As details about the NBA illegal gambling scandal continue to come to light, sportsbook operators are now questioning how such suspicious wagering activity didn’t raise red flags earlier.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was arrested last week for allegedly exiting a game early in 2023 so bettors with insider info could wager $200,000 across various prop bets for the player.
wouldn’t accept such a large amount of money on the prop bets of an individual player
Talking to the Nevada Independent, several Las Vegas sportsbook operators questioned why the size and specifics of the Rozier prop bets didn’t raise immediate suspicion. One operator said it wouldn’t accept such a large amount of money on the prop bets of an individual player during a regular-season game.
Another sports betting veteran in Nevada remarked that if the betting sites the insiders used to place their bets were legal, then their systems must be “dangerously unsophisticated.” If they chose offshore sportsbooks, then “they were asking for trouble” or giving the bookie a cut of the profits.
A big change that legal sportsbooks are calling for is for the NBA to no longer allow teams to announce their starting lineups so close to tipoff. People with inside info, such as knowledge of a player’s injury status, can get an edge over the bookies under the current format.
