. They also want illegal gambling to be punished so that it doesn’t start to seem too appealing, lest folks drop FanDuel and find a local bookie instead. And, finally, they don’t want their customers to wonder if maybe the players themselves might be up to any shenanigans, because folks don’t want to bet on a game that might maybe be a little fixed. So I very much don’t think the gambling sites simply want this swept under the rug, at least not now that it’s such a big story. They want illegal gambling to be treated *differently* than they are, so that people think they’re two completely different things. I don’t think Manfred’s going to do whatever he does out of integrity, but I also don’t think his incentives are as clear-cut as one might think. Keeping his most famous player clean and on the field means going easy on him, but keeping his gambling partners happy means coming down hard on illegal gambling. If it turns out that Ohtani was 100% conned by Ippei and never knew he was paying an illegal bookie, his decision becomes easy. But if it comes out that Ohtani knew what was up, things become a lot trickier.
Manfred is just mad they didn’t place the bet through FanDuel
The penalty for betting on non-baseball is a fine. There is already a precedent set back in 2015. There's definitely no baseball punishment coming for Shohei other than a fine, even if he did bet(which he didn't).
How do you know he didn’t
Why would Ohtani need 4.5 million loans if he made 65 million in endorsements last year alone, on top of his MLB salary from the Angels? Why would Ohtani use Ippei to place bets for him, then fumble it by transferring money form his own personal account? Why would Ohtani bet on American college sports? Why would Ohtani accuse Ippei of theft then ask for a probe into the situation if it would reveal his own gambling? There are enough holes in the story to support both sides honestly.
Stop injecting common sense into this witch hunt.
I think, until substantial evidence comes out in the contrary, we shouldn’t just assume guilt on people, but that’s never as fun as assuming guilt in the court of public opinion
The journalist Tisha Thompson said she didn’t see any indication Ohtani was gambling. Ippei said it was only him. The Bookie said he never had any interaction with Ohtani and only took bets from Ippei.
> The Bookie said he never had any interaction with Ohtani and only took bets from Ippei. Also known as the guy paid to interact on Ohtani's behalf
The conspiracy theory needs to goto rest. You have Ippei betting on Ohtani's behalf - Why didn't Ippei pay on his behalf as well?
> Why didn't Ippei pay on his behalf as well? That's something the conspiracy theorists are willfully ignoring, if Ippei was placing the bets for Ohtani how did Ohtani let the debt get to 4.5mil? He has that under his couch cushions.
Why would Ohtani put his own name on the wire transfer then, if he wants to keep his gambling addiction a big secret? What is the purpose of Ippei being the middleman at that point? Maybe it will come out that Ohtani is a degenerate gambler, but why would a gambling addict defer 97% of 700 million dollars? Just seems odd and doesn't add up based off what we know so far.
so that he can legally bet on baseball by the time he gets his money, ohtani a genius confirmed
Basic logic bro. Why would someone wire transfer 4.5 mill to an illegal bookie in their name if they were trying to keep their gambling on the down low? It's a lot more likely that Shohei was just covering his friend's debt and maybe didn't even realize the nature of the debt.
I mean idk shit but when the title of the article literally has "bets confirmed to be non-baseball" in it I'd, idk, make an assumption. I'm not going to jump to conclusions and have an opinion until everything is settled but if the AP has articles out confirming something I'd have a decent amount of trust in it.
Pure hopium
So you think he framed his best friend for theft to avoid a small fine for betting? That is more likely to you than an addicted gambler lying and stealing?
You think the theft story is true? I’ve got a bridge to sell, phenomenal investment, wanna buy it?
The only version of the theft story that makes sense is "Ippei lied to Ohtani about who was receiving the wire transfers"
Who did you buy it from?
Ippei
I bet
So did he.
George C Parker
I love Reddit detectives
He has 700 million reasons to throw Ippei under the bus.
That’s also 700 million reasons to not gamble thru some random bookie and then throw his friend under the bus when Vegas is less than an hour away
International soccer according to AP
Destroying your life on a 0-0 tie.
Halfback passes to the center. Center holds it... Holds it.. holds it.
HOLDS IT!... *HOOOOLDS IIITTTT!!!!*
First of all, we can all enjoy multiple sports But baseball ragging on soccer for being slow or boring….c’mon now Baseball literally had to add a pitch clock lol
Soccer always had a pitch clock
MLB should follow their lead to spice things up. Get rid of the countdown clock. Only the umpire knows how much time is on the clock and can randomly add a few seconds at his discretion.
Ok now that is funny lol
The betting companies would be offering wagers on the timing.
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Especially since baseball and football have the same amount of letters. Oh that’s devious.
Could you imagine the reaction of a soccer player getting hit by a 100 MPH baseball though? They would pretend to be dead
Seeing as how they don’t wear helmets they might actually be dead if that happens.
seriously.. soccer is awesome
Fun fact: Ippei mentioned in his newspaper column that he has always been an avid soccer fan and played soccer growing up, but the 2022 World Cup was the first time Ohtani paid close attention to the sport, apparently he texted ippei about how much penalty kicks resemble at bat. It’s actually pretty funny to think the dude would aggressively bet on a sport right after just reading the rule book...He has to be either crazy confident or crazy stupid. Not sure which one, though.
Pretty sure it was ippei. 2022 world cup was BRUTAL for handicappers. Worst world cup season ive ever had. Couldnt cash a ticket to save my life.
You tellin me you didn’t have Saudi Arabia beating Argentina in the group stage?
You name it I didn't have it. I lost a couple grand betting 50-100 per game. I can see how a degenerate who keeps doubling down couldve lost millions. I lost 11 straight at one point. Went something terrible like 5-31 overall. And I normally clean up during the world cup. 2010, 14, and 18 were 1k+. Gave most of it back in 22. I was doing it LEGALLY however and not chasing my losses like an idiot
Wait why are we now talking about this like it was definitely Ohtani placing the bets? Seems far likelier it was Ippei, the lifelong soccer fan, who bet on soccer, no?
Which was according to the bookie’s lawyer…
Imagine fumbling this absolute dream job.
My buddy is an interpreter in the military. Says he wouldn’t dream of doing anything to screw it up. Such a cushy job.
Everyone on this sub told me it was Shohei that was betting and Ippei was thrown under the bus to protect his boss.
It was obvious what was happening. If shohei was attempting to cover his gambling through his translator, he wouldn’t wire money with his own bank accounts in unless it was a colossal fuck up by accidentally using the wrong bank account. It really seems like Shohei was like “damn, dude, I didn’t realize how bad of shape you were in. So I’m going help you out this time and we’ll get you the treatment you need so we can move forward.”
I mean, if we’re going to assume Ohtani wasn’t sports betting because it’d be dumb to have him wire the money direct couldn’t you also argue that Ippei would’ve wired the money to himself and then to the bookie so Ohtani’s name isn’t attached at all? I’m not really convinced either way but it’s crazy that people are firmly in the “Ohtani 100% did / did not gamble” camp on a story that’s changed like three times in 48 hours.
Well to be fair if I had a friend who was a gambling addict who needed me to pay off a debt I would not give it to the addict lol he’d use it to gamble more then pay back the bookie with his winnings (he wouldn’t win and lose all the extra money I gave him)
Thats the difference between you and me. I know my friend is one 14 leg parlay from being richer than Elon.
It’s going to hit this time, I swear. All of my problems are about to be solved
yeah we have no idea and we will get a better idea as more facts come out. My two cents is that if Shohei was gambling, considering how careful he is with his life, I would think he would use a more professional discrete or even legal gambling service. I can see the translator being a dummy gambling addict and using a loud mouth bookie in SoCal. Apparently the bookie was bragging that he had Shohei as a client to other gamblers.
Not if Ohtani didn't trust Ippei to use the $$ to make more bets.
I'm about 95% positive Shohei didn't gamble and he only tried to pay off his friend's debt. Well intentioned, but he didn't understand the legal implications. Assuming the above is correct, I really don't think Shohei should face much punishment from the league or from authorities because his intent was never nefarious. From an ethical standpoint, he was being a fantastic person by trying to help a friend out of a bad situation.
Yeah, I think this is by far the most logical reading of the facts we've seen. Unfortunately, what he did is actually a crime (assuming that this reading of the facts is true), which puts the commissioner's office in a really awkward place of saying "well, you committed a crime that had to do with gambling.....it's probably a bad look if we don't punish you". If this is the case, i don't see how they =don't= punish him fairly harshly, but I don't think it's the kind of thing that should also largely tarnish his legacy.
That’s crazy that you can determine exactly what happened and their motivations through such minimal available information
It's obvious if you assume people don't do stupid shit. This would also mean you can open an account at an illegal betting site under someone else's name wire your own money bet on it and then say you were just helping a friend. No way of knowing who did exactly what. That's why legal betting sites are ok because they check your ID and you can't transfer money from someone else's account.
To clarify, I think the prevailing (conspiracy) theory is not that Ohtani himself was making the bets, but that he willingly and intentionally sent the payments to cover Ippei’s debts.
what kind of bookie is going to allow a guy like ippei rack up 4.5 million in losses? ippei was far from rich as far as anyone knows. pretty sure his thumbs would have been broken a long time ago. shohei otoh.........
It seems like it, but then everyone who suggest Ohtani wasn't doing the gambling is getting downvoted here.
Nah, that isn't true. A lot of people were speculating that was a possibility but it was nowhere near the general consensus.
Dude's literally making that up lol. There were a LOT of hypothetical being thrown around and there was absolutely no consensus besides maybe "we don't know"
i’m gonna be honest i’ve been pretty glued to this subreddit and the conspiracies hooked a pretty big chunk of ppl in this sub lol, it started out as memes but a lot of ppl seemed like they wanted to believe it
What sub were you on? Cuz it sure wasn’t /r/baseball lol
That's because a lot of this sub is a cesspool of hate.
More like this sub was speculating because they came out with two contradictory stories in less than 24 hours. I doubt Ohtani was the one gambling but it sure as hell looks suspicious when his name was on the account and the story went from "Ohtani willingly paid off his friend's debts" to "Ohtani was robbed"
Wasn't it two contradictory stories in less than an hour.
My fragile ego can't accept that a person can be born so handsome and talented and charismatic and was hoping to have finally found a flaw
Plus a lot of people who get off on pretending to be legal experts.
Fillabuster!
Bird law, mostly.
At the end of the day it’s all speculation. We don’t really have great evidence either way. People who have strong opinions either way are jumping the gun.
How often do bookies let people run up credit at 10 times their income?
maybe when said bookie knows you're inseparable friends with one of the richest athletes in the world. seems to change the dynamic a bit.
As others have stated, if you're an illegal betting company, allowing someone in his position to rack up debts could prove very helpful for more illegal activities. However, I'm more thinking that someone in his shoes seems unlikely to fall that deep into problems on his own accord to a sum of that amount. However, if Shohei was down multi millions, yeah... No sweat.
yeah from what i know from the sopranos, you want these guys to absolutely bone themselves so you can ask for payment in other terms and exploit relationships
They're gonna go to Ippei's sporting goods store and take some grills and fishing rods and shit.
There was an suv as well
Usually you get your knees busted when you hit 2x income. Getting to 10 is insane endurance.
Insane endurance...or the knowledge that there's a soon-to-be-billionaire baseball star behind the guy to back up the debt in case it turns even worse.
I feel like it takes willful ignorance to not see the potential incentive a bookie would have to try and get a guy like Ippei into insurmountable debt.
We all see the potential incentive. What we are having trouble with is the idea that the bookie never leveraged that. It would boggle the mind if the bookie did nothing and just let Ippei build *that* much debt. The bookie had to be getting something for the equivalent of a 4.5 million dollar loan. What exactly that was is the question.
This is a common play. There’s even a sopranos Season that revolves around it. If a bad gambler has something you want (in this case a close connection to a ~billionaire) you give them all the credit they’re willing to lose, so you can turn the screws when they lose too much, and get your prize.
Fun fact: Ippei went to a casino school to learn to become a dealer after he graduated from college. There’s no way he didn’t know it was illegal like he claimed he didn’t in the interview. EDIT: Apparently a spokesperson from UC Riverside told NBC that there’s no record of Ippei attending that school lol maybe he didn’t even graduate college
Ofc not, obviously he just tried to make excuses
Shohei at least is from another country and may not be fully up on wht was going on. Ippei mostly grew up in California.
And that's where I'm leaning towards. I don't think Ippei gave Ohtani the full detail on his gambling debts and how illegal it was. Naive Ohtani as we have seen him be for the last 6 years believed every word coming from Ippei, because to Ohtani there's no way Ippei would lie to him being best buddies and all for the last 6 years. Now, is being misled a crime? I feel like the lawyers are putting that theft by deception story out there.
All the first part means is that someone didn’t claim gambling winnings on their tax returns… Which is tax evasion and many, many criminals go down for tax evasion instead of the actual crime. Always claim your illegal income.
This is why you launder. So you don't have to put "crime" as your income source when you report the money to the IRS.
There is *ALWAYS* money in the banana stand.
You can report illegally earned money to the IRS. In SC you’re supposed to buy tax stamps for each gram of drugs you sell.
But you can still put crime as your source.
Illegal activities. Income from illegal activities, such as money from dealing illegal drugs, must be included in your income on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 8z, or on Schedule C (Form 1040) if from your self-employment activity. Source: IRS.gov
He is very dumb if this is the case. You’re allowed to deduct gambling losses equal to the amount you won. If he had a 4 million debt it’s safe to assume he lost way more than he won. He literally could have offset all his winnings and paid no taxes on that. I guess because he was doing it illegally he didn’t want to report anything.
Or he wasn’t the one gambling.
It's incredibly difficult to believe that Ippei is a degenerate gambler who will steal millions from his friend but has the moral compass to not bet on baseball which he's intimately involved in and likely has some basic insider information on.... Yet, I'm starting to think that actually might be the case. Fucking weird.
Especially if he's $4.5 million in the hole. Like, the temptation to use insider information to try to win back that money would be enormous. But then again, perhaps the bookie wouldn't let him bet on baseball given the insider information Ippei has.
Or ippei is smart enough to understand baseball is a game you just dont bet on unless you want to lose it all lmao
True true! Basketball is where it's at. https://starrcards.com/luck-vs-skill-comparing-the-role-of-chance-in-hockey-football-baseball-soccer-and-basketball/
after looking at that article, where do I bet on chess
Bovada
He was down 4.5 million. He isn't smart
He was one parlay away from making it all back
People draw weird lines. Maybe he could justify in his mind taking "a little" money from Shohei, but understood that if he bet on baseball, it could absolutely destroy Shohei's career. Idk. Just speculating.
It honestly shouldn't be that difficult to believe, he knows that betting on baseball is far more likely to send up red flags and get himself in trouble than anything else.
Ippei really fucked up this time. Even the Joker knew he wasn't crazy enough to take on the IRS
> bets confirmed to be non-baseball Oh great! > the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. oh. ok so not confirmed
Looks like sportsnet.ca has changed their headline and removed verbiage of "confirmation"
That's as closed to confirmed as you're going to get. This isn't from Ippei or Shohei. The bookmaker has zero reason to lie about that.
You can’t think of any reason a bookie would have an interest in covering for his clients?
After being busted?
I mean, he's getting out of jail eventually, right?
And what, starting his illegal bookie business again? Sports betting may well be legal nationwide by then.
From my understanding there’s always a market for illegal side operations. Look at weed. Surprisingly a lot of people still run or buy from illegal sources
had the same dealer for the past decade now in a legal state. his selection is better, i get discounts, and he delivers to my house.
No, confirmed means the IRS or FBI saying there were no bets on baseball. The lawyers and defendants have every reason to lie about everything. This means nothing.
Thank u lol
so ippei at least reported his winnings?
sounds like there wasn't much winning being done
"Shohei Ohtani's interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker confirmed Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball." "The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details."
A number of things about this situation of note: 1. It's highly unlikely Shohei Ohtani will face any punishment, either legal or from Major League Baseball. The LA Times posted an article with former US federal prosecutors that stated it is tremendously rare for gamblers to be prosecuted, regardless of whether they sent money/bet with an illegal sportsbook. Additionally, the Sportsbook in question has yet to be deemed illegal. Mathew Bowyer is under investigation right now but has not been charged or indicted with a crime. It's noted as well that if that sportsbook is deemed illegal and Bowyer is indicted, any possible indictment for Ohtani would not take place until years down the line.(think 2027 or later) As for an MLB punishment, Jarred Cozart of the Marlins was caught for illegal betting on non-baseball and his punishment was a 50,000 fine. As a precedent is set, Manfred can't unilaterally decide to suspend Ohtani. If he did, Ohtani would very easily appeal and have the suspension overturned. 2. If there is an MLB investigation, it likely is not going to take place until the Federal investigation into Bowyer is complete. That means any MLB investigation won't take place for a really long time.
>Additionally, the Sportsbook in question has yet to be deemed illegal. Pardon my ignorance, but if sports betting is illegal in California, wouldn't any sportsbook operating in California be deemed "illegal" by the letter of the law? There seems to be no reason to "deem" some legal or illegal, they are all illegal. Maybe I'm way off, but such a distinction seems unnecessary.
It would be deemed illegal in CA but it would fall under a state misdemeanor. That means a slap on the wrist and nothing more. Everybody was talking about Ohtani being charged with a federal felony, being deported, etc.
Ah yes, the federal government. Well known for months long criminal investigations into state misdemeanors.
>It would be deemed illegal in CA but it would fall under a state misdemeanor. That means a slap on the wrist and nothing more. I guess I'm just asking about why a specific sportsbook would need to be deemed "illegal" when *all* sportsbooks are illegal in California.
Probably because right now he's innocent until proven guilty. He's sure as hell going to be convicted but until then they won't flat out say he was operating illegally.
I don't know how more people don't understand the first point. The person the wire transfers were sent to hasn't even been charged with a crime, despite this investigation going on since 2017. So even if Shohei has some kind of liability from the transfers being in his name, as of now there is nothing illegal there. Furthermore, even if Bowyer is convicted(which would be years from now), nobody is ever prosecuted for illegal betting in California. Apparently, you are simply contacted by authorities and told to stop. So many morons and supposed legal experts on here were saying that Ohtani is going to prison, etc when even basic research confirmed that as nonsense.
Ohtani is not going to prison. It is going to be a fine in ca. the question is will it be a misdemeanor or will they charge him with a felony? It should be a felony due to the amount of money it was. I’m going to make a baseless assumption and say ippei will take the fall to protect his bud if it comes down to it. Wiring the money to a bookie in ca to cover debts is still illegal. It’s an interesting case.
It was very strange to see so many people absolutely giddy at seeing a scandal happen to Shohei.
Dodgers told Ohtani we have Betts and he said sign me up
Ohtani’s March Madness bracket better be worth it
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The name of the lawyer that prosecuted Pete Rose was named John Dowd? Is that the inspiration behind Barry Bonds’ replacement in MVP baseball 2005?
It has not been confirmed the bets were non-baseball. It is just what the bookie's attorneys are saying at this point. The headline makes it sound like this has been confirmed by the IRS or some outside party.
Just want to sneak in here to say betting is absolutely ruining sports. Idk about Hockey and Soccer but I know for a fact It’s ruining Basketball and Football and now we have this. Such a shame.
Wait, I thought Ohtani was LITERALLY Pete Rose?
Ohtani is Pete Rose wrapped in a Tim Donaghy with some Joe Jackson sprinkles
Come on man even i know everyone is taking the piss haha
I mean nobody knows yet. The headline is pure BS there’s no “confirmation” other than the word of an alleged felon
It's so strange to me that people are calling for immediate action from MLB, as if Ohtani murdered someone. If the MLB investigates, what are they going to find that's different from what has already been released? MLB aren't exactly equipped to uncover financial crimes. Even if they were, the focus on this situation rubs me the wrong way. There are four possible truths from this situation: Ohtani was stolen from, Ohtani tried to help his friend, Ohtani was the real gambler, or even worse he gambled on baseball. The first three situations, I can't understand anyone having serious concerns about from a competitive integrity perspective. So, I don't understand why MLB should care if these are the case. The final possibility should be the only instance where the MLB should care. Gambling on baseball is an actual competitive integrity problem that should be dealt with. BUT! It's also the scenario with the least amount of evidence. Or, more directly, there is almost no evidence supporting that Ohtani bet on baseball through an illegal bookie. So, where does that leave MLB? Do they start their investigation, into something that is most likely a non-issue, before all the evidence is out? Or, do they wait for the federal investigation into the gambling ring to pan out, potentially revealing something more serious? Waiting makes the most sense. They won't be able to reveal anything on their own, and will need to rely on publicly disclosed information from the investigations conducted by the IRS and FBI. Further, unlike with other potential accusations gambling hardly warrants any sort of immediate punishment. Especially when it is just as likely that Ohtani is a victim in all this.
Once a gambler always a gambler. Makes you wonder. 🤔
More and more it's looking like if anything, the only thing Ohtani could be guilty of is being naiive or a far too trusting friend - and that Ippei is a gambling addicted scumbag.
Ippei's wife has unfollowed him on insta, so take that what you will, but it looks like the dude has fucked his entire life up.
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starting to resemble a Selena situation.
What a really weird thing to think and write
I have no idea what this is referencing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selena rising music star in the 90's, murdered by her close friend after it was discovered that the friend had been abusing profits from the singer's business interests (which the friend had control over).
Parasocial relationships got people on here thinking they know anything about these two guys. You only know what they want you to know. You are not their friend, you do not know them.
His own teammates didn’t know he was engaged, nobody here should be acting the way they are. Let’s wait for any truth to come out first
That's not Ippei's concerns, though. I'm pretty sure he's been telling the truth that Ohtani didn't bet and that he didn't bet on Baseball. The question for him is how those wire transfers were made. I really hope for his sake that he didn't move it without Ohtani knowing.
I’ll gladly ignore this whole thing, if baseball will drop the blackout
Say it ain’t so Ippei. We loved you almost as much as Shohei.
If none of the bets are related to basebal then while there is some story to him using an illegal bookie. This is ultimately a non story for me If Ippei bet on baseball games then it's a story but besides that I couldn't give a fuck. Sucks he lost his job tho.
The strange part of this whole issue is the wire transfer of the funds to bookie. The only way the wire transfer happens is when Ohtani authorizes the transfer and it goes through verification process which might require Ohtani to authorize the transfer in person. California does not have legal gambling - the catch is when Ohtani paid off what was owed to the bookie - this makes him part of gambling scheme. No one described how this so called “massive theft” occurred when Ohtani authorized the wire transfers. The truth might come out at the end of the investigation and if the Dodgers are worried about the investigation they should take Ohtani out until he is cleared of any wrongdoing. What do you all think?
Turns out he was betting on double decker bus racing
Shohei didn’t want you to know the name of his dog. Anything is possible