Category Archives: Gambling

John Locher/Associated Press Joon LeeStaff WriterApril 3, 2017

For years, the NFL has stood against the legalization of sports gambling. For years, the idea of a football team calling Las Vegas home was preposterous. But times have changed, and the Raiders are moving from Oakland to Sin City to the joy of many who work in the sports gambling industry.

The Raiders' move to Las Vegas represents a big first step for those hoping to see sports gambling legalized in the United States.

"While this may seem very slow and incremental, when it's viewed over a slightly longer time such as a decade, this is a stunning advancement from each of the professional sports leagues in a multitude of different settings," says Daniel Wallach, a gaming and sports law attorney with Becker & Poliakoff. "When viewed in its totality, the possibility of legal sports gambling is closer than we realize."

The Raiders' move suggests a change in the NFL's position on sports gambling, but it's difficult to draw conclusions when the league's public messaging differs so much from its actions.

"I think we still strongly oppose [among ownership] legalized sports gambling," said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell at the owners meetings in Phoenix in late March. "The integrity of our game is No. 1. We will not compromise on that."

This gap between actions and public statements elicits laughter from many sports bookmakers in Vegas. Jimmy Vaccaro, who has worked as a bookmaker for nearly 40 years, says the results of the ownership vote speaks to general softening on the gambling issue:

"For someone who was so against [sports gambling], it's clear that [Goodell] works for the owners and 31 of the 32 owners thought it was a very good idea to go to Las Vegas. With that, listening to some of his statements in the past few days once the vote was in, I found it funny.

"He was acting like a Georgia mule, just backing up on everything he was saying in years prior."

Chris Andrews, a bookmaker for South Point Race and Sports Book, says Goodell has nothing to fear in regards to the integrity of the game. Andrews cites the industry's highly audited reports and the record of every transaction as a reason to alleviate any concerns.

"I think he's acting very lawyerly, similar to the concussion case. They had a mountain of evidence that at least something was going on, but they denied it all the way," Andrews says. "It was just a lawyer strategy. I think it's the same here.

"[Pete] Rozelle started the fear of gambling, and it probably wasn't irrational at the time, but the world has really changed since then."

The NFL's recent embrace of daily fantasy sports suggests, according to Wallach, a willingness to embrace this change. While the NFL was the only major sports league that didn't have an equity stake in FanDuel or DraftKings, the league's willingness to accept their advertising money is a shift from a few years ago when it wouldn't accept money from Las Vegas for Super Bowl commercials. FanDuel and DraftKings also signed deals with 28 of the 32 teams, worth as much as $7 millionaccording to research firm IEG (h/t Forbes).

For many bookmakers, daily fantasy sports and sports gambling areone in the same.

"The opportunities for the NFL and the teams to benefit from sponsorship and advertising tie-ins, there's tremendous upside," Wallach says. "Daily fantasy sports are just the tip of the iceberg for the monetization of sports gambling.

"This could become colossal for the league, at least economically. The scale of the two types of projects are vastly different. The money for DFS is around $5 billion and the money wagered on sports through illegal gambling [is] 30 times greater."

The root of the league's gambling concerns gambling stems back to the 1960s, when Paul Hornung of the Green Bay Packers and Alex Karras of the Detroit Lions were suspended by then-commissioner Pete Rozelle after the league determined they gambled on NFL games. The league's long-standing stance against gambling recently showed itself when the NFL shut down the appearances of more than 100 players at the National Fantasy Football Convention in 2015, which was being held on casino property.

"You can be against something just because your predecessors are against it or you can become educated and come to a different view," says Joe Asher, CEO of William Hill Sports Book. "This country tried prohibition a century ago and it failed. The country adapted and changed its view. Then regulation was better than a ban. I think we're in the exact same place with sports betting. There's a market run by criminals benefitting criminals and the alternative is legalizing it and regulating it."

The consensus among the bookmakers is that the Raiders move to Vegas signals that the legalization of sports gambling is a lot closer than many thought it would be just a few years ago. While Goodell hasn't come out in favor of its legalization like NBA commissioner Adam Silver, the move to Las Vegas shouldn't go unnoticed.

"Earlier in the week, two NFL owners were pretty emphatic that legal sports gambling is going to take place eventually and the league will get behind it," Wallach says. "[The Raiders moving to Las Vegas] could be viewed as a pilot program for the NFL's increasing comfort level with sports betting."

Allquotesobtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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Vegas Experts: Raiders' Move Shows Goodell and NFL Could Embrace Sports Betting - Bleacher Report

USA TODAY Sports' Dan Wolken previews the NCAA championship game, which will be a frontcourt-heavy battle between UNC and Gonzaga. USA TODAY Sports

Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, left, talks to North Carolina head coach Roy Williams during the CBS Sports Network interview for the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament.(Photo: David J. Phillip, AP)

GLENDALE, Ariz. The NCAA basketball championship Monday night will not be the most amusing encounter between North Carolina coach Roy Williams and Gonzaga coach Mark Few. Thatone took place in 2009, and on Sunday the coaches provided details.

Before North Carolina played Gonzaga in the Sweet 16 in Memphis that year, Williams called Few and asked if hed like to get their coaching staffs together two nights before the game and play craps at the nearby casino in Tunica, Miss.

The next day,Williams called Few to follow up.

Gamblers Anonymous, Few answered.

Were in, Few then confirmed, about a dozen coaches piled into two small NCAA cars and until 3 the next morning played craps. Recalled Few, We all got our butts kicked and handed to us and lost some money but we had fun.

But after craps, things got dicey.

MORE FROM THE FINAL FOUR

Gonzaga vs. North Carolina: Who has the edge?

Gonzaga vs. North Carolina: Who has the edge?

On the drive back to Memphis, Williams got pulled over.

And the guy comes up and he said, Coach, I wondered if somebody had stolen a car or something like that. Williams recalled. So we talked a couple of seconds.

Then Williams turned prankster.

He said he offered the cop $100 if the cop would stop Few, who was about 15 minutes behind Williams. And the next day, Williams said, he went running into Gonzagas shootaround and got the equipment manager.

I said, Did you guys get stopped last night? Williams said. He said no. And it just ruined my day. But that's the story.

Heres how that story ended: North Carolina 98, Gonzaga 77.

How will the story end Monday night? A roll of the dice, perhaps.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FINAL FOUR

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The gambling tale Mark Few, Roy Williams still snicker about - USA TODAY

Options are one of the least understood aspects of investing for everyday investors. In this clip from the Industry Focus podcast, options expert JP Bennett answers a listener question and explains how trading options is very different, and much more reliably profitable, than gambling.

A full transcript follows the video.

This video was recorded on March 24, 2017.

Dylan Lewis: Jako asks, "Explain if/how options trading is different from gambling, please."

JP Bennett: Great question. It's definitely something that, I believe it's kind of like a misnomer with options. People tend to think these are instruments that people who are in the markets, who are in Wall Street, or whatever, can use to create a lot of wealth, but anybody else who tries to use them is going to get hosed, or, even people who use them on Wall Street get into a lot of trouble. But it basically is just like with investing. With stocks, I believe the biggest advantage that individual investors have is their time horizon. You can try to day trade, but you give up a lot of that advantage, and really, it's going to hurt you over the long run. It's the same thing with options. You can create strategies, or basically try and trade, in a way that is very similar to gambling. If you get a home run in one of your first couple strategies, you're really set, but otherwise you're going to end up with no money. Or, you can do what we do. In Options, we target consistent winners, basically creating a diversified portfolio of options strategies to generate income and long-term capital gains, and do it in a much safer, low-risk manner. Basically, we do that in terms of how we structure our trades, what types of trades we favor, the strike prices we use, expiration dates, how much we pay. If you basically go -- I'm just looking at it right now -- our updated accuracy list for all of our close positions, we have co-advisors Jeff Fischer and Jim Gillies. For Jeff Fischer, he has a 94.6% success rate in terms of all of those strategies finish generating positive returns. For Jim Gillies, it's 87.9%. So, more often than not, we're making money on an options strategy. If you know a casino where you can go to where you can gamble and achieve those success rates, please fill me in, because I would love to go there and make a lot of money and retire early.

Lewis: That's an excellent point. The house has a much steeper advantage when it comes to gambling.

Bennett: I would also add -- what you said just triggered it for me -- basically, with options, you can set it up so that you are betting against the house or that you are the house. We like to set it up so that we are the house, so we are winning more than we're losing.

Lewis: It's always better to be the house.

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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How Is Options Different From Gambling? - Motley Fool

By Brian Robbins State Capitol Bureau

A state senator said he's willing to move forward with a bill that would create six new casinos in Illinois if the "grand bargain" budget resolution stalls.

Senate Bill 7, which is part of the Senates legislative bargain aimed at ending the state's nearly two-year budget impasse, seeks to expand gambling in the hope of generating substantial revenue. Additionally, the legislation would allow existing Illinois casinos to expand and permit Chicago airports to install slot machines in terminals and at four horse racing tracks.

One of the sponsors of the bill, Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, said last week that if the grand bargain dies, they would separate their bill and attempt to pass it separately.

The way the grand bargain is set up, its various parts that include the gambling expansion, pension reform, a property tax freeze, an income tax increase and more all have to pass, or none can pass.

If the overall grand bargain doesnt move as we hoped it would, certainly our goal would be to have this one move forward because it does help all parties and it does help parts of the state, Syverson said.

The new casinos would be authorized to be built in Chicago, the south Chicago suburbs, Rockford, Danville, Williamson County and Lake County.

According to Syverson, $1.5 billion left Illinois last year and went to surrounding states via casinos on the states border. He said opening new casinos would help bring that revenue back to Illinois.

These states are building casinos right on the Illinois border to get Illinois residents. Were strategically placing these casinos in defensive nodes along the Wisconsin and Illinois borders, he said. It really does two things: One is that it helps bring gaming revenue into Illinois, and it stops the big outflow of people from Illinois going to surrounding states.

Supporters of the bill also argue that the new casinos would bring in profits not just from gambling, but also from the big conventions the casinos and their hotels would play host to.

Syverson noted that there hasnt been any opposition to the expanded gambling other than from the lawmakers who didnt support it in the first place. He sees it as a noncontroversial issue that can pass both chambers.

We hope this is one of those bills ... that both chambers and both parties can look at and take some credit for. This is really something that shouldnt be caught up in some of the more controversial issues going on, he said. Hopefully (this) helps open the door for some of the other bills that can be negotiated and passed in a bipartisan basis as well.

Sen. Tim Bivins, R-Dixon, is one of those opposed to SB 7. He said adding casinos also could lead to added crime.

I guess my thought is if more expanded gambling would fix the problems of Illinois, it would have (already) been fixed, Bivins said. Weve got more video stations, more gambling, than about anybody in the world, I think. From my previous career in law enforcement, Ive seen the other side of this issue, which is why Im opposed to it. You may get more revenue, but you also get more crime, more people addicted to gambling, you always get more.

Anita Bedell, executive director of Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems, agrees with Bivins and believes more and bigger casinos would do more harm than good.

Its too much. The state is already in trouble financially, and trying to make more money off gambling is not the answer, Bedell said. With video gambling on practically every corner and all the other types of gambling they have in Illinois, there are so many opportunities for people to lose their money as is, and expanding it any further is just going to cause more harm to individuals and families.

The chief sponsor of the bill, Sen. Terry Link, D-Vernon Hills, was not available for comment.

-- Contact Brian Robbins: 782-3095, brian.robbins@sj-r.com, twitter.com/brianrobbins9.

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Gambling bill could move with or without Senate's 'grand bargain' - The State Journal-Register

Phil Mickelson is used to paying off gambling debts, but Im not sure hes used to them being this exorbitant.

Mickelson, who was tied to Vegas businessman William Billy Walters because of a Dean Foods stock tip he hit on before giving back the nearly $1 million he earned off the transaction , apparently also owed Walters a separate $2 million. Walters is on trial right now for securities fraud.

Here is David Purdum of ESPN.

According to transcripts of Thursdays proceedings, the prosecution told the court that an independent business management firm, if called to testify, would say Mickelson was a client and that records show that in July 2012 Mickelson owed a debt to William T. Walters, the defendant, related to sports gambling. The prosecution added that on Sept. 19, 2012, Mickelson transferred $1,950,000 to Walters.

There was previous speculation that Mickelson hit on the insider trading stock tip with Dean Foods in July 2012 in part to pay back some of the $2 million in debt to Walters, and that is starting to look more plausible. Mickelson later gave the nearly $1 million from the Dean Foods transaction back to the SEC, though, and was not criminally charged.

Mickelson did not say anything when asked on Friday.

None of this is much of a surprise. Mickelson loves to gamble and knows other people who love to gamble. All of this did lead to one of the great tweets of the year, though.

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Phil Mickelson paid Vegas businessman nearly $2 million gambling debt - CBSSports.com

By Colin A. Young, State House News Service

BOSTON As the commission looking into online gaming and online gambling presses ahead in its study of ways to regulate and possibly make money from the developing industries, the Massachusetts Lottery is concerned that it could be left behind.

The Lottery is seeking authority from the Legislature to offer its current products scratch tickets, draw games, Keno and more to customers over the internet, arguing that its survival and the hundreds of millions of dollars it returns as local aid are otherwise at risk.

Meanwhile, a special commission formed by the Legislature is looking into legalizing and regulating fantasy sports, eSports and non-Lottery online gaming, and has been tasked with making recommendations for legislation by July 31.

The two interests collided Tuesday: the Lottery Commission met at 10:30 a.m., and commissioners and staff noted that the Special Commission on Online Gaming, Fantasy Sports Gaming and Daily Fantasy Sports had scheduled a hearing for 11 a.m.

After the monthly Lottery sales report, discussion among the commissioners turned briefly to the possibility that Massachusetts could begin to allow online gambling. Keying off media appearances by Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby, Treasurer Deborah Goldberg raised concerns about that possibility.

"It's interesting. You're hearing about the Gaming Commission saying they want online gambling, and then the comment that I read in the paper was that there are only so many entertainment dollars," Goldberg said. "So literally ... if they get online gambling and we do not get iLottery, they would be trying to capture our money that goes to cities and towns for the profit of a profitable entity, like Wynn or MGM."

Crosby, who serves on the Special Commission on Online Gaming, Fantasy Sports Gaming and Daily Fantasy Sports, said Monday on WGBH that the Gaming Commission has no position on whether online gaming should be legal, but does have thoughts on how to regulate it if it's made legal.

"The Gaming Commission has been absolutely emphatic that there is a two-step process here. One is, should online gaming be legal in Massachusetts? That's not up to us, that's up to the Legislature, pure and simple," Crosby told Great Boston host Jim Braude. "If it is legal, then we definitely have opinions on how it should be done and we've made recommendations. But we're not lobbying in favor, nor are we against it. That's not a decision for us to make."

Crosby previously told the special commission that online gaming could become "another modest but real economic engine" for Massachusetts if "you have a stable legal environment, where the law was clear and the parameters were clear and the rules of the road were clear, people would come here to develop new games."

Though the special commission has until July 31 to make recommendations to the Legislature and the chairwoman of the commission said Tuesday she expects the commission to work up to that deadline, the notion that lawmakers could authorize online casino gambling but not online Lottery products struck a nerve with the Lottery Commission.

"As the apolitical and independent comptroller of Massachusetts, I have to tell you that that's enormously disturbing to me, from the standpoint that you have the most successful lottery in the nation, and what you're really doing is not only kneecapping it from the standpoint of not allowing it to participate in any kind of online way, but also you're literally, as the treasurer said, handing the keys over to private industry," Comptroller Thomas Shack, a member of the Lottery Commission, said.

Shack added, "To take those revenues away from cities and towns and to then share them in a significant way with private industry just goes against what we're designed to do as a commonwealth and as a lottery."

The special commission heard Tuesday from experts in online gaming legal and regulatory structures, online game technology and security, and from Marty "Lazerchicken" Strenczewilk, the owner and CEO of eSports team Splyce.

After the hearing, Chairwoman Sen. Eileen Donoghue said she thinks the commission has a lot of work left to do before it decides what it should recommend to the Legislature.

"The more we get into it, I think the more we can appreciate how enormous this task is, to look at all three sectors fantasy sports, online gaming and eSports and any one of them could be daunting," the Lowell Democrat said. "But my sense is we have a ways to go in terms of our research, in hearing the information and then deciding what is the appropriate action to take. And it may not be one size fits all, that's something...we'll see as we go forward."

When asked about the possibility that the Legislature could approve one form of online wagering but not another, Donoghue declined to comment, citing the fact that the Lottery is expressly excluded from the special commission's focus.

Last year, the Senate voted 22-17 to give the Lottery the authority to move online but the matter was never taken up in the House. This year, Goldberg has filed legislation (H 26) to allow the Lottery to sell online, and Lottery Executive Director Michael Sweeney has touted the importance of being online, especially if casinos or other private companies will be allowed to offer online gambling.

"If the Massachusetts Lottery is not allowed to take a significant step into that online world, we will never be able to compete with the advertising dollars that the private casino industry will pour into that effort, if they're allowed to go online," he said Tuesday. "So establishing the brand online, establishing the Lottery's presence online, to me it's really, really critical."

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Lawmakers caught up in collision of online gaming, gambling - SouthCoastToday.com

Great Britain is betting big money on a multitude of presidential odds. USA TODAY

President Trump addresses the annual National Republican Congressional Committee dinner in Washington on March 21.(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

LONDON Will Donald Trump be impeached? Will he build his wall? Will he commission his face added to Mount Rushmore?

Those are some of the bets gamblers in Britain and Ireland are making about the new U.S. president. They are so fascinated about him, in fact, that one of the largest betting companieshere is hiring a full-time bookmaker just to handle the crush of Trump wagers.

"Anything to do with Trump getsinterest, from the serious and realistic such as the chance he might be impeached to ridiculous things such as the likelihood the White House will be painted gold or that Trump could donate California to Russia," said Lee Price, a representative for Dublin-based Paddy Power Betfair.

An ad for a full-time Trump bookmaker was posted last week, andhundreds of applicants have applied for the job, Price said.

The firm hasdevoteda whole section of its website to Trump betting "specials." It offers odds of 3-1 that Trump will be impeached this year, 100-1 that hewill commission his face to be added to Mount Rushmore,25-1 thatMexico will fund the construction of a wall that Trump wants to build along the southern border, and7-1 that theFBI willconfirm collusion between Trump associatesand Russiato influencethe 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The company wouldn't disclose how much money has been placed on Trump wagers overall but said Trump was the company's top "novelty market" last year, and that tens of thousands of Trump bets have been placed worth several million dollars. TheaverageTrump-relatedbet was $25.

Pricesaid Paddy Power Betfair paid out more than $5 million to customers as a result of Trump's upsetvictory over Hillary Clinton. Trump bets are 50 times more popular than bets on Barack Obama at the start of his presidency.

Most of Paddy Power Betfair's business involvesbets on sports, such as soccer and rugby, but it also offers wagers on politics, entertainmentand special events. Rival British gambling firms such as Ladbrokes and William Hill also offer Trump-related bets.

"Sometimes, believe it or not,these (unusual bets) materialize into profit," said Mark Griffiths, an expert on gambling and behavioral addiction at Nottingham Trent University.

Richard Rowbotham, 44, a musician from London, said he won more than $6,800 at Paddy Power by betting thatTrump would win the GOP nomination andon Trumpbecoming president.

Ive never been a gambler but Im interested in politics. Paddy Power has opened up a whole new market,"Rowbotham said.

One gambler, however, isn't taking the Trump bait."I dont think so," said Desmond Pellini, 70, when asked outside a London bet shopif he would place a wager on Trump. "I prefer to bet on horses."

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Hjelmgaard reported from Berlin.

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Are folks gambling like crazy on Trump? Bet on it - USA TODAY

MICHIGAN CITY Three local men accused of participating in an illegal gambling ring appeared in La Porte Superior Court No. 1 Thursday for the first time since the Indiana Court of Appeals overturned Judge Michael Bergersons 2016 ruling that the charges against them be dismissed.

Gregory Czizek was scheduled for jury trial to begin Nov. 13, with a plea agreement deadline of Oct. 12.

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Trial dates set for gambling ring case - News Dispatch

TALLAHASSEE

The House and Senate advanced diametrically opposed gambling packages Thursday, setting the stage for the first serious negotiations in years between legislative leaders and the Seminole Tribe of Florida on the thorny issue.

The Senate overwhelmingly approved a gambling proposal (SB 8) that is friendly to the pari-mutuel industry. The bill would allow slot machines in eight counties where voters have approved them, legalize controversial card games at the heart of a legal battle with the Seminoles and allow nearly all tracks and jai alai frontons to do away with live racing or games, a process known as decoupling.

Hours later, a major House committee supported a more status-quo measure (HB 7037) focused on a 20-year agreement with the Seminoles, called a compact. A portion of a 2010 compact that gave the tribe exclusive rights to operate banked card games, such as blackjack, at most of its casinos expired in 2015, prompting a new round of negotiations and litigation with the state.

But discussions about a new compact failed to gain traction last year, after lawmakers did not approve a deal struck by the tribe and Gov. Rick Scott late in 2015.

While the House and Senate now are approaching the complicated gambling issue which many have likened to a three-dimensional game of chess from opposite ends of the spectrum, Republican legislative leaders acknowledged Thursday the packages provide a starting point for lawmakers to work toward a consensus during negotiations.

Right now, I think weve demonstrated the two bodies can disagree as to what the fundamentals of a bill can look like, but that doesnt mean the idea is dead, House Commerce Chairman Jose Felix Diaz, R-Miami, told reporters after his committee supported the House version Thursday. Were very far apart. Thats for sure. Theyre almost like alternative bills. I dont know what our pressure points will be.

Diaz said the House could vote on a gambling proposal as early next week, which would pave the way for formal negotiations between the House and Senate.

Senate bill sponsor Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican slated to take over as president of the chamber after the 2018 elections, said lawmakers need to act to provide certainty for the industry and to maximize revenue from the tribe and the pari-mutuels.

We have this ambiguous, unpredictable state of flux out there that needs to be wrangled in, Galvano told reporters.

One of the primary objectives for lawmakers on both sides will be settling at least three pending gambling-related lawsuits.

The cases include one in which a federal judge recently sided with the Seminoles regarding the tribes ability to continue offering blackjack and other banked card games after the portion of the 2010 compact expired in 2015.

Another lawsuit focuses on whether pari-mutuels in counties where voters have approved slots can add the lucrative machines, even without the express permission of the Legislature.

And a third centers on a recent decision by a Tallahassee judge approving electronic games that critics, including the Seminoles, argue are effectively slot machines and warn could start popping up in convenience stores, bars and gas stations throughout the state.

Meanwhile, the Seminoles, who want to add craps and roulette at tribal casinos, have warned Scott and legislative leaders the U.S. Department of the Interior, which must sign off on a compact, would not approve any deal that requires the tribe to pay more to the state unless the terms also include additional exclusivity.

I cant tell you if well ultimately reach a full resolution this session but I can tell you that the major interests and the people who would be part of this resolution such as the Florida House, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the governors office they also understand that at this point inaction is not an option, Galvano said before Thursdays 32-6 vote on the Senate bill.

Senators spent less than four minutes on the measure, which sailed through two committees prior to being considered by the full chamber.

Galvano told reporters he would walk away from any deal that did not resolve the legal disputes.

The movement of the proposals before the legislative sessions midpoint and the promise of a conference committee to negotiate the issue, a departure from the past cheered the pari-mutuel industry, which has been unable to force lawmakers to approve major gambling-related legislation for years.

Obviously, the Senate is going to have to come toward the House position and the House is going to have to come toward the Senate position, and where that middle ground is is still a guessing game to all of us. But the fact that we have two leaders willing to try and hammer this out is something thats making us all hopeful, said lobbyist Nick Iarossi, who represents dog tracks in Jacksonville and Melbourne.

The additional pressure of the litigation also buoyed the industrys hopes, Iarossi said.

The House and Senate are both tired of the court dictating what the gaming environment in the state looks like, Iarossi said.

But House Speaker Richard Corcoran told reporters late Thursday any potential gambling deal has a long, long way to go.

Its a heavy lift. Theres a reason it hasnt been passed in decades. But this is the first time that anyone probably could recall where you have two bills moving, Corcoran, R-Land O Lakes, said.

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Florida Senate, House gambling bills 'very far apart' - Palm Beach Post

Five University of Richmond baseball players were suspended for betting money on sporting events, an NCAA spokesperson told ESPN on Thursday. The wagering was done on gambling websites.

The amounts wagered by the players were believed to be small and there were no indications of point-shaving or game-fixing, a source familiar with the case told ESPN. It was not revealed which sports the players were betting on.

Richmond announced the suspension of five baseball players on Feb. 17, and initial reports indicated the bans were due to involvement in fantasy sports. The NCAA now says those reports were inaccurate.

"According to the facts of the case submitted the University of Richmond, the baseball student-athletes wagered money on sporting events using gambling websites," an NCAA spokesperson said Thursday. "Contrary to previous media reports, these cases did not include fantasy sports wagering."

Richmond announced Thursday that four of the players had been reinstated and were eligible to return to action next week against George Washington. The fifth player will be reinstated prior to the 2018 season, the university said. The university did not identify the players.

"We appreciate the efforts of our compliance department and NCAA staff in getting this matter resolved," Richmond athletic director Keith Gill said in a statement released Thursday by the university. "We will continue to work with the NCAA and our compliance staff to identify strategies for our student-athletes to avoid future NCAA rules violations"

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Richmond baseball bans were for online gambling - ESPN