Andrew Mentock, OZY
After losing in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals, an emotional LeBron James smashed a whiteboard in the Cleveland Cavaliers locker room, breaking his right hand. His play faltered in the subsequent three games that the Golden State Warriors also won for a clean sweep. Yet, the injury wasn’t made public until after the finals were over. That kind of information can prove decisive for oddsmakers like Tom Stryker, a nationally renowned sports handicapper who compares his profession to a stockbroker’s. “I would’ve never come up with that pick or advised my clients to play Cleveland knowing he was hurt,” he recalls. If known only to a select few, it’s also the kind of inside dope that’s now coming under scrutiny stock markets are usually subjected to.
Just weeks before the game where James was injured, the U.S. Supreme Court had opened the gates for states to legalize sports betting, striking down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). But while oddsmakers, professional sports leagues and gambling enthusiasts wrestled questions related to James’ injury, lawmakers were already beginning to address another: insider betting.
State after state is introducing sports wagering legislation and regulations to either prohibit operators from allowing people with inside information to place bets or punish bettors who use such information. In June, legislation was filed in West Virginia to regulate its Sports Wagering Act. The regulations specifically include the “misuse of inside information” in its definition of “suspicious betting activity.” Pennsylvania has introduced similar regulations in the past year.
Rest is here…https://www.ozy.com/the-new-and-the-next/insider-trading-laws-are-coming-to-sports-betting/92055/
