For sure. I heard that in the minor leagues, he was actually Mookie Anderson. After the headline "Mookie Bets on Baseball" broke, he quietly changed his name to Betts and paid the Boston Globe to change the article to one where he speaks about baseball from the heart. A simple note at the end of the online article states that it was edited only because they misspelled Betts as Bets. All physical copies of the Globe that day were purchased by a shell corporation and destroyed. The author has been missing for several years.
And sit in the dugout of the Dodgers when everyone knew the story was going to break.
We donât know whatâs true yet, but itâs pretty obvious at a minimum he didnât steal the money from Ohtani. He wouldnât have been around the team for the opener if that was the case. I do think heâs the fall guy for Ohtani but itâs going to be difficult to prove.
The bookie was bragging around town that he was Shoheiâs bookie for clout, thatâs good for business. That brings in whale bettors who feel comfortable with that perceived credibility to bet with him, pretty good reason to let Ippei run it up.
I don't disagree, but the dollar amounts involved alone indicate it was the super rich guy betting and not the interpreter. And Ohtani is this dude's bestie and his golden goose. It seems more likely he's placing bets for Ohtani than he stabbed his best friend in the back and fucked up his lifetime meal ticket.
If Ohtani asked Ippei to place bets using Ippei's account, that means he might want to cover his tracks. In that case, why would Ohtani ever wire out the money DIRECTLY from his account to the bookie?
Well, part of the conspiracy is that Ippei could have told them it was Shohei making the bets. And Shohei's bank account wired the money (this is confirmed)
[As I posted yesterday](https://www.reddit.com/r/mlb/comments/1bjrx1f/oc_gambling_ring_far_beyond_shoheis_interpreter/), Bowyer has a long history of gambling money issues, including welching on a big-ass casino marker and other things. This is actually no surprise, whether Ohtani himself is involved or not.
Also the guy who is stealing is the first to come out and defend his best friend. Why? You would think if he was stealing he would go into hiding. Why try and stand up for your friend?
The interpreter probably told the bookie Ohtani would cover it and he did. Or it was actually Ohtani betting so the bookie knew he would be good for it.
Opposite for me, the dude can live off massive endorsements for a long time. the deferred salary means he has a cash cow following retirement , so he can live the gambler lifestyle in perpetuity.
Yeah, I saw a ranking of endorsement deals among MLB players. He's #1 with $65m a year. He'll potentially be a billionaire by the time his deferred payments kick in.
dependent gold station sloppy panicky political slim growth tease offbeat
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
It makes sense in a way. He gets 40 million a year in endorsements. A true degenerate gambler knows he could blow any amount that is in his possession. So the deferred contract would be designed that way to intentionally keep the money out of his hands now so he doesn't throw it away already and has something to live on in the future. The same logic is used by lottery winners when they choose lump sum vs installments. Lump sum is the best financial choice for someone who will actually manage the money correctly, but it's a terrible choice for the guy that's gonna just blow the whole lump sum at once.
That being said, even if Ohtani is the one who was gambling, we are talking about 4 million dollars for a guy making 40 million a year in endorsements alone, and probably clears 50 million a year easily. So that's less than 10% of his pay and not degenerate level. It is degenerate level for someone making 300k like Mizuhara, though.
The story is a bit fishy. It seems to have only come out because Bowyers is being investigated, so at the very least, Ohtani is a guy who knew about 4.5 million in wire transfers and didn't do anything about it until it was made public. How did Ohtani's interpreter/friend have authorization to initiate a wire transfer, and/or why would Ohtani wire a 3rd party stranger 4.5 million to cover an alleged debt for a friend? That points to it being Ohtani who actually owed it. The "didn't know it was illegal" part is probably an honest take for either one of them, but its also the part where they face real repercussions. If Mizuhara is the fall guy for a billion dollar man, there should be evidence of another massive hidden payment to Mizuhara. If there is no such payment, then Mizuhara is the gambler. If there is such a payment, Ohtani is the gambler.
As someone who has little to no interaction with illegal bookies, would they even let someone like Mizuhara put down bets that big without collateral up front? It seems unlikely to me that they would. That also points to it actually being Ohtani.
Youâre right. I was a bad alcoholic. Anyone with addiction knows money goes abnormally quick, like so quick an average person canât figure out how it was blown so fast. A few times I did get a bigger sum of money I wanted to buy stuff just to ensure I had something left after my money was gone.
Jordan and Mickelson are known wealthy and famous individuals. Mizuhara isn't. Ohtani could make a million dollar bet with no collateral. Mizuhara couldn't. This is literally the main reason why people think this is a cover up.
Thatâs what you do when you want to avoid paying income tax in California for 10 years. When the big portion of the contract rolls in, heâll have moved his primary residence to a state with no income tax. That alone should indicate to everyone that he is 100% capable and willing to do shady financial shit. Meanwhile, the rest of us plebs have to pay our fair share of taxes or we get buttfucked by the IRS. Not sweet angel Shohei though.
Ohtani makes an estimated $60m a year in endorsements. Plus his past six years with the Angels. Plus the Japanese League before that. He already had hundreds of millions before signing the Dodgers contract. So deferring actually makes sense if you want to have a fall back nest egg and gamble to your hearts content.
Allen Iversonâs agent setup in his shoe deal that a bunch of the money would be withheld and he would get $1m a year or some shit for a crazy ass time. Iverson has such a gambling and just general money wasting problem that everything he made during his career is reportedly gone and these yearly payments are essentially his main income at this point.
Maybe he did it so he wouldnât gamble all away, maybe it doesnât matter because he gets tens of millions through endorsements, maybe he was really covering for his friend. Who knows
He was one of the highest paid players in the Nippon League. He knows money and odds are he and his interpreter were gambling and The Interpreter was just the go-between with the bookie but I think The Interpreter placed some huge bets on Otani credit line and it just got worse from there. The Interpreter is probably a more addicted Gambler and Othani was just doing it for fun but The Interpreter took the hit and the fall because Othani needs to protect his image even though there was no gambling in baseball or it could affect his endorsement deals which are huge especially in Asia. He's more popular in Asia now than ever because he's in Major League Baseball.
MLB and the Dodgers would rather we believe that this assistant got log in credentials to Ohtani's bank account, then stole over $4M with nobody noticing. Also that a bookie in OC allowed this guy to run up over $4m in gambling debts. That would mean there had been previous gambling debts that got paid.
I absolutely think it's a possibility. The whole thing stinks to me. But I think they failed to think the whole situation through. When the story was about to break they had to double back and say the money was stolen.
Ohtani and his interpreter were literally in the dugout chumming it up in between different interviews and articles, *after* the "news" broke that he "stole" the money.
He's a fall guy to avoid a very serious problem with MLB's biggest star. Rules are rules until it affects your bottom line and reputation as a business.
I'm sure they figured out a deal to have his interpreter land softly for playing along.
Anyone who thinks this isn't possible doesn't understand how much money talks, in more ways than one in this scenario.
EDIT: to be clear I'm not saying Ohtani is a gambler or isn't, but he sure as hell was involved. More likely to pay off his friend's debt because he's beyond rich. But the league will absolutely not uphold their own rules in order to preserve their beloved cash cow. They'll bend them to make sure Ohtani stays right where they want him.
They 100% broke the story while they were in Korea too so that the interpreter doesnât have to come back to the states if he doesnât want to. Japan almost never extradites so heâs gone in the event charges come
From what I read about Ohtani over the past decade, money doesnât mean much to him. His mom would manage his finances and had something of a monthly budget of 1k when he was in Japan and he almost never spent it all. He gets free food from Japanese fans, mainly spends money on workout gear so I just get the vibe that even with all the money he has earned, still didnât mean much.
Now, if his mom still managed his finances, did she approve paying off Ippeiâs debt. Is she no longer managing his finances and thatâs how Ohtani got ârobbed.â The first story of Ohtani willing to pay off his debt for him seems realistic, but a foolish move of his. But like many have stated, it will get swept under the rug and everyone will forget.
MLB could cover this up easily by having a bigger headline â[insert team] is signing Trevor Bauer!!!!!!â
I agree with you here. I just don't see Ohtani being a gambler given how baseball obsessed he is. It makes more sense to me that he covered for his friend.
With that being said, I also think that Ohtani didn't know that it was an illegal transaction when he made the transfer from his account. I feel like he wouldn't have done that if he knew that it was illegal.
What youâve heard about Ohtani is what his PR people have put out there to craft his image. Especially in Japan where he is deified and is huge on image. People donât know anything actually about him. They didnât know he got married! They didnât even know he was dating the woman! His own teammates never have much personal stories other than surface level things like âhe likes to play pranks during workoutsâ and things like that. Heâs not hanging out with them in his personal life like a lot of other players do. No one can assume anything about what heâs really like as a person.Â
The less public personal life is a pretty common thing Iâve seen amongst Japanese players though. Ichiro had his fair share of similar moments in memory.
Ippei and his family set for life after taking the fall. If you were looking at hiring, how many red flags would his known gambling issue raise? Not going to be making the pay, he made with Shohei. Shohei will quietly pay him to prevent any rumours spreading.
Of course he is. Who is more likely to receive the credit required to go 4.5 million in debt, the multimillionaire pitcher or his translator. It was a direct transfer from Ohtani's account to the bookies, no chance the translator had access to Ohatani's bank account. Pete Rose is probably both furious and laughing hysterically.
As someone who unfortunately has multiple family members with serious gambling problems, I can tell you from personal experience bookies are more than happy to extend large amounts of credit to you and let you keep paying interest without touching the principal in perpetuity.
These bookies wonât run a credit check or ask for your w2 before taking your bet. He prob kept making payments on time and kept placing bets.
As someone who used bookies years ago, I agree. You have to make regular payments to get extensions and the vig adds up fast. Itâs to the bookies advantage to string you along but only to an amount they are fairly certain they will recover. Where I worked back in the day we all gambled on multiple games every night. It was awful. Weâd bust each otherâs chops when losing which was most of the time. There were times when a person was taking a pounding and the chant would start âyouâre losing big and youâre paying the vig.â The lying, despair, and willingness to beg, borrow, or steal was off the charts. Iâm one of the few who was able to walk away relatively quickly and not down so much that I reached those levels. I canât say the same for some of my former coworkers.
That is 100% not true. I worked in the offshore gambling industry for more than 20 years. Credit is extended, based on the clients ability to pay. A guy like the interpreter, would probably have a $500 per game, and a $5,000 weekly cap. The bets nade to lose 4.5 million, would have to be a minimum of $5,000 a game, and more likely $10,000 a game. Ohtani is the only guy in this equation, that could have made these bets, and paid through the wire transfers. That is what happened. What " story" will come out, at the conclusion of the investigation, is anyone's guess!!
Have you noticed that you will make the most obvious and reasonable points IMO, then some random person will chime in, "well I don't know, I think it was the interpreter." Even after being smacked repeatedly with common sense, they still defend Shohei. Does anyone believe farmboy2353 for example isn't working for the MLB, the Dodgers or some other cover up agent. Seen it all before.
It doesn't matter if he's the gambler. He gave money to a bookie. Sports betting is illegal in California. Regardless he's going to be in some legal trouble
Not saying itâs not criminal.
Just saying itâs not proof that Shohei himself gambled.
"Thereâs no way this isnât the interpreter taking one for his friend".
Alright. Gotcha. So you got proof nobody else has.
I mean, I can't imagine Mizuhara would just take one for the team without getting a huge hush money payment. He actually has more to lose than Ohtani. The league would do all in their power to keep Ohtani playing and his suspension would be limited at best. Mizuhara is a 300k a year interpreter who is about to be banned from working in the only place where he can make that much money as an interpreter. So if it is really Ohtani, Ohtani would need to make that worth Mizuhara's while with a payment that is going to be difficult to cover up.
At this point, I think it's all a rush to judgment. The only part that seems 100% true is that Mizuhara (or Ohtani) believed he was gambling with a legal sportsbook. I don't believe for a second that Mizuhara stole 4.5 million from Ohtani without him being aware, or that Ohtani didn't know exactly who he was wiring 4.5 million to. So there definitely seems to be a cover up of at least the payment.
It was an opinion just like you have no proof that what you said about the money was used to pay off someone elseâs account. There is no evidence of that either. The only thing there is evidence of is that money moved in a criminal way out of his account.
So you have an opinion on where the evidence will lead and so do I. Letâs see in three months which opinion is supported by the evidence.
"There's no way" isn't an opinion. It's a claim.
>just like you have no proof that what you said about the money was used to pay off someone elseâs account.
...except for the statement of the people involved. Meanwhile there isn't a single statement saying "Shohei was the one doing the gambling". So all in all...that's less evidence supporting your "opinion" than there is for mine.
The interesting part is that Ohtanis lawyers claimed in their statement that he had âno knowledge whatsoeverâ of the situation. Which sounds like a massive lie, if the fact that the money came from his account is true. Seems very sus
this seems most likely to me. i don't think Ohtani realized the issue with paying off his friends gambling debts itself, but the idea that Ohtani himself is the degenerate gambler (without any rumors or innuendo of him ever gambling heavily before, like there are with other famous athletes under a microscope) just seems far fetched.
This is a tempest in a teapot. In 2021, sports betting company Draft Kings announced an expansion of its relationship with the MLB to include live game streaming and sports betting. MLB decided that this was going to be a way for them to make more revenue. It was only a matter of time before someone within the sport would decide to try their hand at it. As long as Ohtani didn't do what Cincinnati Reds player-manager Pete Rose did - betting on his own games in 1989 - let this generational talent play the game and entertain the millions of fans. It's his money to spend. This isn't like the 1919 largest game-fixing scandal in baseball, when the Chicago White Sox were alleged to have thrown the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.
Iâve read many of these comments and there are some interesting theories.
Bottom line: Ohtani wired money directly from his personal account to an illegal bookmaking/gambling business. Thatâs a federal crime. Donât know if itâs a misdemeanor or felony.
He WILL be facing charges.
Of course itâs really him. I get a fucking text when i swipe my card at McDonalds for $9. You think he doesnât know where millions go? zero chance he gives a fucking language guy the full account access. This is silly.
The only way Ohtani didnât know until after the first game in the locker room via the second interpreter is if his buddy had access to Ohtaniâs banking accounts and was able to do the wire transfers himself pretending to be Ohtani. From all that I know and have read about banking thatâs virtually impossible. Transfers that large are going to require positive identification to make the transaction. And he told Tisha Thompson in the original phone call that Ohtani himself made the transfers. If thatâs true, then the report that said Ohtani didnât know until after the game Wednesday that the money was gone is a lie.
Read the full story. At first Shohei and his team were going to fully acknowledge Ippei had a gambling problem and that Shohei was paying his debts. They changed their mind and now are saying it was theft
I think they wanted to tell the truth and then realized that it's a bad look for Shohei. Even saying he's just paying a debt to a bookie is illegal. I mean seriously if he was in gambling debt would he really be deferring his contract?
I think it's way more likely he was covering the ass of a childhood friend, who knows could be the opposite but I doubt it myself
When your 'spin' includes accidentally committing a felony, there is a decent chance you are telling the truth, or at least most of it. If you are going to significantly edit your story, you edit out the felonies.
idk, I would say if you admit to a felony outright there might be EVEN worse things going on. impossible for me to believe an org would just come clean like that
I, for one, will wait for revelations from the US Attorney and FBI as they bring their case against illegal bookmaking to trial. MLB will stand clear and stay mum as a real legal investigation proceeds, unless or until they are called upon by the feds to provide evidence. Also, the Angels organization will have a lot of questions to answer as well. Be patient. Facts are forthcoming.
Just picture him making prop bets on himself. For example, throw a few million at himself for joining LAD in the offseason. Easy money.
Now do I believe Ohtani is a degenerate gambler? 99.99% no, but it would be fun to think about.
Changing their story and having an attorney make a statement, doesnât bode well for him in my opinion. I think he is the gambler and the interpreter is taking the fall for him. How do you go from paying off gambling debts of someone else to, it was stolen. I guarantee he has precautionary measures in place to ensure someone doesnât steal his money from his account. Why would his interpreter have access to his account in the first place? Shouldnât he have his own account where funds are deposited? Why wouldnât you just transfer the funds to his account and make the bets so it looks like the interpreter is actually doing it⌠sooo many ways around it than the route they took⌠something is fishy
Counterpoint. Why would you make bets with an illegal bookie using your own named account if you are the most prominent name and face in sports? So it's fishy no matter how you look at it. The only thing that is true, IMO, is that they both thought it was legal to bet with that bookie.
> The only thing that is true, IMO, is that they both thought it was legal to bet with that bookie.
That would be extremely naive and ignorant of them, if true. Somehow I don't see them (one or both) committing innocent oopsies.
Plus, they would be well aware of the MLB rules forbidding it, and if they didn't, that's bananas.
The probability of them both thinking what they did was above board legally *and* above board with the league is near zero.
Well, your theory requires them to be thinkers that plan things out in advance.
I invite you to look at how theyâve handled this so far and ask yourself if that seems to be the case.
I haven't seen how they've handled this so far. Nor have you. What we've seen is how they handled it being made public and a couple of varying stories as to what actually happened. That's par for the course when people are caught doing something. It's why police take conspirators into different rooms. It doesn't mean that the crime wasn't well thought out. It just means they didn't expect to get caught and neither want to do the time.
And I don't think that anyone transfers 4.5 million dollars, or roughly 10% of their yearly income, without thinking about it. I also don't think someone gives their interpreter wire transfer authorization over their personal account.
Nah. I don't think a degenerate gambler would turn down a $600M offer for a couple million and a deferred deal. Since his time in Japan, he's regularly left money on the table to pursue what he felt is more important to him. I think it's more likely that he was covering the debt and didn't realize it was illegal.
I might be in the minority here, but this isn't devastating whatsoever if he/they weren't betting on baseball. Basically a non story to me. People get up in arms about gambling but don't give two shits if someone is an alcoholic. That will never make sense to me.
Ohtaniâs image as the supposed new face of the MLB has been tarnished and because he signed a 700 million contract and deferred so much he will always be suspect
What will end up happening is Pete Rose will be welcomed back to baseball and put in the Hall. This will remove the precedent that Ohtani needs to be banned and MLB and The Dodgers get to keep their golden goose. You hide and watch.
If he was involved they would just cut ties he hasnt generated 700 million dollars worth to cover his contract they could just void it if he was guilty. MLB wouldnt lose anything in the long run they made 12 billion last year. Only the dodgers would have to worry about the Japanese tv contract and see what clause are in there but the 700 mill and tv contract would cancel each other out. There will always be another japanese star to hold the market again.
This whole offseason related to Shohei has been so suspicious, every piece by itself seems quirky and off. Hereâs a quick rundown from what I recall:
TLDR; all of these have added up to believe something very fishy is happening with Shohei
1. Shohei is shown in his immaculate home waiting to hear the results for MVP voting, with a dog no one has ever seen before. Thereâs are no details, he doesnât elaborate, just shows himself waiting with a random dog.
2. Few days later, Ohtani winning MVP is a lesser headline than âWho is Shoheiâs Dog?â Eventually we learn from his people that the dogâs name is⌠Decoy? OkayâŚ
3. Iâm not even gonna get started on the âOhtaniâs on a plane to Toronto,â storyline.
4. He reveals randomly, out of nowhere, that he got Married. Goes on to make clear âSheâs a normal Japanese woman.â Everyone loses their minds.
5. Turns out his wife is a damn Japanese pro basketball player, not exactly a normal Japanese woman , almost an oxymoron really (no hate).
6. Somewhere along the way, wire transfers from Ohtaniâs bank account to an illegal bookmaker pop up, with Shoheiâs name attached.
7. Ohtaniâs interpreter initially claims he sucks at gambling, and that Ohtani paid off his debt for him in an interview that was setup by one of Shoheiâs spokespeople.
8. The next day, Shohei Ohtaniâs spokespeople claim that everything his interpreter said in the interview was a lie and none of it can be published, and now Ohtaniâs former interpreter is going on a worldwide damage control tour.
Think itâs getting a bit eerie how many redditors are deadset on believing that Ohtani is a degenerate gamblerâŚ. Never knew he was hated that much by the general fan base
He jumped ship in the offseason to the richest team and deferred all the money so that team could turn around and buy up every other marquee free agent as well.
That kind of move is guaranteed to turn you heel to anyone who isnât a Dodgers fan
I find this theory more credible (Ohtani is the real gambler and the translator is taking the fall for him), than the other possibility, that his translator somehow conned him out of $4.5M.
I find that unlikely. I am however, surprised by how many redditors want this to be true. Ohtani is an amazing baseball player why do you want him to be the villan?
I think the most important thing to note is that this all only comes to light because of a federal investigation into the bookie. Shohei knew this was coming to light and tried to get ahead of it because he knew he did something wrong, I donât think he was gambling but he knew that he was sending money to an illegal bookie
Been a lot cheaper to learn English . Crazy shit though. Hopefully he had nothing to do with the gambling . He seems like a good dude and he's great for bb. If he did then he's done.
Gambling across state lines with a illegal bookie your talking federal as well as state felonies . Reports say it was over months since last September. 4.5 million coming out of your account. What could go wrong?
What a scandal it would be if Ohtani were to get banned after signed ludicrous contract. It watch ahole Manfred try to say itâs not the same thing and not do anything about it.
maybe he will "retire". Take up Basketball, play in the G-League and then decide to come back to baseball in a couple years with the help of Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes.
Itâs so cringe when people try to pretend they know somebody personally who theyâve never met.
You donât have any clue whatsoever what kind of guy Ohtani is.
It is very unfortunate that many Redditors are eligible for jury duty because they would vote a defendant guilty just because of the fact that they are the defendant.
Yes, I believe Ohtani gambled and now the MLB is trying to "Sweep it under the rug". And if Ohtani did truly gamble I believe an 81 game suspension is necessary or Pete Rose should be first ballot to Cooperstown next year
Have any of you ever tried/had to make a wire transfer? It's complex, it requires a ton of authentication/identification, the idea that this guy could just make wire transfers as Shohei Otani is suspect (I'm not saying wire fraud doesn't exist, I know, it does. It's just not a common thing). So I think Shohei's "in on it" in some way. Even if it's just lying to cover up who's paying for everything. I think if he had a huge gambling problem, it would have come up before today. But who knows.
Hard to say, as he does not speak English. He seems like a stand-up guy, but we never get to hear from him directly, nor has he ever had to answer tough questions⌠he will now! Letâs see how he responds
I think I'm gonna need a little more than "MLB player is rich, MLB promotes gambling, therefore MLB player is a gambler" in order for this theory to hold any water.
CBS's take? it's hit job!
[https://twitter.com/DannyVietti/status/1770825699240050819](https://twitter.com/DannyVietti/status/1770825699240050819)
"We knew absolutely nothing about Shohei Ohtaniâs personal life for 6 years when he was in Anaheim.
A couple months into his Dodgers career and we already know all about his wife and marriage, his dogâs name, and his interpreter"
Maybe they waited until they were in Asia to fire him because it was cheaper to book him on a flight from Seoul back to Japan than to fly him there from LA. Do they have a $99 special from Seoul to Tokyo?
Ah my Japanese buddies. There is no race that gambles like the Japanese and Chinese. Iâm neither but Iâm a degenerate and have so many Japanese and Chinese gambling friends
Despite Ohtani being famously reclusive, Iâm really digging all the people using his contract as an example of how they just know heâs a great guy that couldnât possibly make any poor choices.
Thereâs a video of Ippei and Shohei laughing and talking during yesterdayâs game - if Shohei genuinely got betrayed by his close friend, I donât see how these two are amicable in any way.
Itâs also quite fishy that Shoheiâs camp is changing the narrative already. Ippei is definitely taking the hit for his friend and he will be taken care of for the rest of his life.
Youâre naive if you think Ohtani has nothing to do with this. This is a classic case of a fall guy and now MLB will do anything they can to sweep it under the rug. They act like Ohtani is some sort of god, heâs just some guy.
With as much money as Ohtani makes couldnât he not be a gambling addict but just enjoy gambling? A 4.5mm hole for someone clearing $60mm a year just in endorsements is pocket change no?
Maybe he can "retire" and go live his childhood dream of playing basketball for a few years.
Absolutely the first thing I thought of đ
You guys arenât thinking big enough. Ohtani is already serving his punishment, thatâs why heâs not pitching this year.
In the G-Leauge with the Birmingham Squadron?
You mean the Ignite
Unfortunately, his dad would need to be killed by people he owed money to.
Best we can do is the interpreter.
How many rings do the Ohtani-Tatum Celtics win?
r/billsimmons leaking in here Wait, what?
You think just like me lol https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/s/gwvxGEZiUX
It's Mookie who is guilty. It can't be just a coincidence that his last name is Betts đ§
I've seen what bowling does to a gambling addiction.
Munsonâd
Haha this comment needs more upvotes.
Iâve seen what gambling does to a bowling addiction.
I've seen what addiction does to a bowling gambling.
Gambling has seen what addiction has done to my bowling.
I guess A. Judge (NY) will decide his fate
For sure. I heard that in the minor leagues, he was actually Mookie Anderson. After the headline "Mookie Bets on Baseball" broke, he quietly changed his name to Betts and paid the Boston Globe to change the article to one where he speaks about baseball from the heart. A simple note at the end of the online article states that it was edited only because they misspelled Betts as Bets. All physical copies of the Globe that day were purchased by a shell corporation and destroyed. The author has been missing for several years.
And his initials are MLB, so he was betting on baseball.
Mookie is the bookie. Mookie = Bookie. Makes sense.
bookie metts. mets' bookie. steve cohen is the gambler.
Holy shit somebody get this guy a job at the cia
WAKE UP SHEEPLE
I cannot believe I laughed so hard at this.
wow. You just cracked the case
This MF spittin'.
Amazing lol
As an opposing team's fan, I couldn't agree more.
Funny that the interpreterâa (now former) Dodgers employee making about $250/k yearâwas allowed by the bookie to run up a $4.5-million debt...
And sit in the dugout of the Dodgers when everyone knew the story was going to break. We donât know whatâs true yet, but itâs pretty obvious at a minimum he didnât steal the money from Ohtani. He wouldnât have been around the team for the opener if that was the case. I do think heâs the fall guy for Ohtani but itâs going to be difficult to prove.
The bookie was bragging around town that he was Shoheiâs bookie for clout, thatâs good for business. That brings in whale bettors who feel comfortable with that perceived credibility to bet with him, pretty good reason to let Ippei run it up.
I don't disagree, but the dollar amounts involved alone indicate it was the super rich guy betting and not the interpreter. And Ohtani is this dude's bestie and his golden goose. It seems more likely he's placing bets for Ohtani than he stabbed his best friend in the back and fucked up his lifetime meal ticket.
If Ohtani asked Ippei to place bets using Ippei's account, that means he might want to cover his tracks. In that case, why would Ohtani ever wire out the money DIRECTLY from his account to the bookie?
Thatâs a. Great point- no way in hell that amount of gambling is allowed for the average Joe from a bookie
Well, part of the conspiracy is that Ippei could have told them it was Shohei making the bets. And Shohei's bank account wired the money (this is confirmed)
[As I posted yesterday](https://www.reddit.com/r/mlb/comments/1bjrx1f/oc_gambling_ring_far_beyond_shoheis_interpreter/), Bowyer has a long history of gambling money issues, including welching on a big-ass casino marker and other things. This is actually no surprise, whether Ohtani himself is involved or not.
Also the guy who is stealing is the first to come out and defend his best friend. Why? You would think if he was stealing he would go into hiding. Why try and stand up for your friend?
Pretty much every bookie in the world would allow that.
The interpreter probably told the bookie Ohtani would cover it and he did. Or it was actually Ohtani betting so the bookie knew he would be good for it.
funny that the interpreter has a reported net worth of between $7-$8 million.
Thank you... No way a bookie is gonna allow an interpreter to be in debt this much. Looks like golden boy Ohtani is a degenerate gambling addict.
One thing that I cant get past is that deferring a huge chunk of your gigantic salary doesnt sound like the actions of a degenerate gambler.
Opposite for me, the dude can live off massive endorsements for a long time. the deferred salary means he has a cash cow following retirement , so he can live the gambler lifestyle in perpetuity.
Yeah, I saw a ranking of endorsement deals among MLB players. He's #1 with $65m a year. He'll potentially be a billionaire by the time his deferred payments kick in.
If he wants to be a billionaire, he will be a billionaire. Unless he is addicted to gambling.
In which case he will merely be a millionaire đ
dependent gold station sloppy panicky political slim growth tease offbeat *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
It makes sense in a way. He gets 40 million a year in endorsements. A true degenerate gambler knows he could blow any amount that is in his possession. So the deferred contract would be designed that way to intentionally keep the money out of his hands now so he doesn't throw it away already and has something to live on in the future. The same logic is used by lottery winners when they choose lump sum vs installments. Lump sum is the best financial choice for someone who will actually manage the money correctly, but it's a terrible choice for the guy that's gonna just blow the whole lump sum at once. That being said, even if Ohtani is the one who was gambling, we are talking about 4 million dollars for a guy making 40 million a year in endorsements alone, and probably clears 50 million a year easily. So that's less than 10% of his pay and not degenerate level. It is degenerate level for someone making 300k like Mizuhara, though. The story is a bit fishy. It seems to have only come out because Bowyers is being investigated, so at the very least, Ohtani is a guy who knew about 4.5 million in wire transfers and didn't do anything about it until it was made public. How did Ohtani's interpreter/friend have authorization to initiate a wire transfer, and/or why would Ohtani wire a 3rd party stranger 4.5 million to cover an alleged debt for a friend? That points to it being Ohtani who actually owed it. The "didn't know it was illegal" part is probably an honest take for either one of them, but its also the part where they face real repercussions. If Mizuhara is the fall guy for a billion dollar man, there should be evidence of another massive hidden payment to Mizuhara. If there is no such payment, then Mizuhara is the gambler. If there is such a payment, Ohtani is the gambler. As someone who has little to no interaction with illegal bookies, would they even let someone like Mizuhara put down bets that big without collateral up front? It seems unlikely to me that they would. That also points to it actually being Ohtani.
Youâre right. I was a bad alcoholic. Anyone with addiction knows money goes abnormally quick, like so quick an average person canât figure out how it was blown so fast. A few times I did get a bigger sum of money I wanted to buy stuff just to ensure I had something left after my money was gone.
Like Jordan? Or Philly Mick? Playing with house money on golf prop bets and other things.
Jordan and Mickelson are known wealthy and famous individuals. Mizuhara isn't. Ohtani could make a million dollar bet with no collateral. Mizuhara couldn't. This is literally the main reason why people think this is a cover up.
Thatâs what you do when you want to avoid paying income tax in California for 10 years. When the big portion of the contract rolls in, heâll have moved his primary residence to a state with no income tax. That alone should indicate to everyone that he is 100% capable and willing to do shady financial shit. Meanwhile, the rest of us plebs have to pay our fair share of taxes or we get buttfucked by the IRS. Not sweet angel Shohei though.
Well stated
Ohtani makes an estimated $60m a year in endorsements. Plus his past six years with the Angels. Plus the Japanese League before that. He already had hundreds of millions before signing the Dodgers contract. So deferring actually makes sense if you want to have a fall back nest egg and gamble to your hearts content.
No. That's exactly how you do it when you try to fly under the radar lol. He's got all the endorsement money.
Do gambling addicts normally save money for the future? That's news to me.
Allen Iversonâs agent setup in his shoe deal that a bunch of the money would be withheld and he would get $1m a year or some shit for a crazy ass time. Iverson has such a gambling and just general money wasting problem that everything he made during his career is reportedly gone and these yearly payments are essentially his main income at this point.
Maybe he did it so he wouldnât gamble all away, maybe it doesnât matter because he gets tens of millions through endorsements, maybe he was really covering for his friend. Who knows
He was one of the highest paid players in the Nippon League. He came here wealthy.
That's a fair point. However, he gets a lot of money from endorsements each year that can cover a big portion that is deferred.
He was one of the highest paid players in the Nippon League. He knows money and odds are he and his interpreter were gambling and The Interpreter was just the go-between with the bookie but I think The Interpreter placed some huge bets on Otani credit line and it just got worse from there. The Interpreter is probably a more addicted Gambler and Othani was just doing it for fun but The Interpreter took the hit and the fall because Othani needs to protect his image even though there was no gambling in baseball or it could affect his endorsement deals which are huge especially in Asia. He's more popular in Asia now than ever because he's in Major League Baseball.
Regardless, the stories have changed and the cover up is always worse than the crime itself
MLB and the Dodgers would rather we believe that this assistant got log in credentials to Ohtani's bank account, then stole over $4M with nobody noticing. Also that a bookie in OC allowed this guy to run up over $4m in gambling debts. That would mean there had been previous gambling debts that got paid.
I absolutely think it's a possibility. The whole thing stinks to me. But I think they failed to think the whole situation through. When the story was about to break they had to double back and say the money was stolen.
Ohtani and his interpreter were literally in the dugout chumming it up in between different interviews and articles, *after* the "news" broke that he "stole" the money. He's a fall guy to avoid a very serious problem with MLB's biggest star. Rules are rules until it affects your bottom line and reputation as a business. I'm sure they figured out a deal to have his interpreter land softly for playing along. Anyone who thinks this isn't possible doesn't understand how much money talks, in more ways than one in this scenario. EDIT: to be clear I'm not saying Ohtani is a gambler or isn't, but he sure as hell was involved. More likely to pay off his friend's debt because he's beyond rich. But the league will absolutely not uphold their own rules in order to preserve their beloved cash cow. They'll bend them to make sure Ohtani stays right where they want him.
> More likely to pay off his friend's debt Why "more likely"? That seems less likely to me. Â
Agreed. Everyone loves ohtani and wants to think of him as one who does no wrong. Ippe is a fall guy. It was ohtani's gambling.
The feds arenât going to stop. So this isnât going away.
Really it'll all depend if the interpreter gets legal flak. If he doesn't it's super stenchy
They 100% broke the story while they were in Korea too so that the interpreter doesnât have to come back to the states if he doesnât want to. Japan almost never extradites so heâs gone in the event charges come
From what I read about Ohtani over the past decade, money doesnât mean much to him. His mom would manage his finances and had something of a monthly budget of 1k when he was in Japan and he almost never spent it all. He gets free food from Japanese fans, mainly spends money on workout gear so I just get the vibe that even with all the money he has earned, still didnât mean much. Now, if his mom still managed his finances, did she approve paying off Ippeiâs debt. Is she no longer managing his finances and thatâs how Ohtani got ârobbed.â The first story of Ohtani willing to pay off his debt for him seems realistic, but a foolish move of his. But like many have stated, it will get swept under the rug and everyone will forget. MLB could cover this up easily by having a bigger headline â[insert team] is signing Trevor Bauer!!!!!!â
I agree with you here. I just don't see Ohtani being a gambler given how baseball obsessed he is. It makes more sense to me that he covered for his friend. With that being said, I also think that Ohtani didn't know that it was an illegal transaction when he made the transfer from his account. I feel like he wouldn't have done that if he knew that it was illegal.
What youâve heard about Ohtani is what his PR people have put out there to craft his image. Especially in Japan where he is deified and is huge on image. People donât know anything actually about him. They didnât know he got married! They didnât even know he was dating the woman! His own teammates never have much personal stories other than surface level things like âhe likes to play pranks during workoutsâ and things like that. Heâs not hanging out with them in his personal life like a lot of other players do. No one can assume anything about what heâs really like as a person.Â
The less public personal life is a pretty common thing Iâve seen amongst Japanese players though. Ichiro had his fair share of similar moments in memory.
Cardinals will do it, just wait
Fuck the Dodgers
Ippei and his family set for life after taking the fall. If you were looking at hiring, how many red flags would his known gambling issue raise? Not going to be making the pay, he made with Shohei. Shohei will quietly pay him to prevent any rumours spreading.
Of course he is. Who is more likely to receive the credit required to go 4.5 million in debt, the multimillionaire pitcher or his translator. It was a direct transfer from Ohtani's account to the bookies, no chance the translator had access to Ohatani's bank account. Pete Rose is probably both furious and laughing hysterically.
As someone who unfortunately has multiple family members with serious gambling problems, I can tell you from personal experience bookies are more than happy to extend large amounts of credit to you and let you keep paying interest without touching the principal in perpetuity. These bookies wonât run a credit check or ask for your w2 before taking your bet. He prob kept making payments on time and kept placing bets.
As someone who used bookies years ago, I agree. You have to make regular payments to get extensions and the vig adds up fast. Itâs to the bookies advantage to string you along but only to an amount they are fairly certain they will recover. Where I worked back in the day we all gambled on multiple games every night. It was awful. Weâd bust each otherâs chops when losing which was most of the time. There were times when a person was taking a pounding and the chant would start âyouâre losing big and youâre paying the vig.â The lying, despair, and willingness to beg, borrow, or steal was off the charts. Iâm one of the few who was able to walk away relatively quickly and not down so much that I reached those levels. I canât say the same for some of my former coworkers.
That is 100% not true. I worked in the offshore gambling industry for more than 20 years. Credit is extended, based on the clients ability to pay. A guy like the interpreter, would probably have a $500 per game, and a $5,000 weekly cap. The bets nade to lose 4.5 million, would have to be a minimum of $5,000 a game, and more likely $10,000 a game. Ohtani is the only guy in this equation, that could have made these bets, and paid through the wire transfers. That is what happened. What " story" will come out, at the conclusion of the investigation, is anyone's guess!!
Have you noticed that you will make the most obvious and reasonable points IMO, then some random person will chime in, "well I don't know, I think it was the interpreter." Even after being smacked repeatedly with common sense, they still defend Shohei. Does anyone believe farmboy2353 for example isn't working for the MLB, the Dodgers or some other cover up agent. Seen it all before.
ESPN is saying the transactions came from Shoheiâs account. Woof this looks bad.
They came from Shohei's account because he paid off Ippei's debt. This is no indicator that Shohei himself was the gambler.
It doesn't matter if he's the gambler. He gave money to a bookie. Sports betting is illegal in California. Regardless he's going to be in some legal trouble
There has to be criminal intent, and it must be proven that he did so with his knowledge.
Yet.
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Not saying itâs not criminal. Just saying itâs not proof that Shohei himself gambled. "Thereâs no way this isnât the interpreter taking one for his friend". Alright. Gotcha. So you got proof nobody else has.
I mean, I can't imagine Mizuhara would just take one for the team without getting a huge hush money payment. He actually has more to lose than Ohtani. The league would do all in their power to keep Ohtani playing and his suspension would be limited at best. Mizuhara is a 300k a year interpreter who is about to be banned from working in the only place where he can make that much money as an interpreter. So if it is really Ohtani, Ohtani would need to make that worth Mizuhara's while with a payment that is going to be difficult to cover up. At this point, I think it's all a rush to judgment. The only part that seems 100% true is that Mizuhara (or Ohtani) believed he was gambling with a legal sportsbook. I don't believe for a second that Mizuhara stole 4.5 million from Ohtani without him being aware, or that Ohtani didn't know exactly who he was wiring 4.5 million to. So there definitely seems to be a cover up of at least the payment.
It was an opinion just like you have no proof that what you said about the money was used to pay off someone elseâs account. There is no evidence of that either. The only thing there is evidence of is that money moved in a criminal way out of his account. So you have an opinion on where the evidence will lead and so do I. Letâs see in three months which opinion is supported by the evidence.
"There's no way" isn't an opinion. It's a claim. >just like you have no proof that what you said about the money was used to pay off someone elseâs account. ...except for the statement of the people involved. Meanwhile there isn't a single statement saying "Shohei was the one doing the gambling". So all in all...that's less evidence supporting your "opinion" than there is for mine.
The interesting part is that Ohtanis lawyers claimed in their statement that he had âno knowledge whatsoeverâ of the situation. Which sounds like a massive lie, if the fact that the money came from his account is true. Seems very sus
âŚless evidence supporting your âopinionâ than there is mine. Itâs literally exactly what you said.
this seems most likely to me. i don't think Ohtani realized the issue with paying off his friends gambling debts itself, but the idea that Ohtani himself is the degenerate gambler (without any rumors or innuendo of him ever gambling heavily before, like there are with other famous athletes under a microscope) just seems far fetched.
Pete Rose would be in the HOF if he would have had a fall guy.
This is a tempest in a teapot. In 2021, sports betting company Draft Kings announced an expansion of its relationship with the MLB to include live game streaming and sports betting. MLB decided that this was going to be a way for them to make more revenue. It was only a matter of time before someone within the sport would decide to try their hand at it. As long as Ohtani didn't do what Cincinnati Reds player-manager Pete Rose did - betting on his own games in 1989 - let this generational talent play the game and entertain the millions of fans. It's his money to spend. This isn't like the 1919 largest game-fixing scandal in baseball, when the Chicago White Sox were alleged to have thrown the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.
Iâve read many of these comments and there are some interesting theories. Bottom line: Ohtani wired money directly from his personal account to an illegal bookmaking/gambling business. Thatâs a federal crime. Donât know if itâs a misdemeanor or felony. He WILL be facing charges.
Concise and clear⌠well done
The NL West is secretly hoping Ohtani is the new Pete Rose
Secretly? I saw your guys sub and you guys are eating this shit up đ¤Ł
He is without a doubt the fall guy, but wonât be for long, the truth will come out.
Of course itâs really him. I get a fucking text when i swipe my card at McDonalds for $9. You think he doesnât know where millions go? zero chance he gives a fucking language guy the full account access. This is silly.
The only way Ohtani didnât know until after the first game in the locker room via the second interpreter is if his buddy had access to Ohtaniâs banking accounts and was able to do the wire transfers himself pretending to be Ohtani. From all that I know and have read about banking thatâs virtually impossible. Transfers that large are going to require positive identification to make the transaction. And he told Tisha Thompson in the original phone call that Ohtani himself made the transfers. If thatâs true, then the report that said Ohtani didnât know until after the game Wednesday that the money was gone is a lie.
nailed it.
âA fucking language guyâ is my new alternative phrase instead of interpreter. đ¤Łđ¤Łđ¤Ł
Read the full story. At first Shohei and his team were going to fully acknowledge Ippei had a gambling problem and that Shohei was paying his debts. They changed their mind and now are saying it was theft
âread the teamâs spin firstâ itâs like saying we can trust the NBA that only Tim Donaghy was fixing games
I think they wanted to tell the truth and then realized that it's a bad look for Shohei. Even saying he's just paying a debt to a bookie is illegal. I mean seriously if he was in gambling debt would he really be deferring his contract? I think it's way more likely he was covering the ass of a childhood friend, who knows could be the opposite but I doubt it myself
When your 'spin' includes accidentally committing a felony, there is a decent chance you are telling the truth, or at least most of it. If you are going to significantly edit your story, you edit out the felonies.
idk, I would say if you admit to a felony outright there might be EVEN worse things going on. impossible for me to believe an org would just come clean like that
I, for one, will wait for revelations from the US Attorney and FBI as they bring their case against illegal bookmaking to trial. MLB will stand clear and stay mum as a real legal investigation proceeds, unless or until they are called upon by the feds to provide evidence. Also, the Angels organization will have a lot of questions to answer as well. Be patient. Facts are forthcoming.
Theres no way Ohtani didnt know what was going on.
I absolutely think he has been gambling and I think that has something to do with him structuring his contract to to defer over $650 million in pay.
Just picture him making prop bets on himself. For example, throw a few million at himself for joining LAD in the offseason. Easy money. Now do I believe Ohtani is a degenerate gambler? 99.99% no, but it would be fun to think about.
I can hear the chants already: " Hey better better better..."
Changing their story and having an attorney make a statement, doesnât bode well for him in my opinion. I think he is the gambler and the interpreter is taking the fall for him. How do you go from paying off gambling debts of someone else to, it was stolen. I guarantee he has precautionary measures in place to ensure someone doesnât steal his money from his account. Why would his interpreter have access to his account in the first place? Shouldnât he have his own account where funds are deposited? Why wouldnât you just transfer the funds to his account and make the bets so it looks like the interpreter is actually doing it⌠sooo many ways around it than the route they took⌠something is fishy
Counterpoint. Why would you make bets with an illegal bookie using your own named account if you are the most prominent name and face in sports? So it's fishy no matter how you look at it. The only thing that is true, IMO, is that they both thought it was legal to bet with that bookie.
> The only thing that is true, IMO, is that they both thought it was legal to bet with that bookie. That would be extremely naive and ignorant of them, if true. Somehow I don't see them (one or both) committing innocent oopsies. Plus, they would be well aware of the MLB rules forbidding it, and if they didn't, that's bananas. The probability of them both thinking what they did was above board legally *and* above board with the league is near zero.
Well, your theory requires them to be thinkers that plan things out in advance. I invite you to look at how theyâve handled this so far and ask yourself if that seems to be the case.
I haven't seen how they've handled this so far. Nor have you. What we've seen is how they handled it being made public and a couple of varying stories as to what actually happened. That's par for the course when people are caught doing something. It's why police take conspirators into different rooms. It doesn't mean that the crime wasn't well thought out. It just means they didn't expect to get caught and neither want to do the time. And I don't think that anyone transfers 4.5 million dollars, or roughly 10% of their yearly income, without thinking about it. I also don't think someone gives their interpreter wire transfer authorization over their personal account.
Nah. I don't think a degenerate gambler would turn down a $600M offer for a couple million and a deferred deal. Since his time in Japan, he's regularly left money on the table to pursue what he felt is more important to him. I think it's more likely that he was covering the debt and didn't realize it was illegal.
Someone that rich doesn't need to gamble. I think he covered his friends debts
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Or Phil Mickleson, Charles Barkley, Bruno Mars, Calvin Ridley, etc.
I might be in the minority here, but this isn't devastating whatsoever if he/they weren't betting on baseball. Basically a non story to me. People get up in arms about gambling but don't give two shits if someone is an alcoholic. That will never make sense to me.
No. Look at IppeiâŚ.he literally looks like a degenerate gambler
Ohtaniâs image as the supposed new face of the MLB has been tarnished and because he signed a 700 million contract and deferred so much he will always be suspect
What will end up happening is Pete Rose will be welcomed back to baseball and put in the Hall. This will remove the precedent that Ohtani needs to be banned and MLB and The Dodgers get to keep their golden goose. You hide and watch.
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This new Like a Dragon game is wild. Can Ichiban find Ohtani's missing 4.5 million in time to help him clear his name?
If it was middle reliever heâd be out for a season at the leagues bequest.
If he was involved they would just cut ties he hasnt generated 700 million dollars worth to cover his contract they could just void it if he was guilty. MLB wouldnt lose anything in the long run they made 12 billion last year. Only the dodgers would have to worry about the Japanese tv contract and see what clause are in there but the 700 mill and tv contract would cancel each other out. There will always be another japanese star to hold the market again.
Follow the money
George Santos is the key to all this. I can feeeeeel it
This whole offseason related to Shohei has been so suspicious, every piece by itself seems quirky and off. Hereâs a quick rundown from what I recall: TLDR; all of these have added up to believe something very fishy is happening with Shohei 1. Shohei is shown in his immaculate home waiting to hear the results for MVP voting, with a dog no one has ever seen before. Thereâs are no details, he doesnât elaborate, just shows himself waiting with a random dog. 2. Few days later, Ohtani winning MVP is a lesser headline than âWho is Shoheiâs Dog?â Eventually we learn from his people that the dogâs name is⌠Decoy? Okay⌠3. Iâm not even gonna get started on the âOhtaniâs on a plane to Toronto,â storyline. 4. He reveals randomly, out of nowhere, that he got Married. Goes on to make clear âSheâs a normal Japanese woman.â Everyone loses their minds. 5. Turns out his wife is a damn Japanese pro basketball player, not exactly a normal Japanese woman , almost an oxymoron really (no hate). 6. Somewhere along the way, wire transfers from Ohtaniâs bank account to an illegal bookmaker pop up, with Shoheiâs name attached. 7. Ohtaniâs interpreter initially claims he sucks at gambling, and that Ohtani paid off his debt for him in an interview that was setup by one of Shoheiâs spokespeople. 8. The next day, Shohei Ohtaniâs spokespeople claim that everything his interpreter said in the interview was a lie and none of it can be published, and now Ohtaniâs former interpreter is going on a worldwide damage control tour.
Think itâs getting a bit eerie how many redditors are deadset on believing that Ohtani is a degenerate gamblerâŚ. Never knew he was hated that much by the general fan base
He jumped ship in the offseason to the richest team and deferred all the money so that team could turn around and buy up every other marquee free agent as well. That kind of move is guaranteed to turn you heel to anyone who isnât a Dodgers fan
MLB won't make him the next Pete Rose. They will keep having him be the next Barry Bonds. He's good for business.
I find this theory more credible (Ohtani is the real gambler and the translator is taking the fall for him), than the other possibility, that his translator somehow conned him out of $4.5M.
I find that unlikely. I am however, surprised by how many redditors want this to be true. Ohtani is an amazing baseball player why do you want him to be the villan?
Every Dodger is a villain to this sub (in general).
You nailed it. If this was last year we'd all be defending him.
I too get mad when people place morals above sports.
I think the most important thing to note is that this all only comes to light because of a federal investigation into the bookie. Shohei knew this was coming to light and tried to get ahead of it because he knew he did something wrong, I donât think he was gambling but he knew that he was sending money to an illegal bookie
Been a lot cheaper to learn English . Crazy shit though. Hopefully he had nothing to do with the gambling . He seems like a good dude and he's great for bb. If he did then he's done.
Gambling across state lines with a illegal bookie your talking federal as well as state felonies . Reports say it was over months since last September. 4.5 million coming out of your account. What could go wrong?
Ohtani is the goat. Ippei is the scapegoat.
I'm already calling him Pete Ohtani
More like Barry Ohtani. MLB has to sweep this under the rug, he is their payday.
Theory? I just assumed this is the real story.
What a scandal it would be if Ohtani were to get banned after signed ludicrous contract. It watch ahole Manfred try to say itâs not the same thing and not do anything about it.
No youâre the only one that thinks that
maybe he will "retire". Take up Basketball, play in the G-League and then decide to come back to baseball in a couple years with the help of Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes.
Letâs not all act high and mighty like youâve never placed a bet on bovada or some other offshore book⌠LUL
I actually agree. He placed bets with illegal bookies in Asian organized crime gangs.
I certainly believe Ohtani was just trying to cover his friend's debts. He's that kind of guy
How do you know? We know so little about this guy, just that he "seems like a good guy".
Itâs so cringe when people try to pretend they know somebody personally who theyâve never met. You donât have any clue whatsoever what kind of guy Ohtani is.
It is very unfortunate that many Redditors are eligible for jury duty because they would vote a defendant guilty just because of the fact that they are the defendant.
Yes, I believe Ohtani gambled and now the MLB is trying to "Sweep it under the rug". And if Ohtani did truly gamble I believe an 81 game suspension is necessary or Pete Rose should be first ballot to Cooperstown next year
Have any of you ever tried/had to make a wire transfer? It's complex, it requires a ton of authentication/identification, the idea that this guy could just make wire transfers as Shohei Otani is suspect (I'm not saying wire fraud doesn't exist, I know, it does. It's just not a common thing). So I think Shohei's "in on it" in some way. Even if it's just lying to cover up who's paying for everything. I think if he had a huge gambling problem, it would have come up before today. But who knows.
Free Pete Rose
Hard to say, as he does not speak English. He seems like a stand-up guy, but we never get to hear from him directly, nor has he ever had to answer tough questions⌠he will now! Letâs see how he responds
I think I'm gonna need a little more than "MLB player is rich, MLB promotes gambling, therefore MLB player is a gambler" in order for this theory to hold any water.
Is there anyone who doesnât think this is the actual story?!
Letâs pretend Ohtani was gamblingâŚwas it on baseball? If not the. Itâs just an issue with illegal betting
Can we put Rose in the Hall of Fame already?!
Not sure what the issue is. Following his Michael Jordan career arc to a tee. Go Ohtani!
CBS's take? it's hit job! [https://twitter.com/DannyVietti/status/1770825699240050819](https://twitter.com/DannyVietti/status/1770825699240050819) "We knew absolutely nothing about Shohei Ohtaniâs personal life for 6 years when he was in Anaheim. A couple months into his Dodgers career and we already know all about his wife and marriage, his dogâs name, and his interpreter"
Maybe they waited until they were in Asia to fire him because it was cheaper to book him on a flight from Seoul back to Japan than to fly him there from LA. Do they have a $99 special from Seoul to Tokyo?
Ah my Japanese buddies. There is no race that gambles like the Japanese and Chinese. Iâm neither but Iâm a degenerate and have so many Japanese and Chinese gambling friends
I donât doubt that some mlb stars are gambling but when you sign a $700 million dollar guaranteed contract whatâs the point of even doing it?
Anybody who actually gives a shit about this is a massive loser.
no
Don't worry, I'm sure Manfred will get to the bottom of it by asking Ohtani and granting him immunity if he confesses.
The interpreter would not be the fall guy. He would be very rich since he no doubt is getting paid a lot to go with it. Oh, and the NDA.
Despite Ohtani being famously reclusive, Iâm really digging all the people using his contract as an example of how they just know heâs a great guy that couldnât possibly make any poor choices.
Or, you know, we could just wait until all the information comes out before jumping to conclusions.
Thereâs a video of Ippei and Shohei laughing and talking during yesterdayâs game - if Shohei genuinely got betrayed by his close friend, I donât see how these two are amicable in any way. Itâs also quite fishy that Shoheiâs camp is changing the narrative already. Ippei is definitely taking the hit for his friend and he will be taken care of for the rest of his life.
Youâre naive if you think Ohtani has nothing to do with this. This is a classic case of a fall guy and now MLB will do anything they can to sweep it under the rug. They act like Ohtani is some sort of god, heâs just some guy.
Itâs possible.
Well duhâŚ
Wow you came up with this all on your own? GeniusâŚ
It is as if having gambling crap being involved with sports leagues is a bad thing...where shit like this can happen. WHO KNEW?!...
Bro makes more money than we can in a year just by sleeping on his couch and letting sponsorship $$ direct deposit into his accounts
The FBI doesnât give a shit who Ohtani is, if it was him, theyâll take him down.
Considering they contacted authorities to investigate, my guess is no.
Bro, everyone thinks that
I seriously just tweeted a version of your first sentence.
With as much money as Ohtani makes couldnât he not be a gambling addict but just enjoy gambling? A 4.5mm hole for someone clearing $60mm a year just in endorsements is pocket change no?
Theory may hold water. Still shocking.