Category Archives: Gambling

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte delivered on Monday his second state of the nation address, which was basically the same as last yearjustifying his campaign against drugs, crackdown on corruption, improving the countrys infrastructure while denying allegations of human rights violations.

In a two-hour litany of his supposed accomplishments during his first year in office, Duterte lashed out at his critics, the United States, and the mainstream media for putting his administration in the bad light instead of cooperating with him.

Surprisingly, Duterte spared the Philippine gambling industry from a tongue-lashing in this years state address.

If you recall, Duterte issued a marching order to stamp out online gambling in the Southeast Asian country on his first day in office. He reiterated his war on online gambling in his first State of the Nation Address last year.

Who would forget that fateful day when every gambling operator held their breath after Duterte made a surprise announcement that he would ask the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to rescind the online gambling licenses it has issued? Former PhilWeb Chairman Roberto Ongpin must be haunted by the presidents words until now.

Things, however, are different this year. During Mondays state address, there wasnt a single mention of the word gambling or casino in the august halls of the countrys House of Representatives.Duterte, who presents himself as an anti-establishment firebrand, stopped picking on the industry that remits billions of pesos to the state coffers.

To be fair, many gambling reforms were rolled out during Dutertes first year in office, spearheaded by the state regulator and its chairman, Andrea Domingo.

In February, Duterte signed an executive order which not only beefed up the governments fight against illegal gambling but also clarified the extent of authority for the regulation and licensing of online gambling operations.

Dutertes rise to power gave casino operators renewed hope to become the next big Asian casino hub as high-stakes Chinese gamblers returned to the Southeast Asian island nation due to improved relations between the two countries.

The Philippine president may have stopped picking on the gambling industry for now but his term has just begun. A lot may still happen in the next five years. The man, after all, is infamous for his unpredictability.

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Duterte quits online gambling nitpicking in new state address - CalvinAyre.com

The move by Slovakia, which now wants operators to have local licences and pay a 27pc tax, comes as both Holland and Poland this year have moved to alter regulations.

In Turkey, where there are no formal regulations and which is a major market for companies including GVC, rhetoric by its leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ramped up against gambling. Sandford Louden, a partner at Oakvale Capital, which advises on acquisitions and sales in the gambling industry, said the fear that other countries could crack down was definitely a concern and a perennial issue.

Most major operators have started to loosen their definition of what a black market is because they are running out of road in regulated markets like the UK where double digit growth is a thing of the past, he said.

Many of the companies operating sites in Slovakia from outside the country will argue their European gambling licence, often based somewhere like Gibralta or Malta, allows them the right under EU law to operate websites which are available across the bloc.

GVC said it welcomes sensible regulation that complies with the ethos of the EU in terms of open and fair competition, while 888 said it was focused on growing in places with a sustainable regulatory framework.

William Hill said it boasted one of the largest percentages of regulated revenue out of its UK peers and would comply with all necessary legislation.

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Fears of overseas gambling crackdown after Slovakia issues blacklist - Telegraph.co.uk

Adam Silver, NBA commissioner Credit: The Paley Center for Media via YouTube

In an unprecedented public gathering of the heads of the nation's top sports leagues, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday made a bold prediction about a topic his colleagues would just as soon sweep under the nearest rug: He believes sports gambling will be legalized in the United States.

Speaking at the Paley Center for Media's "GameChangers" panel, Silver said he thinks the laws that keep sports books quarantined in Nevada and three other states eventually will fall by the wayside.

"My sense is that the law will change in the next few years in the United States, and I think it's not as much a matter of our leagues being for or against sports betting, it's more a function of being realists," Silver said. "It's a multi-hundred-billion-dollar illegal industry and I think ultimately, as the owners of our intellectual property, we're going to embrace it and also make sure that our integrity is protected at the same time."

Silver, who in 1988 earned a degree from the University of Chicago Law School, said that recent events would seem to suggest that the legalization of sports betting may be in the offing. He specifically noted that the U.S. Supreme Court last month agreed to hear New Jersey's appeal in its long-running quest to offer legal sports wagering throughout the Garden State. (Other states that are now setting up their own provisional legislation in the hopes New Jersey gets the five votes it needs to proceed with its gambling vision include New York, Connecticut, Michigan and Maryland.)

While the prospect of the NBA wetting its beak in what is now a wildly lucrative, wholly unregulated economy is likely a contributing factor in Silver's advocacy for legalizing sports gambling, the commish said the practice also does wonders for fan engagement. Citing data the NBA receives from bookmakers that take action on its games in Europe, Silver revealed that 85% of pro hoops bets are "in-play." In other words, rather than simply betting the point spread and then sitting back and watching the game unfold, European bettors are wagering on a constant stream of variables: free throws, quarter scores, three-point shots and every other data point you can think of.

"Independent of whatever revenue stream that may result from licensing our intellectual property to those gaming companies, [gambling] results in enormous additional engagement in fans," Silver said. And say what you will about the moral pitfalls of gambling, but it sure can make what might otherwise be an uninspiring game into a real nail-biter. "You might have a sports fan who's turning off a contest because the game is out of reach for their team or it's a blowout, but here there's a completely independent reason to continue watching," Silver said.

Silver first began vocalizing his support of legalized sports betting in a 2014 editorial that was published in The New York Times. In that piece, Silver encouraged the federal government to allow states to offer a highly regulated form of legitimate wagering, one that would include minimum-age verification and the monitoring of any unusual activity in the betting lines that might indicate the outcome of a game was being manipulated by outside interests.

Silver's colleagues on the dais offered more ambivalent responses to the idea of legalized sports gambling. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said that because most people don't bet on hockey, the propsect of legalized gambling isn't exactly a pressing issue for his league.

"We're a small part of the betting that goes on. Football, basketball, both at the pro and college levels, is where, I don't know, 98% of the betting goes on," Bettman said, before adding that he had some reservations about how legalization could impact the culture of the sport.

"I don't worry about fixing games, I don't worry about anything other than what does [gambling] do to the way young people consume sports," Bettman said. "Do they look at it as a vehicle for healthy competition with role models or do they look at it as a device to make or lose money on a bet? And secondly, what will it do to the environment, in a stadium or in an arena, if everybody is sitting there just worried about their bets? Does it turn us into something other than what we've been, more like either a racetrack or a jai alai fronton?"

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred suggested that legalized gambling would likely serve to intensify the fan experience in the same way DraftKings and FanDuel have demonstrated in recent years. "We were pretty comfortable with the idea that [daily fantasy] was a game of skill and therefore legal, and that's why we became involved in it, and obviously it's a source of fan engagement," Manfred said. "And then you get into actual sports betting, and it seems to me that there's a difference between somebody betting on whether the next pitch is going to be a ball or a strike, which is very hard for anybody to affect or control, as opposed to the outcome of a game, which is a little different."

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was conspicuously silent on the subject, speaking up only once during the gambling portion of the conversation to say he agreed with Manfred's assessment that wagering on point-spreads is obviously a knottier issue than placing micro-bets on pitching counts and other in-game ephemera.

Of course, Goodell and the 32 NFL owners will have plenty of time to mull over the implications of legalized gambling as the Oakland Raiders begin making preliminary plans to shift their base of operations to Las Vegas. The Raiders are expected to move into temporary desert digs in 2019, or just two years after the NHL's expansion team, the Las Vegas Golden Knights, begins repping Sin City this fall. Top-tier sports leagues have had a long-standing aversion to setting up a franchise in Vegas, given the relative ease in which players and officials might be compromised by rubbing elbows with shadowy figures from the underworld. While perhaps not an entirely unwarranted assumption, the anti-Vegas bias never quite managed to explain away why so many pro teams are based in similarly, well, active metropolitan centers such as New York, Northern New Jersey, Boston, Chicago, etc.

The four league bosses addressed a number of other issues during the course of the hour, including the rise of eSports, the rapidly evolving media landscape and how culture is changing the nature of fandom. Each commish was enthusiastic about the emerging eSports marketplace. Silver said the upcoming rollout of the NBA 2K eSports league would serve as a means to promote the game while "developing new content and appearing to a new audience," while Manfred said the MLB "can learn a lot from the demographics of the people who are engaging in this activity."

Bettman joked, however, that the outsized popularity of the pro-videogame hustle was a bit bewildering. "Maybe it's a generational thing, but I don't get tens of thousands of people going to an arena to watch eSports," Bettman said. "But they do it, and we have to make sure we are relevant in all ways possible to young people who are having to choose how they spend their leisure time."

Goodell went on to say that the impact of fantasy sports, if not traditional gambling, continues to make itself manifest in the NFL's Nielsen ratings. "We see it with our television partners; even if your team is out of it, you're going to watch," Goodell said. "It does potentially have a little bit of a negative viewdo they still have the same loyalty to a team they once had? But they used to turn the television set off. Now they're not."

Speaking of ratings, the NFL boss said that the commercial-free RedZone channel "is thankfully not having any effect on our broadcast audience," which is likely a function of its relatively small footprint. It goes without saying that a fully distributed RedZone channel would be a nightmare for advertisers; as Ad Age demonstrated two years ago, a fan who watches all the Sunday NFL games via the ad-free service will have avoided 38 hours and 45 seconds in commercials over the course of the regular season.

If fantasy and gambling go a long way toward reinforcing fan engagement with live sports, lightening the commercial load may also help keep viewers from bowing out during the breaks. As Goodell positioned it, the NFL's decision to trim a few pods from its 2017 broadcasts is part of an ongoing effort to stop giving fans "a reason to turn the channel, or to locate another device." Goodell added that the league would continue to weed out the sort of "dead time" that can make an NFL broadcast stretch well past the three-hour mark.

"Nobody really wants to watch officials running around, figuring out what's going onthey want to watch action," Goodell said. "That's the critical component. How do we make [the games] better and don't give the fan the opportunity to turn the channel?"

If there was a moment when the commissioners acknowledged that the future of sports may be a lot more uncertain than anyone might care to admit, it arrived when the conversation turned to the youngest enthusiasts.

"For all of us, the next generation is different in terms of the way they think about sports," Manfred said. "They don't play sports as much as we did, and you know, the best way to get a fan is to get a kid to play, and so that's a challenge."

The meteoric rise of gaming, social-media and streaming video has played a rather unambiguous role in the development of this less-than-sporty generation, but it's not as if anyone's ever getting that ribbon of toothpaste back in the tube. As much as Goodell was emphatic in asserting that the leagues have to be willing to risk a little self-cannibalization in the service of the fan, the irony of the NFL and the other sports orgs putting so much stock into an emerging market that's leading kids away from the more static pleasures of live sports viewing is hard to overlook.

"One of the problems we all face as an industry is that kids are playing less sports and are, in fact, playing one sport and specializing in that on a year-round basis," Goodell said. "I don't think there's anything worse than that."

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NBA Commish: Legalized Sports Gambling Is a Safe Bet | Media ... - AdAge.com

Gambling expansion strategies and misfires are nearly an annual ritual in Florida. There were the eight counties that voted to allow slot machines but were blocked by the Florida Supreme Court. There was the governor's $3 billion deal with the Seminole Tribe in 2015 that was never approved by the Legislature. And there were dueling Senate and House versions of bills this year that would have permitted craps and roulette but eventually fizzled out. In the end, Gov. Rick Scott agreed to a much simpler deal with the Seminole Tribe that embraces the status quo instead of expansion. And that's a good thing.

The new deal, which is essentially an extension of the compact that was signed in 2010, will allow the Seminoles to continue offering blackjack exclusively at their casinos until 2030. The tribe already had paid $1 billion for the first five years of the deal, and the state will now get a $340 million infusion of cash in the next year, including money held in escrow since 2015. This is a commonsense solution that protects the state from the next-in-line expansion plans that have been threatening to turn Florida cities into southern versions of Las Vegas.

Since Florida's affair with gambling always involves drama amid the winners and losers, there likely will be challenges or complaints about the extension of the deal with the Seminoles. The pari-mutuel operators understandably feel left behind.

As part of the deal, the state has agreed to pursue "aggressive enforcement action'' against pari-mutuels that continue to offer "designated player'' games that mimic the "banked'' card games that are supposed to be exclusive to the Seminoles. "Banked'' games, such as blackjack, pit players against the house, i.e. the bank, instead of other players. To get around the exclusivity clause, pari-mutuels have been offering games, such as three-card poker or Texas Hold 'Em, that allow a "designated player'' to serve as the bank. The Seminoles sued the state for violating the spirit of the 2010 compact by permitting "designated player'' games, and a judge ruled in the tribe's favor late last year.

The state appealed the decision but, with the writing on the wall Scott was wise to extend the current agreement instead of allowing gambling policy to be dictated by the courts. The state will now drop its appeal. The pari-mutuels could lose a lucrative portion of their businesses if the Department of Business and Professional Regulation enforces the court's interpretation of "designated player'' games, but they were pushing the envelope.

While this new deal does not require legislative approval, lawmakers still need to address the concerns of pari-mutuels that have fallen on hard times. One simple fix would be to follow through on the decoupling discussions of recent years. Decoupling would allow pari-mutuels to continue offering gambling alternatives without being required to have live dog or horse racing. For tracks that have seen racing expenses outpace revenues, this would give them a more viable business model.

Undoubtedly, this will not end gambling discussions in Tallahassee. The Legislature could put its own spin on the blackjack agreement next year, and there always will be pressure to bring full casinos to Florida to compete with the Seminoles. That's a fight for another day. The governor's deal with the Seminole Tribe strikes an adequate balance between bringing in revenues for the state and keeping any expansion of gambling at bay.

Editorial: Reasonable clarity on gambling in Florida 07/21/17 [Last modified: Friday, July 21, 2017 4:25pm] Photo reprints | Article reprints

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Editorial: Reasonable clarity on gambling in Florida - Tampabay.com

Joy Belmonte

In a move intended to curb addiction to gambling, a proposed Quezon City ordinance imposes a fee on residents who wish to play inside gaming establishments in the city for 24 hours straight.

Now the subject of public hearings in the city council, the measure aims to keep residents from developing a vice that could ruin their lives and that of their families, according to Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte.

To be called Responsible Gambling Ordinance of 2017 once approved, it is seen as a proactive step addressing issues linked to problem gambling.

According to the draft ordinance, a responsible gambling fee of P1,500 would be charged per Quezon City resident who would like to spend 24 hours nonstop inside these establishments. For those with annual memberships, the fee would be P30,000.

The fee does not apply to nonresidents who wish to gamble in the city, which currently hosts more than 60 gaming establishments, mostly e-gaming shops and off-track betting stations, which contributed about P11 million to the local economy in 2016.

Belmonte, who found the amount negligible, said the measure seeks to address the social cost of gambling in anticipation of casino investors who may be considering Quezon City as their next location to cater to a market in the northern section of Metro Manila.

Most of the casinos in the capital are currently located in the south, particularly in Pasay City.

The measure is expected to strengthen existing regulations set by a 2014 ordinance, which covers the operation of bingo and e-games in the city.

It also calls for the creation of an advisory council that would monitor compliance, to be composed of the mayor, the vice mayor and various department heads.

Councilor Ivy Lagman, one of the authors of the ordinance, said all the collected fees would go into a special fund for local government projects and campaigns cautioning residents about gambling. These include the setup of a 24/7 help line for gambling addicts.

We basically want to create a balance, Lagman said. While [these establishments] may bring benefits, we also want to protect our residents and have less problems for the local government.

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Draft QC ordinance seeks to curb gambling addiction - Inquirer.net

By Diana R. Fuentes, Staff Writer

Photo: Diana R. Fuentes /San Antonio Express-News

David Ytuarte, 45, of San Antonio plays a machine as other casino-goers stream by on June 11. A Harlandale High school grad, he and his wife, Janie, are frequent visitors.

David Ytuarte, 45, of San Antonio plays a machine as other casino-goers stream by on June 11. A Harlandale High school grad, he and his wife, Janie, are frequent visitors.

This novelty giant slot machine at the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino really works. It's just one of some 3,000 machines at the casino near Eagle Pass.

This novelty giant slot machine at the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino really works. It's just one of some 3,000 machines at the casino near Eagle Pass.

A perfect Bloody Mary sits on the center bar at Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino in June.

A perfect Bloody Mary sits on the center bar at Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino in June.

David Ytuarte, 45, of San Antonio plays a machine surrounded by a sea of others June 11. A Harlandale High school grad, he and his wife, Janie, are frequent visitors. "The winning is really good here," he says.

David Ytuarte, 45, of San Antonio plays a machine surrounded by a sea of others June 11. A Harlandale High school grad, he and his wife, Janie, are frequent visitors. "The winning is really good here," he says.

This exterior shot taken May 28, 2016, shows the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Hotel, with the casino wrapping around it. The six-story hotel opened in 2013; the casino first opened its doors in 1996.

This exterior shot taken May 28, 2016, shows the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Hotel, with the casino wrapping around it. The six-story hotel opened in 2013; the casino first opened its doors in 1996.

Laid-back gambling options await the weekend traveler at Lucky Eagle

A two-hour drive southwest of San Antonio takes you to a laid-back gambling paradise, an oasis of fun and, possibly, profitability.

The Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino, 794 Lucky Eagle Drive outside Eagle Pass, is a fun day trip or weekend getaway.

Walk into the cool, dark casino from the intense South Texas sun and promptly immerse yourself in the thousands of brightly lit, come-hither machines with their tinkling sounds of money. Of course, its not actual coins dropping into a chute its just a sound effect because what you get when you cash out is a ticket to be redeemed for cash. But it sounds cheery and promising nonetheless.

Where to stay: Right there at the casino are some of the nicest accommodations in the Eagle Pass area. There are 249 spacious, comfy rooms. If you have a specific date in mind, you need to book a month in advance. Yes, you can take your chances if you decide to just drop in and hope theres a cancellation, but demand is high.

Best food option: There are several restaurants distributed throughout the casino; the Sage Steakhouse is particularly good but only open at night Thursday-Sunday. For quick, good food with great service almost around the clock head to Silantro (yes, its a somewhat strange play on the herb). You will get some of the best tacos norteos and fresh chunky guacamole anywhere.

Allergen alert: Smoking is allowed in the casino. There arent many smokers, but if youre sensitive to smoke, be aware that someone could light up right next to you.

Penny-pinching secret: Way in the back, tucked into a corner past the Qu Pasa lounge, theres a self-service beverage bar with free sodas, tea and coffee. As much as you want. Its not advertised and if youre not looking for it, you might not even see it. But its there for those in the know.

Insiders tip: First thing to do when you get to the casino is sign up for the free Players Club. The line may be long, but its worth it. Its how you get comps; the more you play, the more you get: free buffets, free gaming, even a free room, just like in Vegas. And youll get fliers in the mail with free money to use in the slot machines as well as special deals.

How to get there: If youre driving from San Antonio, head south on Interstate 35 and exit U.S. 57. Go about 90 miles through several small towns and keep a sharp lookout for Loop 480; its not well marked. Go south on Loop 480 another 7 miles and keep the eagle eye out for FM 1021, also known as El Indio Highway, which also is not well marked. Its 2.5 miles to the casino entrance now thats easy to see! on your right. Plenty of parking, but theres no valet service at the casino. There is a tram going back and forth. Or you could just take the bus. There are numerous offerings.

dfuentes@express-news.net

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Laid-back gambling options await the weekend traveler at Lucky Eagle - mySanAntonio.com

Jul 19, 2017

Tim FiorvantiESPN.com

"Imagine the person who the coolest people in the world think is the coolest, most intimidating, mysterious person that they know -- that they all want to hang out with. And that's Phil Ivey."

Hyperbolic, to be sure, but the description that Chad Millman, vice president, editorial director, ESPN Domestic Digital and ESPN's resident gambling expert, gives Phil Ivey at the opening of 30 for 30 Podcasts' "A Queen of Sorts" isn't too far from the truth.

Ivey, as famous as a poker player can get, is only half of the equation in the story detailing his 2012 "edge sorting" scandal involving tens of millions of dollars, casinos in London and Atlantic City, and the subsequent legal proceedings that have tied up Ivey and his winnings for almost five years.

While Ivey's issues have been well-documented, the heart of the story in "A Queen of Sorts," produced and narrated by Rose Eveleth, lies in a woman named Chung Yin Sun -- better known as Kelly -- who was Ivey's accomplice in this endeavor.

In 2012, poker star Phil Ivey pulled off an elaborate baccarat scheme that won him over $20 million and landed him in court. But Ivey had another card up his sleeve - a secretive mastermind named "Kelly" Cheung Yin Sun, who crafted the scheme to get revenge. A Queen of Sorts dives into the world of high stakes gambling, and what happens when a casino underestimates an Asian woman.

Throughout most of his career, with a few notable exceptions, Ivey has been one of the most enigmatic figures in the world of poker. He owns 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, tied for second-most of all time, and seems an almost certain bet to become a first-ballot Poker Hall of Famer when the class of 2017 is announced later this month.

For hard-core poker fans, Ivey is also known for playing in the highest stakes poker cash games in the world, both live and online. His absence from this year's World Series of Poker main event, which wraps up this weekend, was a bit stunning for the uninformed, but Ivey's reason for missing the biggest poker tournament of the year has to do with a card game of a different kind.

Pairing up with a whale like Ivey, who is well-known for spending his hard-earned poker earnings on craps and sports betting, among other gambling interests, was a perfect match for Kelly, until it wasn't. This podcast digs into Kelly's history as a degenerate gambler who lost in the neighborhood of eight figures, her time in prison because of a casino marker she got for a friend, and how it inspired her into embracing advantage play as a means of revenge.

Millman (along with writer Michael Kaplan, a pair of advantage players, casino security experts and others) breaks down some of the intricacies of the case and how everything fell apart.

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30 for 30 podcasts: 'A Queen of Sorts' - ESPN

As state lawmakers continue to debate how to raise new revenue for the state budget, expanding gambling in the state of Pennsylvania is a hot topic. (MGN)

STATE COLLEGE -- As state lawmakers continue to debate how to raise new revenue for the state budget, expanding gambling in the state of Pennsylvania is a hot topic.

Thats fueling more talk of a new gambling casino in the State College area.

Some dont like the idea, thinking it could ruin the small-town feel.

In Harrisburg, talk of more casinos wasnt always a priority.

Quite frankly 15 years ago, I wouldnt of been in favor of it, state Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman said.

Corman will have a huge say on the fate of gaming legislation that would expand gambling throughout Pennsylvania. He concedes it could mean a new casino in Centre County.

The gaming bill includes the possibility of 10 new casinos in the state and State College has been mentioned as a potential site.

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State College area could end up with gambling casino, senator says - WJAC Johnstown

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Simpson has spent almost nine years in Nevada prison for his part in a 2007 holdup at a Las Vegas hotel.

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If the hearing goes as expected, Simpson would be eligible to leave prison on Oct. 1. USA TODAY Sports

In this Dec. 5, 2008 pool file photo, O.J. Simpson appears during his sentencing hearing at the Clark County Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas. Simpson, the former football star, TV pitchman and now Nevada prison inmate, will have a lot going for him when he appears before state parole board members Thursday, July 20, 2017 seeking his release after more than eight years for an ill-fated bid to retrieve sports memorabilia.(Photo: Isaac Brekken, AP)

O.J. Simpson isnt the only one optimistic about his chances of getting parole Thursday in Nevada. So is Bovada, an online gambling site taking wagers on Simpsons fate.

Most gamblers are betting on the prospect of Simpson being granted parole and theyre having to pay a higher price for it, said Kevin Bradley, Bovada.lv SportsBook Manager.

Gamblers betting on Simpson being granted parole must wager $270 to win $100 and gamblers betting on his being denied parole would win $180 on a $100 bet.

MORE SIMPSON:

The Juice to be let loose? O.J. Simpson faces parole hearing this week in Nevada

Why O.J. Simpson is expected to be paroled at July 20 hearing

About 70 percent of the gamblers are betting on parole for the former football star who has spent almost nine years in a Nevada prison for his part in a 2007 holdup at a Las Vegas hotel. Simpson is optimistic about his chances, his close friend Tom Scotto told USA TODAY Sports.

Money wagered with Bovada on Simpsons fate is equal to the amount typically bet on a Major League Baseball game, according to Bradley, who declined to provide specific figures. The Simpson parole bet was first offered June 22.

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Gamblers bullish on OJ Simpson getting parole - USA TODAY

Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Narsimha Raju Sagiraju, 28, spent about $424,000 on blackjack trips to Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and Dubai that he had told his former Cupertino High School classmates he would invest.

Narsimha Raju Sagiraju, 28, spent about $424,000 on blackjack trips to Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and Dubai that he had told his former Cupertino High School classmates he would invest.

Ex-Tech Exec To Be Sentenced To Jail For Gambling $424K Of Friends' Investments

CUPERTINO (BCN)

A former tech executive is set to be sentenced to county jail this afternoon for defrauding his business partner and high school friends out of more than $400,000, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.

Narsimha Raju Sagiraju, 28, spent about $424,000 on blackjack trips to Las Vegas, Monte Carlo and Dubai that he had told his former Cupertino High School classmates he would invest.

Sagiraju pleaded no contest to three felony counts of securities fraud and three felony counts of grand theft, Deputy District Attorney Erica Engin said.

The former software startup director also admitted to excessive taking and white-collar crime enhancements.

Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Shelyna Brown is set to decide at 1:30 p.m. today whether to sentence Sagiraju to three or five years in jail for his crimes.

"The defendant stole millions of dollars from people who trusted him so that he could live the lavish lifestyle of a Silicon Valley venture capitalist," Engin said in a statement.

"His crimes have caused his victims to lose substantial amounts of money and trust," Engin said.

While a startup executive in 2012, Sagiraju solicited several former classmates to invest in Genwi, a commercial construction project, and pre-IPO shares of stock in Pinterest and Facebook, prosecutors said.

Three victims sued Sagiraju in civil court the following year, after he had gambled the money away, and he said he would repay them with interest.

In November 2014, one victim reported the fraud to the district attorney's office.

When Sagiraju was arrested upon his arrival in Las Vegas in February 2016, he had $155,000 in casino chips, prosecutors said.

At the time of his arrest in Las Vegas, Sagiraju was working for a new venture capital fund and a real estate investment company.

A few months later, Sagiraju's business partner at the two companies contacted the district attorney's office to report that the defendant had embezzled almost $2 million in the 10 months leading up to his arrest.

Prosecutors used the white-collar crime "Freeze and Seize" law to take custody of the casino chips and $121,000 in two of Sagiraju's casino accounts in Las Vegas.

Brown is set to decide how to distribute that money to the victims at a restitution hearing, prosecutors said.

(408) 792-2585

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Ex-Tech Exec To Be Sentenced To Jail For Gambling $424K Of ... - SFGate