#LetsGoSwitzerlandThe Man Who Does Not Read Has No Advantage Over the Man Who Cannot Read. The biggest obstacle to progress is a habit of “buying what we want and begging for what we need.”You get the Freedom you fight for and get the Oppression you deserve.
I recently changed banks and during the transition of course I got a new ATM card, which is really a debit card. I asked the lady what is the best way I can protect myself if my debit card is lost? The easiest thing to do is show a $0.00 balance on the card, and ONLY use the card to make ATM withdrawals. So, my bank now only recognizes my card as an ATM only card, even though it is linked to my checking account, it will always show a zero balance. If someone gets my card, the purchase won't go through, if they use it for ATM withdrawals, they need my PIN to go forward. Below is an excellent article from a local Atlanta consumer advocate on why debit cards are bad news. Only use credit cards for purchases.
I have also ensured I have overdraft protection, wherein if I get a brain freeze and set up a bill pay, (I use billpay to pay bills), that can't be covered by existing balance in my checkbook, it automatically debits my savings account. I only have a savings account because I keep a fairly low balance in my checking account, and this way when I hit the ATM, I always make savings withdrawals so I never forget to enter the amount into my checking side. I NEVER, EVER use checks...bill pay ONLY, even if its a paltry $5 or $10 charge, I call them and pay via credit card. Having somebody get your check will lead to a possible nightmare you don't even want to have happen.
@MCMLVTopps said:
While we're on the subject of rip offs...
I recently changed banks and during the transition of course I got a new ATM card, which is really a debit card. I asked the lady what is the best way I can protect myself if my debit card is lost? The easiest thing to do is show a $0.00 balance on the card, and ONLY use the card to make ATM withdrawals. So, my bank now only recognizes my card as an ATM only card, even though it is linked to my checking account, it will always show a zero balance. If someone gets my card, the purchase won't go through, if they use it for ATM withdrawals, they need my PIN to go forward. Below is an excellent article from a local Atlanta consumer advocate on why debit cards are bad news. Only use credit cards for purchases.
I have also ensured I have overdraft protection, wherein if I get a brain freeze and set up a bill pay, (I use billpay to pay bills), that can't be covered by existing balance in my checkbook, it automatically debits my savings account. I only have a savings account because I keep a fairly low balance in my checking account, and this way when I hit the ATM, I always make savings withdrawals so I never forget to enter the amount into my checking side. I NEVER, EVER use checks...bill pay ONLY, even if its a paltry $5 or $10 charge, I call them and pay via credit card. Having somebody get your check will lead to a possible nightmare you don't even want to have happen.
Solid points about everything. Including the checks which some may not realize.
In this day and age for a variety of reasons, it's a bad idea to place outgoing checks in your mailbox. If you prefer to pay by check using the mail, it's still okay, however it's best to place that in the mail slot at the local post office.
A thief stealing your mail out of your mailbox can do all sorts of things to those checks, including making it payable to him as well as changing the amount of the check. A check say to a utility, can be cleverly bleached and changed to any amount, made out to himself. If he has many fake ID's, especially with all the "anonymous" people now out there, it's very difficult to catch him. Besides even if they do finally catch him, you likely won't get your money back anyway.
@perkdog said:
I just can't wrap my head around allowing friends or business partners to have access to your personal accounts.
My live in girlfriend doesn't even have accsess to any of my banking information
Its common for personal assistants like that to have access to accounts. They handle the bills and get what the person needs etc.
In the Othani case while hes being called a translator he was really a personal assistant best friend type that was also a translator. Hes been with Othani for years. Every version of speculation has come out from he was placing bets for Othani and is taking the fall for him to Othani did the transfer and was supposed to be paid back to the money being stolen and everything in-between.
Only two people really know the full truth, him and Othani and maybe their wives.
What we do know is that MLB will likely do everything possible to protect Othani and are not currently investigating the situation. He is far to valuable to them and they would have to ban him for life or reinstate Rose if it was Othani. The only reason this came to light was an FBI investigation into illegal gambling
I dont know how much interest the FBI has in pursuing finding out what really happened but we do know that MLB has shown absolutely no interest in doing so and will likely do what they can to help shield him. DraftKings whose partners with MLB probably isnt overly pleased it was an illegal gambling ring either
@perkdog said:
I just can't wrap my head around allowing friends or business partners to have access to your personal accounts.
My live in girlfriend doesn't even have accsess to any of my banking information
Its common for personal assistants like that to have access to accounts. They handle the bills and get what the person needs etc.
In the Othani case while hes being called a translator he was really a personal assistant best friend type that was also a translator. Hes been with Othani for years. Every version of speculation has come out from he was placing bets for Othani and is taking the fall for him to Othani did the transfer and was supposed to be paid back to the money being stolen and everything in-between.
Only two people really know the full truth, him and Othani and maybe their wives.
What we do know is that MLB will likely do everything possible to protect Othani and are not currently investigating the situation. He is far to valuable to them and they would have to ban him for life or reinstate Rose if it was Othani. The only reason this came to light was an FBI investigation into illegal gambling
I dont know how much interest the FBI has in pursuing finding out what really happened but we do know that MLB has shown absolutely no interest in doing so and will likely do what they can to help shield him. DraftKings whose partners with MLB probably isnt overly pleased it was an illegal gambling ring either
Interesting
I don't dislike Ohtani but if it was him gambling I hope it comes out just to stuff it in the rear end of MLB
@perkdog said:
I just can't wrap my head around allowing friends or business partners to have access to your personal accounts.
My live in girlfriend doesn't even have accsess to any of my banking information
Its common for personal assistants like that to have access to accounts. They handle the bills and get what the person needs etc.
In the Othani case while hes being called a translator he was really a personal assistant best friend type that was also a translator. Hes been with Othani for years. Every version of speculation has come out from he was placing bets for Othani and is taking the fall for him to Othani did the transfer and was supposed to be paid back to the money being stolen and everything in-between.
Only two people really know the full truth, him and Othani and maybe their wives.
What we do know is that MLB will likely do everything possible to protect Othani and are not currently investigating the situation. He is far to valuable to them and they would have to ban him for life or reinstate Rose if it was Othani. The only reason this came to light was an FBI investigation into illegal gambling
I dont know how much interest the FBI has in pursuing finding out what really happened but we do know that MLB has shown absolutely no interest in doing so and will likely do what they can to help shield him. DraftKings whose partners with MLB probably isnt overly pleased it was an illegal gambling ring either
Interesting
I don't dislike Ohtani but if it was him gambling I hope it comes out just to stuff it in the rear end of MLB
My guess would be that he knew about the money transfer. As silly as it sounds its not that much money for him when you consider what hes made and hes estimated to make like 60 million in endorsements this year. We dont know anything about his investments in companies or stocks either.
I dont really buy the theft story given the videos of them together in the dugout and Othani his wife and him and his wife on a private plane in the last couple days. If someone stole 4.5 million from me theyre gone instantly not getting on a private plane with me
While I dont believe the current story I would be surprised if anything really incriminating came out. I dont really care if he paid off his friends gambling debt, DraftKings might though. MLB will do everything possible to shield him. Hes far to valuable to them in the Asian market. The fact they arent even investigating immediately is also just more proof that Bauer has been essentially blackballed from the league for challenging and being critical of league leadership
@perkdog said:
I just can't wrap my head around allowing friends or business partners to have access to your personal accounts.
My live in girlfriend doesn't even have accsess to any of my banking information
Its common for personal assistants like that to have access to accounts. They handle the bills and get what the person needs etc.
In the Othani case while hes being called a translator he was really a personal assistant best friend type that was also a translator. Hes been with Othani for years. Every version of speculation has come out from he was placing bets for Othani and is taking the fall for him to Othani did the transfer and was supposed to be paid back to the money being stolen and everything in-between.
Only two people really know the full truth, him and Othani and maybe their wives.
What we do know is that MLB will likely do everything possible to protect Othani and are not currently investigating the situation. He is far to valuable to them and they would have to ban him for life or reinstate Rose if it was Othani. The only reason this came to light was an FBI investigation into illegal gambling
I dont know how much interest the FBI has in pursuing finding out what really happened but we do know that MLB has shown absolutely no interest in doing so and will likely do what they can to help shield him. DraftKings whose partners with MLB probably isnt overly pleased it was an illegal gambling ring either
Interesting
I don't dislike Ohtani but if it was him gambling I hope it comes out just to stuff it in the rear end of MLB
My guess would be that he knew about the money transfer. As silly as it sounds its not that much money for him when you consider what hes made and hes estimated to make like 60 million in endorsements this year. We dont know anything about his investments in companies or stocks either.
I dont really buy the theft story given the videos of them together in the dugout and Othani his wife and him and his wife on a private plane in the last couple days. If someone stole 4.5 million from me theyre gone instantly not getting on a private plane with me
While I dont believe the current story I would be surprised if anything really incriminating came out. I dont really care if he paid off his friends gambling debt, DraftKings might though. MLB will do everything possible to shield him. Hes far to valuable to them in the Asian market. The fact they arent even investigating immediately is also just more proof that Bauer has been essentially blackballed from the league for challenging and being critical of league leadership
I hear ya but nobody knows if Ohtani has a gambling thing going on or not. Personally I don't care if he bets or not.
I just would love to see MLB rear end pucker is all
@perkdog said:
I just can't wrap my head around allowing friends or business partners to have access to your personal accounts.
My live in girlfriend doesn't even have accsess to any of my banking information
Its common for personal assistants like that to have access to accounts. They handle the bills and get what the person needs etc.
In the Othani case while hes being called a translator he was really a personal assistant best friend type that was also a translator. Hes been with Othani for years. Every version of speculation has come out from he was placing bets for Othani and is taking the fall for him to Othani did the transfer and was supposed to be paid back to the money being stolen and everything in-between.
Only two people really know the full truth, him and Othani and maybe their wives.
What we do know is that MLB will likely do everything possible to protect Othani and are not currently investigating the situation. He is far to valuable to them and they would have to ban him for life or reinstate Rose if it was Othani. The only reason this came to light was an FBI investigation into illegal gambling
I dont know how much interest the FBI has in pursuing finding out what really happened but we do know that MLB has shown absolutely no interest in doing so and will likely do what they can to help shield him. DraftKings whose partners with MLB probably isnt overly pleased it was an illegal gambling ring either
Interesting
I don't dislike Ohtani but if it was him gambling I hope it comes out just to stuff it in the rear end of MLB
My guess would be that he knew about the money transfer. As silly as it sounds its not that much money for him when you consider what hes made and hes estimated to make like 60 million in endorsements this year. We dont know anything about his investments in companies or stocks either.
I dont really buy the theft story given the videos of them together in the dugout and Othani his wife and him and his wife on a private plane in the last couple days. If someone stole 4.5 million from me theyre gone instantly not getting on a private plane with me
While I dont believe the current story I would be surprised if anything really incriminating came out. I dont really care if he paid off his friends gambling debt, DraftKings might though. MLB will do everything possible to shield him. Hes far to valuable to them in the Asian market. The fact they arent even investigating immediately is also just more proof that Bauer has been essentially blackballed from the league for challenging and being critical of league leadership
I hear ya but nobody knows if Ohtani has a gambling thing going on or not. Personally I don't care if he bets or not.
I just would love to see MLB rear end pucker is all
Agreed. I dont really care if players are betting on other sports or not. I am not a fan of the current MLB leadership and how they keep telling us the game is boring and needs changes for more commercials. I would love to see the mental gymnastics they would have to do if something came out. Theyre defiantly puckered up right now behind the scenes lol
it is all speculation, but can you imagine if Ohtani himself were involved in the gambling? my goodness. I am sure there would be a suspension. Maybe a "jordan" type suspension. void the contract? the drama would be juicy.
that being said, I like Ohtani and hope he had nothing to do with any of it.
@craig44 said:
it is all speculation, but can you imagine if Ohtani himself were involved in the gambling? my goodness. I am sure there would be a suspension. Maybe a "jordan" type suspension. void the contract? the drama would be juicy.
that being said, I like Ohtani and hope he had nothing to do with any of it.
Theyll make sure Othani is shielded from it and the interpreter covers for him, but MLB betting police has 3 major parts.
Any player caught betting on baseball (I believe this applies to college, Japanes, South Korean etc as well) gets a 1 year suspension.
Any player caught betting on a game they or their team played in is a life time ban.
Any player that makes illegal bets the penalty is at the discretion of the commissioner.
With Othani Manferd would likely just give him a slap on the wrist if its just the illegal betting, hes to valuable for the league. As far as Othanis contract he just wouldnt get paid for the time suspended. It would only void the contract if he got banned for life
Everything in it supports Ohtani's version of events.
Essentially, Ohtani and Mizuhara's relationship was like "brothers"; Ohtani completely relied on Mizuhara to be his go-between in all of his dealings with people in the US.
My take on it is that Mizuhara got into gambling way over his head, and because of his embarrassment, lied to everyone, including his own wife. He used his essentialness to all communications involving Ohtani, in this. Even Ohtani's own team, relied solely on Mizuhara at first, because he was the only bi-lingual person in the group. It wasn't until they got another interpreter involved, that things started being cleared up.
Ichiro used to pretend to not be able to speak any English to avoid the press.
Othani doesnt negotiate contracts nor does his interpreter/assistant, his agent who works for CAA and their lawyers do. CAA is a massive agency and theres 0 percent chance that somehow Othani was tricked by his interpreter who has been with him and one of his friends for years in a contract. All hands were on deck for his contract.
Othani intentionally did his contract the way he did because he wants to win and by deferring basically all of it they were able to also sign Yamamoto which was the plan.
should be interesting. I read there were 9 separate $500k wire transfers. it sure would seem suspicious if Ohtani claims ignorance after proceeding with 9 transfers. I don't know if it were actually the interp. or Ohtani gambling, but I believe the official story (so far) is that it was the interpreter. I have no reason to think this is a lie.
Well if the Feds dig deeeeeeeep into this they will cover every email, text and witness there is concerning this.
If the interpreter and Ohtani had private conversations then it will probably all go the way they want it to go, I highly doubt any incriminating evidence would be served up on a silver platter via text or email but you never know
The cover-up is always worse than the crime.
Seems that based on circumstance Ohtani was using the interpreter to gamble. He also seems to have used the interpreter as a fall guy once things started to heat up. Which naturally made the matter get more attention.
The whole situation stinks.
The substantial truth doctrine is an important defense in defamation law that allows individuals to avoid liability if the gist of their statement was true.
@RiveraFamilyCollect said:
The cover-up is always worse than the crime.
Seems that based on circumstance Ohtani was using the interpreter to gamble. He also seems to have used the interpreter as a fall guy once things started to heat up. Which naturally made the matter get more attention.
The whole situation stinks.
It's survivable as long as there was no MLB bets but even that is not certain
@RiveraFamilyCollect said:
The cover-up is always worse than the crime.
Seems that based on circumstance Ohtani was using the interpreter to gamble. He also seems to have used the interpreter as a fall guy once things started to heat up. Which naturally made the matter get more attention.
The whole situation stinks.
It's survivable as long as there was no MLB bets but even that is not certain
Do they know specifically what the interpreter was betting on and in what amount? If the amounts are larger than what the interpreter would have access to...
The substantial truth doctrine is an important defense in defamation law that allows individuals to avoid liability if the gist of their statement was true.
@RiveraFamilyCollect said:
The cover-up is always worse than the crime.
Seems that based on circumstance Ohtani was using the interpreter to gamble. He also seems to have used the interpreter as a fall guy once things started to heat up. Which naturally made the matter get more attention.
The whole situation stinks.
It's survivable as long as there was no MLB bets but even that is not certain
Do they know specifically what the interpreter was betting on and in what amount? If the amounts are larger than what the interpreter would have access to...
I'm not sure about much of this, I don't think many people are since MLB wants this to go away as quickly and quietly as possible lol
Very tough to make any sort of accurate call about this right now. Just a few random thoughts.
Hard for a US citizen to gauge the intent here because he is from a different culture. I'm not sure at all what the culture is in Japan towards gambling, and the ramifications if it's done illegally. I'm not at all sticking up for him, but it could be possible that he wasn't aware of the seriousness of the MLB rules prohibiting gambling on baseball.
Is it "normal" in Japan to take the fall for the person who is basically providing your living? I mean say he has to do a few years in prison. He knows that Ohtani would take very good care of him after he got out. It would be well worth it for him to lie or keep his mouth shut to protect Ohtani.
The bookie outfit that took these bets, considering the amount, isn't some barber shop or bar room bookie. Only a highly "connected" bookie would take illegal action this large, IE the Mafia. In my opinion, possible game fixing is not off the table.
Any ideas about MLB trying to coverup or evade this incident is nonsense. The Black Sox scandal almost ruined MLB at the time. MLB learned from that and rightfully came down hard on the game fixing participants. If Ohtani was betting on baseball, MLB will ban him so fast it'll make his head spin, and he will be going right back to Japan. Game fixing would take everything here to a whole new level.
Sounds like Mizuhara was just like that Jaguars employee who recently was caught embezzling 20+M from the team and had a major online gambling problem.
The hardest part for Ohtani will be learning not to openly trust someone like that again. Expensive lesson but at least this wasn't a situation where he lost his life savings and that newly signed 700M contract should relieve some of the financial sting.
@RiveraFamilyCollect said:
The cover-up is always worse than the crime.
Seems that based on circumstance Ohtani was using the interpreter to gamble. He also seems to have used the interpreter as a fall guy once things started to heat up. Which naturally made the matter get more attention.
The whole situation stinks.
It's survivable as long as there was no MLB bets but even that is not certain
Do they know specifically what the interpreter was betting on and in what amount?
I heard he lost it all betting on Pokemon battles 😎
@perkdog said:
Well if the Feds dig deeeeeeeep into this they will cover every email, text and witness there is concerning this.
The Feds are interested in who was running the operation not what individual betters were betting. The IRS is investigating the interpreter for tax purposes but the other agencies couldnt care less about what he bet and are interested in moving up the chain like catching a drug dealer on the street corner
@stevek said:
Very tough to make any sort of accurate call about this right now. Just a few random thoughts.
Hard for a US citizen to gauge the intent here because he is from a different culture. I'm not sure at all what the culture is in Japan towards gambling, and the ramifications if it's done illegally. I'm not at all sticking up for him, but it could be possible that he wasn't aware of the seriousness of the MLB rules prohibiting gambling on baseball.
Is it "normal" in Japan to take the fall for the person who is basically providing your living? I mean say he has to do a few years in prison. He knows that Ohtani would take very good care of him after he got out. It would be well worth it for him to lie or keep his mouth shut to protect Ohtani.
The bookie outfit that took these bets, considering the amount, isn't some barber shop or bar room bookie. Only a highly "connected" bookie would take illegal action this large, IE the Mafia. In my opinion, possible game fixing is not off the table.
Any ideas about MLB trying to coverup or evade this incident is nonsense. The Black Sox scandal almost ruined MLB at the time. MLB learned from that and rightfully came down hard on the game fixing participants. If Ohtani was betting on baseball, MLB will ban him so fast it'll make his head spin, and he will be going right back to Japan. Game fixing would take everything here to a whole new level.
Its very common for Japan to have those types of ethics. This is the same country that had kamikaze pilots in WW2. Really though hes not even facing serious charges other than some tax stuff which he could probably just pay off and not even go to prison.. Hell probably make some plea deal and get a light sentence for the "stealing" of Othanis money and just wont be allowed to work in MLB again. Criminally Othani wouldnt be facing any time either it would just be the whole getting banned from baseball thing or suspended.
Theres nothing that indicates Othani ever did anything to fix a game, thats definitely off the table. Hes been the best player in the league or at worst top 3. MLB isnt going to railroad him like they did with Shoeless Joe Jackson.
MLB will do everything they can to NOT have any sort of punishment for Othani. He makes them more money than any single player in the league and its not even close
maybe Ohtani will announce that he is going to play for the Lakers this coming season. then announce a comeback to the dodgers in a couple of years and wear 45 for his new number?
@stevek said:
Very tough to make any sort of accurate call about this right now. Just a few random thoughts.
Hard for a US citizen to gauge the intent here because he is from a different culture. I'm not sure at all what the culture is in Japan towards gambling, and the ramifications if it's done illegally. I'm not at all sticking up for him, but it could be possible that he wasn't aware of the seriousness of the MLB rules prohibiting gambling on baseball.
Is it "normal" in Japan to take the fall for the person who is basically providing your living? I mean say he has to do a few years in prison. He knows that Ohtani would take very good care of him after he got out. It would be well worth it for him to lie or keep his mouth shut to protect Ohtani.
The bookie outfit that took these bets, considering the amount, isn't some barber shop or bar room bookie. Only a highly "connected" bookie would take illegal action this large, IE the Mafia. In my opinion, possible game fixing is not off the table.
Any ideas about MLB trying to coverup or evade this incident is nonsense. The Black Sox scandal almost ruined MLB at the time. MLB learned from that and rightfully came down hard on the game fixing participants. If Ohtani was betting on baseball, MLB will ban him so fast it'll make his head spin, and he will be going right back to Japan. Game fixing would take everything here to a whole new level.
Its very common for Japan to have those types of ethics. This is the same country that had kamikaze pilots in WW2. Really though hes not even facing serious charges other than some tax stuff which he could probably just pay off and not even go to prison.. Hell probably make some plea deal and get a light sentence for the "stealing" of Othanis money and just wont be allowed to work in MLB again. Criminally Othani wouldnt be facing any time either it would just be the whole getting banned from baseball thing or suspended.
Theres nothing that indicates Othani ever did anything to fix a game, thats definitely off the table. Hes been the best player in the league or at worst top 3. MLB isnt going to railroad him like they did with Shoeless Joe Jackson.
MLB will do everything they can to NOT have any sort of punishment for Othani. He makes them more money than any single player in the league and its not even close
You mentioned Shoeless Joe Jackson and that may turn out to be a good analogy. No sense going back and forth at this point, comparing what Jackson did to what Ohtani might have done. We shall see what Ohtani did as the story unravels. Perhaps he is completely innocent.
However without question, If there is even a hint of Ohtani betting on baseball, he will at the very least get a suspension. If proven he bet on baseball, he will receive a lifetime ban.
When it comes to a person in his position as a top player, I'm sure the Mafia saw him as at least a prospect to fix games. Whether he did or not remains to be seen. But that possibility will be thoroughly investigated, as the organized crime illegal gambling operation is already being investigated.
@stevek said:
Very tough to make any sort of accurate call about this right now. Just a few random thoughts.
Hard for a US citizen to gauge the intent here because he is from a different culture. I'm not sure at all what the culture is in Japan towards gambling, and the ramifications if it's done illegally. I'm not at all sticking up for him, but it could be possible that he wasn't aware of the seriousness of the MLB rules prohibiting gambling on baseball.
Is it "normal" in Japan to take the fall for the person who is basically providing your living? I mean say he has to do a few years in prison. He knows that Ohtani would take very good care of him after he got out. It would be well worth it for him to lie or keep his mouth shut to protect Ohtani.
The bookie outfit that took these bets, considering the amount, isn't some barber shop or bar room bookie. Only a highly "connected" bookie would take illegal action this large, IE the Mafia. In my opinion, possible game fixing is not off the table.
Any ideas about MLB trying to coverup or evade this incident is nonsense. The Black Sox scandal almost ruined MLB at the time. MLB learned from that and rightfully came down hard on the game fixing participants. If Ohtani was betting on baseball, MLB will ban him so fast it'll make his head spin, and he will be going right back to Japan. Game fixing would take everything here to a whole new level.
Its very common for Japan to have those types of ethics. This is the same country that had kamikaze pilots in WW2. Really though hes not even facing serious charges other than some tax stuff which he could probably just pay off and not even go to prison.. Hell probably make some plea deal and get a light sentence for the "stealing" of Othanis money and just wont be allowed to work in MLB again. Criminally Othani wouldnt be facing any time either it would just be the whole getting banned from baseball thing or suspended.
Theres nothing that indicates Othani ever did anything to fix a game, thats definitely off the table. Hes been the best player in the league or at worst top 3. MLB isnt going to railroad him like they did with Shoeless Joe Jackson.
MLB will do everything they can to NOT have any sort of punishment for Othani. He makes them more money than any single player in the league and its not even close
You mentioned Shoeless Joe Jackson and that may turn out to be a good analogy. No sense going back and forth at this point, comparing what Jackson did to what Ohtani might have done. We shall see what Ohtani did as the story unravels. Perhaps he is completely innocent.
However without question, If there is even a hint of Ohtani betting on baseball, he will at the very least get a suspension. If proven he bet on baseball, he will receive a lifetime ban.
When it comes to a person in his position as a top player, I'm sure the Mafia saw him as at least a prospect to fix games. Whether he did or not remains to be seen. But that possibility will be thoroughly investigated, as the organized crime illegal gambling operation is already being investigated.
Jackson didnt do anything to throw games and neither did Othani.
There is a 0.0 percent chance that a hint of something would result in Othani getting suspended or a lifetime ban even though that would be better for the Phillys. He is more valuable to the league than Harper, Trout, Vlad Jr, Tatis Jr, and Acuna combined. He is by far and away the biggest star baseball has that also gets them massive numbers internationally. Big numbers of people also fly over to watch him in person.
Hes made 100s of millions already. He was making 40 million a year in endorsements with the Angels, plus his contract, plus what he made in Japan before coming over. Hes projected to make 60 million this year in endorsements that blows everyone out of the water in MLB and youd have to combine 10-15 players to match that. He doesnt need money
Do I think he may have had some bets made for him probably, do I care no. The big issue is that he played in California where sports betting is illegal but is legal in the majority of states
Theres basically no chance this will end up with a lifetime ban and a very very very little chance he will even face even a batting practice suspension
@perkdog said:
Well if the Feds dig deeeeeeeep into this they will cover every email, text and witness there is concerning this.
The Feds are interested in who was running the operation not what individual betters were betting. The IRS is investigating the interpreter for tax purposes but the other agencies couldnt care less about what he bet and are interested in moving up the chain like catching a drug dealer on the street corner
Well last I checked the majority of the United states has legalized sports betting to include legal betting apps like Draft Kings, if there is tax fraud then the feds will get into it and be all over Ohtani if he was behind any of it
@perkdog said:
Well if the Feds dig deeeeeeeep into this they will cover every email, text and witness there is concerning this.
The Feds are interested in who was running the operation not what individual betters were betting. The IRS is investigating the interpreter for tax purposes but the other agencies couldnt care less about what he bet and are interested in moving up the chain like catching a drug dealer on the street corner
Well last I checked the majority of the United states has legalized sports betting to include legal betting apps like Draft Kings, if there is tax fraud then the feds will get into it and be all over Ohtani if he was behind any of it
Most have, the problem is California hasnt which is where the bets took place. Othani should be fine even on that front, maybe pay a fine or something like that. Theres been bigger cases like Wesley Snipes Nicholas Cage etc. Usually nothing really happens if you just pay it which he can afford to do. I seriously doubt MLB will do anything unless absolutely forced too. Theyre going to want the highest burden of proof
@perkdog said:
Well if the Feds dig deeeeeeeep into this they will cover every email, text and witness there is concerning this.
The Feds are interested in who was running the operation not what individual betters were betting. The IRS is investigating the interpreter for tax purposes but the other agencies couldnt care less about what he bet and are interested in moving up the chain like catching a drug dealer on the street corner
Well last I checked the majority of the United states has legalized sports betting to include legal betting apps like Draft Kings, if there is tax fraud then the feds will get into it and be all over Ohtani if he was behind any of it
Most folks don't realize that even when it's stolen money, if taxes aren't paid on it, then it's tax fraud.
The IRS is not a societal criminal investigative organization except for taxes. The IRS doesn't care how you got the money, just as long as you pay taxes on it.
Al Capone didn't receive eight years in prison for any of the obvious violent crimes he committed. It was because of tax evasion.
@stevek said:
Very tough to make any sort of accurate call about this right now. Just a few random thoughts.
Hard for a US citizen to gauge the intent here because he is from a different culture. I'm not sure at all what the culture is in Japan towards gambling, and the ramifications if it's done illegally. I'm not at all sticking up for him, but it could be possible that he wasn't aware of the seriousness of the MLB rules prohibiting gambling on baseball.
Is it "normal" in Japan to take the fall for the person who is basically providing your living? I mean say he has to do a few years in prison. He knows that Ohtani would take very good care of him after he got out. It would be well worth it for him to lie or keep his mouth shut to protect Ohtani.
The bookie outfit that took these bets, considering the amount, isn't some barber shop or bar room bookie. Only a highly "connected" bookie would take illegal action this large, IE the Mafia. In my opinion, possible game fixing is not off the table.
Any ideas about MLB trying to coverup or evade this incident is nonsense. The Black Sox scandal almost ruined MLB at the time. MLB learned from that and rightfully came down hard on the game fixing participants. If Ohtani was betting on baseball, MLB will ban him so fast it'll make his head spin, and he will be going right back to Japan. Game fixing would take everything here to a whole new level.
Its very common for Japan to have those types of ethics. This is the same country that had kamikaze pilots in WW2. Really though hes not even facing serious charges other than some tax stuff which he could probably just pay off and not even go to prison.. Hell probably make some plea deal and get a light sentence for the "stealing" of Othanis money and just wont be allowed to work in MLB again. Criminally Othani wouldnt be facing any time either it would just be the whole getting banned from baseball thing or suspended.
Theres nothing that indicates Othani ever did anything to fix a game, thats definitely off the table. Hes been the best player in the league or at worst top 3. MLB isnt going to railroad him like they did with Shoeless Joe Jackson.
MLB will do everything they can to NOT have any sort of punishment for Othani. He makes them more money than any single player in the league and its not even close
You mentioned Shoeless Joe Jackson and that may turn out to be a good analogy. No sense going back and forth at this point, comparing what Jackson did to what Ohtani might have done. We shall see what Ohtani did as the story unravels. Perhaps he is completely innocent.
However without question, If there is even a hint of Ohtani betting on baseball, he will at the very least get a suspension. If proven he bet on baseball, he will receive a lifetime ban.
When it comes to a person in his position as a top player, I'm sure the Mafia saw him as at least a prospect to fix games. Whether he did or not remains to be seen. But that possibility will be thoroughly investigated, as the organized crime illegal gambling operation is already being investigated.
Jackson didnt do anything to throw games and neither did Othani.
There is a 0.0 percent chance that a hint of something would result in Othani getting suspended or a lifetime ban even though that would be better for the Phillys. He is more valuable to the league than Harper, Trout, Vlad Jr, Tatis Jr, and Acuna combined. He is by far and away the biggest star baseball has that also gets them massive numbers internationally. Big numbers of people also fly over to watch him in person.
Hes made 100s of millions already. He was making 40 million a year in endorsements with the Angels, plus his contract, plus what he made in Japan before coming over. Hes projected to make 60 million this year in endorsements that blows everyone out of the water in MLB and youd have to combine 10-15 players to match that. He doesnt need money
Do I think he may have had some bets made for him probably, do I care no. The big issue is that he played in California where sports betting is illegal but is legal in the majority of states
Theres basically no chance this will end up with a lifetime ban and a very very very little chance he will even face even a batting practice suspension
"He doesnt need money"
Leonard Tose owned a trucking company, and also owned the Philadelphia Eagles for a number of years. He wound-up losing his trucking company and having to sell the Eagles because of gambling at the Atlantic City casinos.
Tose didn't need the money either when he started gambling. However he sure needed it when he went dead broke.
There are countless other stories of folks who got involved in the wrong company or other types of trouble because of gambling, who initially didn't need the money.
The old saying is eat your betting money, don't bet your eating money, which still holds true. 😉
@perkdog said:
Well if the Feds dig deeeeeeeep into this they will cover every email, text and witness there is concerning this.
The Feds are interested in who was running the operation not what individual betters were betting. The IRS is investigating the interpreter for tax purposes but the other agencies couldnt care less about what he bet and are interested in moving up the chain like catching a drug dealer on the street corner
Well last I checked the majority of the United states has legalized sports betting to include legal betting apps like Draft Kings, if there is tax fraud then the feds will get into it and be all over Ohtani if he was behind any of it
Most have, the problem is California hasnt which is where the bets took place. Othani should be fine even on that front, maybe pay a fine or something like that. Theres been bigger cases like Wesley Snipes Nicholas Cage etc. Usually nothing really happens if you just pay it which he can afford to do. I seriously doubt MLB will do anything unless absolutely forced too. Theyre going to want the highest burden of proof
But if there are links to him betting on MLB all hell will break loose regardless, and I know the feds don't care what he bet on but again if there were unpaid taxes from MLB winnings or something then MLB will be forced to do something, as much as they love him they can't give him a pass on that
I just watched a replay of the Ohtani press conference. He does seem credible.
His former buddy if he owes bookies a lot of money. I'm guessing it's likely he will move back to Japan. But it won't be over for him. Japan is well known for having a criminal underground network, perhaps like most countries do. The bookies here in the US will give a contract to the Japanese organized crime group to collect the money owed for a percentage. Just how far the Japanese collectors will go to make him pay-up, we shall see. But it might not be pretty.
@stevek said:
I just watched a replay of the Ohtani press conference. He does seem credible.
His former buddy if he owes bookies a lot of money. I'm guessing it's likely he will move back to Japan. But it won't be over for him. Japan is well known for having a criminal underground network, perhaps like most countries do. The bookies here in the US will give a contract to the Japanese organized crime group to collect the money owed for a percentage. Just how far the Japanese collectors will go to make him pay-up, we shall see. But it might not be pretty.
I'm curious to see what the scope of the illegal betting market is at this point, bookies are thing of the past around here with Casinos popping up everywhere and the betting Apps on your phone
I hope Ohtani was telling the truth yesterday. He is probably my favorite current player. I have no cards of his, but he is a unicorn. I doubt I will ever see another like him again in my lifetime.
we shall see. I don't believe the feds don't care about getting Ohtani. I fully believe there is a federal prosecutor out there who would love to have that trophy on his/her wall.
@stevek said:
I just watched a replay of the Ohtani press conference. He does seem credible.
His former buddy if he owes bookies a lot of money. I'm guessing it's likely he will move back to Japan. But it won't be over for him. Japan is well known for having a criminal underground network, perhaps like most countries do. The bookies here in the US will give a contract to the Japanese organized crime group to collect the money owed for a percentage. Just how far the Japanese collectors will go to make him pay-up, we shall see. But it might not be pretty.
I'm curious to see what the scope of the illegal betting market is at this point, bookies are thing of the past around here with Casinos popping up everywhere and the betting Apps on your phone
I think the scope of the illegal betting market is still fairly high. Certainly what you stated has taken business from illegal bookies. However in some aspects it may have increased it.
Casinos will allow pre-approved credit on their casino games. I'm not sure if they allow credit on sports betting or not? Also I don't think the popular sports betting websites allow credit. Please correct me if I'm wrong about these "credit" opportunities.
All that being said, most know that illegal bookies offer basically unlimited credit, within reason. That is their major allure as far as gambling is concerned. A gambler could be dead broke, but if he is in good standing with a dependable payback history, his illegal bookie will still allow him action. Whereby with the legal websites, if there's no money in your account, then there's no action possible.
When i mentioned that legal bookies may have actually increased business for illegal bookies, here is an example. Say somebody never knew an illegal bookie in his life, and when he started gambling, only played thru legal websites. But for whatever reason, he is now dead broke, perhaps out of work, can't borrow any money, and is in gambling heat, dying for some sports betting action. An illegal bookie is the only place he can go, and he will go.
If he wins in the first week he bet with the illegal bookie, that may actually be the worst thing that ever happened to him. The bookie pays him, and the bettor is overjoyed. He may not even go back to the legal websites, figuring he may as well bet with the illegal bookie who was nice enough to extend him credit.
As every gambler knows, sooner or later that cold streak hits, and one week the bettor could find himself deeply in debt to the illegal bookie, and simply can't pay. That's when the bigger problem starts. But hopefully he's back at work, at least makes regular partial payments to the illegal bookie to pay down the debt, and everything is basically okay.
Depending on the situation and payment history, the illegal bookie will probably still extend credit to a player such as this. Whereby if you screw around with a legal website in some manner, they will ban you quickly, and it's usually permanent. So in a weird sort of way, legalized gambling in this one example, increased the business for illegal gambling.
@craig44 said:
I hope Ohtani was telling the truth yesterday. He is probably my favorite current player. I have no cards of his, but he is a unicorn. I doubt I will ever see another like him again in my lifetime.
we shall see. I don't believe the feds don't care about getting Ohtani. I fully believe there is a federal prosecutor out there who would love to have that trophy on his/her wall.
Yea, his words seem credible but it's a tough read because there was an interpreter there. So it's impossible to get the voice inflection, etc, on certain words to try to ascertain whether or not he may be lying. At this point though, after hearing the words, I don't think Ohtani is lying.
i agree with ya about the feds. Their primary goal with this is to take down that large illegal gambling operation. And very likely they will.
@stevek said:
I just watched a replay of the Ohtani press conference. He does seem credible.
His former buddy if he owes bookies a lot of money. I'm guessing it's likely he will move back to Japan. But it won't be over for him. Japan is well known for having a criminal underground network, perhaps like most countries do. The bookies here in the US will give a contract to the Japanese organized crime group to collect the money owed for a percentage. Just how far the Japanese collectors will go to make him pay-up, we shall see. But it might not be pretty.
I'm curious to see what the scope of the illegal betting market is at this point, bookies are thing of the past around here with Casinos popping up everywhere and the betting Apps on your phone
I think the scope of the illegal betting market is still fairly high. Certainly what you stated has taken business from illegal bookies. However in some aspects it may have increased it.
Casinos will allow pre-approved credit on their casino games. I'm not sure if they allow credit on sports betting or not? Also I don't think the popular sports betting websites allow credit. Please correct me if I'm wrong about these "credit" opportunities.
All that being said, most know that illegal bookies offer basically unlimited credit, within reason. That is their major allure as far as gambling is concerned. A gambler could be dead broke, but if he is in good standing with a dependable payback history, his illegal bookie will still allow him action. Whereby with the legal websites, if there's no money in your account, then there's no action possible.
When i mentioned that legal bookies may have actually increased business for illegal bookies, here is an example. Say somebody never knew an illegal bookie in his life, and when he started gambling, only played thru legal websites. But for whatever reason, he is now dead broke, perhaps out of work, can't borrow any money, and is in gambling heat, dying for some sports betting action. An illegal bookie is the only place he can go, and he will go.
If he wins in the first week he bet with the illegal bookie, that may actually be the worst thing that ever happened to him. The bookie pays him, and the bettor is overjoyed. He may not even go back to the legal websites, figuring he may as well bet with the illegal bookie who was nice enough to extend him credit.
As every gambler knows, sooner or later that cold streak hits, and one week the bettor could find himself deeply in debt to the illegal bookie, and simply can't pay. That's when the bigger problem starts. But hopefully he's back at work, at least makes regular partial payments to the illegal bookie to pay down the debt, and everything is basically okay.
Depending on the situation and payment history, the illegal bookie will probably still extend credit to a player such as this. Whereby if you screw around with a legal website in some manner, they will ban you quickly, and it's usually permanent. So in a weird sort of way, legalized gambling in this one example, increased the business for illegal gambling.
You can 100% use a credit card to fund your betting app
I use my Debit card and the transaction is instant whether I'm depositing or withdrawing
@stevek said:
I just watched a replay of the Ohtani press conference. He does seem credible.
His former buddy if he owes bookies a lot of money. I'm guessing it's likely he will move back to Japan. But it won't be over for him. Japan is well known for having a criminal underground network, perhaps like most countries do. The bookies here in the US will give a contract to the Japanese organized crime group to collect the money owed for a percentage. Just how far the Japanese collectors will go to make him pay-up, we shall see. But it might not be pretty.
I'm curious to see what the scope of the illegal betting market is at this point, bookies are thing of the past around here with Casinos popping up everywhere and the betting Apps on your phone
I think the scope of the illegal betting market is still fairly high. Certainly what you stated has taken business from illegal bookies. However in some aspects it may have increased it.
Casinos will allow pre-approved credit on their casino games. I'm not sure if they allow credit on sports betting or not? Also I don't think the popular sports betting websites allow credit. Please correct me if I'm wrong about these "credit" opportunities.
All that being said, most know that illegal bookies offer basically unlimited credit, within reason. That is their major allure as far as gambling is concerned. A gambler could be dead broke, but if he is in good standing with a dependable payback history, his illegal bookie will still allow him action. Whereby with the legal websites, if there's no money in your account, then there's no action possible.
When i mentioned that legal bookies may have actually increased business for illegal bookies, here is an example. Say somebody never knew an illegal bookie in his life, and when he started gambling, only played thru legal websites. But for whatever reason, he is now dead broke, perhaps out of work, can't borrow any money, and is in gambling heat, dying for some sports betting action. An illegal bookie is the only place he can go, and he will go.
If he wins in the first week he bet with the illegal bookie, that may actually be the worst thing that ever happened to him. The bookie pays him, and the bettor is overjoyed. He may not even go back to the legal websites, figuring he may as well bet with the illegal bookie who was nice enough to extend him credit.
As every gambler knows, sooner or later that cold streak hits, and one week the bettor could find himself deeply in debt to the illegal bookie, and simply can't pay. That's when the bigger problem starts. But hopefully he's back at work, at least makes regular partial payments to the illegal bookie to pay down the debt, and everything is basically okay.
Depending on the situation and payment history, the illegal bookie will probably still extend credit to a player such as this. Whereby if you screw around with a legal website in some manner, they will ban you quickly, and it's usually permanent. So in a weird sort of way, legalized gambling in this one example, increased the business for illegal gambling.
You can 100% use a credit card to fund your betting app
I use my Debit card and the transaction is instant whether I'm depositing or withdrawing
I've never used a CC but the option is there
A credit card yes, but it is not the gambling website that is actually extending you the credit. It is your bank or the credit card company.
I used to have a credit line at some AC casinos. Pure credit with no collateral or anything. Although I'm sure they did a credit check before doing it. I eventually canceled all of it. Paid off all the markers in full on time.
This was all before sports betting was allowed there. So I don't know if now the casinos would allow a player to use their casino credit line for sports bets or not? There might be different state regulations about that versus regular casino games.
@craig44 said:
I hope Ohtani was telling the truth yesterday. He is probably my favorite current player. I have no cards of his, but he is a unicorn. I doubt I will ever see another like him again in my lifetime.
we shall see. I don't believe the feds don't care about getting Ohtani. I fully believe there is a federal prosecutor out there who would love to have that trophy on his/her wall.
Yea, his words seem credible but it's a tough read because there was an interpreter there. So it's impossible to get the voice inflection, etc, on certain words to try to ascertain whether or not he may be lying. At this point though, after hearing the words, I don't think Ohtani is lying.
i agree with ya about the feds. Their primary goal with this is to take down that large illegal gambling operation. And very likely they will.
I'm sure though, that ESPN at the least, will seek out their own interpreter to review Ohtani's statements, to verify what he said is actually what the Dodger interpreter relayed yesterday.
Comments
has changed his stories several times.
I just can't wrap my head around allowing friends or business partners to have access to your personal accounts.
My live in girlfriend doesn't even have accsess to any of my banking information
While we're on the subject of rip offs...
I recently changed banks and during the transition of course I got a new ATM card, which is really a debit card. I asked the lady what is the best way I can protect myself if my debit card is lost? The easiest thing to do is show a $0.00 balance on the card, and ONLY use the card to make ATM withdrawals. So, my bank now only recognizes my card as an ATM only card, even though it is linked to my checking account, it will always show a zero balance. If someone gets my card, the purchase won't go through, if they use it for ATM withdrawals, they need my PIN to go forward. Below is an excellent article from a local Atlanta consumer advocate on why debit cards are bad news. Only use credit cards for purchases.
I have also ensured I have overdraft protection, wherein if I get a brain freeze and set up a bill pay, (I use billpay to pay bills), that can't be covered by existing balance in my checkbook, it automatically debits my savings account. I only have a savings account because I keep a fairly low balance in my checking account, and this way when I hit the ATM, I always make savings withdrawals so I never forget to enter the amount into my checking side. I NEVER, EVER use checks...bill pay ONLY, even if its a paltry $5 or $10 charge, I call them and pay via credit card. Having somebody get your check will lead to a possible nightmare you don't even want to have happen.
https://clark.com/personal-finance-credit/never-use-debit-card-pay/
Solid points about everything. Including the checks which some may not realize.
In this day and age for a variety of reasons, it's a bad idea to place outgoing checks in your mailbox. If you prefer to pay by check using the mail, it's still okay, however it's best to place that in the mail slot at the local post office.
A thief stealing your mail out of your mailbox can do all sorts of things to those checks, including making it payable to him as well as changing the amount of the check. A check say to a utility, can be cleverly bleached and changed to any amount, made out to himself. If he has many fake ID's, especially with all the "anonymous" people now out there, it's very difficult to catch him. Besides even if they do finally catch him, you likely won't get your money back anyway.
And MLB will do what they can to make this "go away". They can't jeopardize having their biggest cash cow compromised in any way.
Its common for personal assistants like that to have access to accounts. They handle the bills and get what the person needs etc.
In the Othani case while hes being called a translator he was really a personal assistant best friend type that was also a translator. Hes been with Othani for years. Every version of speculation has come out from he was placing bets for Othani and is taking the fall for him to Othani did the transfer and was supposed to be paid back to the money being stolen and everything in-between.
Only two people really know the full truth, him and Othani and maybe their wives.
What we do know is that MLB will likely do everything possible to protect Othani and are not currently investigating the situation. He is far to valuable to them and they would have to ban him for life or reinstate Rose if it was Othani. The only reason this came to light was an FBI investigation into illegal gambling
I dont know how much interest the FBI has in pursuing finding out what really happened but we do know that MLB has shown absolutely no interest in doing so and will likely do what they can to help shield him. DraftKings whose partners with MLB probably isnt overly pleased it was an illegal gambling ring either
Interesting
I don't dislike Ohtani but if it was him gambling I hope it comes out just to stuff it in the rear end of MLB
My guess would be that he knew about the money transfer. As silly as it sounds its not that much money for him when you consider what hes made and hes estimated to make like 60 million in endorsements this year. We dont know anything about his investments in companies or stocks either.
I dont really buy the theft story given the videos of them together in the dugout and Othani his wife and him and his wife on a private plane in the last couple days. If someone stole 4.5 million from me theyre gone instantly not getting on a private plane with me
While I dont believe the current story I would be surprised if anything really incriminating came out. I dont really care if he paid off his friends gambling debt, DraftKings might though. MLB will do everything possible to shield him. Hes far to valuable to them in the Asian market. The fact they arent even investigating immediately is also just more proof that Bauer has been essentially blackballed from the league for challenging and being critical of league leadership
"Mizuhara told ESPN his bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football but never baseball."
"but never baseball" Yea, we believe ya. 😆
I thought the same thing 😂😂😂
I hear ya but nobody knows if Ohtani has a gambling thing going on or not. Personally I don't care if he bets or not.
I just would love to see MLB rear end pucker is all
Agreed. I dont really care if players are betting on other sports or not. I am not a fan of the current MLB leadership and how they keep telling us the game is boring and needs changes for more commercials. I would love to see the mental gymnastics they would have to do if something came out. Theyre defiantly puckered up right now behind the scenes lol
However this ends, not a good start to the BB season. The outcome will always have some doubts as to it's belief.
it is all speculation, but can you imagine if Ohtani himself were involved in the gambling? my goodness. I am sure there would be a suspension. Maybe a "jordan" type suspension. void the contract? the drama would be juicy.
that being said, I like Ohtani and hope he had nothing to do with any of it.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I don't buy the narrative that's trying to be sold by the Ohtani camp.
Erik
Theyll make sure Othani is shielded from it and the interpreter covers for him, but MLB betting police has 3 major parts.
Any player caught betting on baseball (I believe this applies to college, Japanes, South Korean etc as well) gets a 1 year suspension.
Any player caught betting on a game they or their team played in is a life time ban.
Any player that makes illegal bets the penalty is at the discretion of the commissioner.
With Othani Manferd would likely just give him a slap on the wrist if its just the illegal betting, hes to valuable for the league. As far as Othanis contract he just wouldnt get paid for the time suspended. It would only void the contract if he got banned for life
Here's the timeline of events as reported by ESPN.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39784809/dodgers-shohei-ohtani-mizuhara-theft-line
Everything in it supports Ohtani's version of events.
Essentially, Ohtani and Mizuhara's relationship was like "brothers"; Ohtani completely relied on Mizuhara to be his go-between in all of his dealings with people in the US.
My take on it is that Mizuhara got into gambling way over his head, and because of his embarrassment, lied to everyone, including his own wife. He used his essentialness to all communications involving Ohtani, in this. Even Ohtani's own team, relied solely on Mizuhara at first, because he was the only bi-lingual person in the group. It wasn't until they got another interpreter involved, that things started being cleared up.
Steve
The next question I'd ask is this:
How could all of this affect Shohei's contract with the Dodgers?
Meaning, how much did the two sides rely on Mizuhara as the interpreter? Is Shohei fully aware of all the details in the contract?
If Mizuhara pulled any shenanigans in the negotiation of the contract, what will happen to it?
Steve
I just question that this guy was the only Japanese interpreter on site?
Sorry, zero chance of that
Ichiro used to pretend to not be able to speak any English to avoid the press.
Othani doesnt negotiate contracts nor does his interpreter/assistant, his agent who works for CAA and their lawyers do. CAA is a massive agency and theres 0 percent chance that somehow Othani was tricked by his interpreter who has been with him and one of his friends for years in a contract. All hands were on deck for his contract.
Othani intentionally did his contract the way he did because he wants to win and by deferring basically all of it they were able to also sign Yamamoto which was the plan.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/dodgers-shohei-ohtani-speak-ex-interpreter-gambling-allegations-monday
Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani to speak on ex-interpreter's gambling allegations Monday
should be interesting. I read there were 9 separate $500k wire transfers. it sure would seem suspicious if Ohtani claims ignorance after proceeding with 9 transfers. I don't know if it were actually the interp. or Ohtani gambling, but I believe the official story (so far) is that it was the interpreter. I have no reason to think this is a lie.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Well if the Feds dig deeeeeeeep into this they will cover every email, text and witness there is concerning this.
If the interpreter and Ohtani had private conversations then it will probably all go the way they want it to go, I highly doubt any incriminating evidence would be served up on a silver platter via text or email but you never know
The cover-up is always worse than the crime.
Seems that based on circumstance Ohtani was using the interpreter to gamble. He also seems to have used the interpreter as a fall guy once things started to heat up. Which naturally made the matter get more attention.
The whole situation stinks.
The substantial truth doctrine is an important defense in defamation law that allows individuals to avoid liability if the gist of their statement was true.
It's survivable as long as there was no MLB bets but even that is not certain
Do they know specifically what the interpreter was betting on and in what amount? If the amounts are larger than what the interpreter would have access to...
The substantial truth doctrine is an important defense in defamation law that allows individuals to avoid liability if the gist of their statement was true.
I'm not sure about much of this, I don't think many people are since MLB wants this to go away as quickly and quietly as possible lol
Very tough to make any sort of accurate call about this right now. Just a few random thoughts.
Hard for a US citizen to gauge the intent here because he is from a different culture. I'm not sure at all what the culture is in Japan towards gambling, and the ramifications if it's done illegally. I'm not at all sticking up for him, but it could be possible that he wasn't aware of the seriousness of the MLB rules prohibiting gambling on baseball.
Is it "normal" in Japan to take the fall for the person who is basically providing your living? I mean say he has to do a few years in prison. He knows that Ohtani would take very good care of him after he got out. It would be well worth it for him to lie or keep his mouth shut to protect Ohtani.
The bookie outfit that took these bets, considering the amount, isn't some barber shop or bar room bookie. Only a highly "connected" bookie would take illegal action this large, IE the Mafia. In my opinion, possible game fixing is not off the table.
Any ideas about MLB trying to coverup or evade this incident is nonsense. The Black Sox scandal almost ruined MLB at the time. MLB learned from that and rightfully came down hard on the game fixing participants. If Ohtani was betting on baseball, MLB will ban him so fast it'll make his head spin, and he will be going right back to Japan. Game fixing would take everything here to a whole new level.
Sounds like Mizuhara was just like that Jaguars employee who recently was caught embezzling 20+M from the team and had a major online gambling problem.
The hardest part for Ohtani will be learning not to openly trust someone like that again. Expensive lesson but at least this wasn't a situation where he lost his life savings and that newly signed 700M contract should relieve some of the financial sting.
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
I heard he lost it all betting on Pokemon battles 😎
Eric
Erikthredd’s MJ Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/publishedset/395035
Erikthredd’s Nike Air Jordan Collection: https://www.psacard.com/psasetregistry/basketball/key-card-sets/nike-poster-cards-michael-jordan-1985-1992/alltimeset/408486
personally speaking, this is all the proof i need
Ohtani Betts
I'm ashamed to say it took me around ten seconds to figure that one out. I've got to get this alheimer's checked out one day. 😆
The Feds are interested in who was running the operation not what individual betters were betting. The IRS is investigating the interpreter for tax purposes but the other agencies couldnt care less about what he bet and are interested in moving up the chain like catching a drug dealer on the street corner
Its very common for Japan to have those types of ethics. This is the same country that had kamikaze pilots in WW2. Really though hes not even facing serious charges other than some tax stuff which he could probably just pay off and not even go to prison.. Hell probably make some plea deal and get a light sentence for the "stealing" of Othanis money and just wont be allowed to work in MLB again. Criminally Othani wouldnt be facing any time either it would just be the whole getting banned from baseball thing or suspended.
Theres nothing that indicates Othani ever did anything to fix a game, thats definitely off the table. Hes been the best player in the league or at worst top 3. MLB isnt going to railroad him like they did with Shoeless Joe Jackson.
MLB will do everything they can to NOT have any sort of punishment for Othani. He makes them more money than any single player in the league and its not even close
maybe Ohtani will announce that he is going to play for the Lakers this coming season. then announce a comeback to the dodgers in a couple of years and wear 45 for his new number?
stranger things have happened? no?
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
You mentioned Shoeless Joe Jackson and that may turn out to be a good analogy. No sense going back and forth at this point, comparing what Jackson did to what Ohtani might have done. We shall see what Ohtani did as the story unravels. Perhaps he is completely innocent.
However without question, If there is even a hint of Ohtani betting on baseball, he will at the very least get a suspension. If proven he bet on baseball, he will receive a lifetime ban.
When it comes to a person in his position as a top player, I'm sure the Mafia saw him as at least a prospect to fix games. Whether he did or not remains to be seen. But that possibility will be thoroughly investigated, as the organized crime illegal gambling operation is already being investigated.
Jackson didnt do anything to throw games and neither did Othani.
There is a 0.0 percent chance that a hint of something would result in Othani getting suspended or a lifetime ban even though that would be better for the Phillys. He is more valuable to the league than Harper, Trout, Vlad Jr, Tatis Jr, and Acuna combined. He is by far and away the biggest star baseball has that also gets them massive numbers internationally. Big numbers of people also fly over to watch him in person.
Hes made 100s of millions already. He was making 40 million a year in endorsements with the Angels, plus his contract, plus what he made in Japan before coming over. Hes projected to make 60 million this year in endorsements that blows everyone out of the water in MLB and youd have to combine 10-15 players to match that. He doesnt need money
Do I think he may have had some bets made for him probably, do I care no. The big issue is that he played in California where sports betting is illegal but is legal in the majority of states
Theres basically no chance this will end up with a lifetime ban and a very very very little chance he will even face even a batting practice suspension
Well last I checked the majority of the United states has legalized sports betting to include legal betting apps like Draft Kings, if there is tax fraud then the feds will get into it and be all over Ohtani if he was behind any of it
Most have, the problem is California hasnt which is where the bets took place. Othani should be fine even on that front, maybe pay a fine or something like that. Theres been bigger cases like Wesley Snipes Nicholas Cage etc. Usually nothing really happens if you just pay it which he can afford to do. I seriously doubt MLB will do anything unless absolutely forced too. Theyre going to want the highest burden of proof
Most folks don't realize that even when it's stolen money, if taxes aren't paid on it, then it's tax fraud.
The IRS is not a societal criminal investigative organization except for taxes. The IRS doesn't care how you got the money, just as long as you pay taxes on it.
Al Capone didn't receive eight years in prison for any of the obvious violent crimes he committed. It was because of tax evasion.
"He doesnt need money"
Leonard Tose owned a trucking company, and also owned the Philadelphia Eagles for a number of years. He wound-up losing his trucking company and having to sell the Eagles because of gambling at the Atlantic City casinos.
Tose didn't need the money either when he started gambling. However he sure needed it when he went dead broke.
There are countless other stories of folks who got involved in the wrong company or other types of trouble because of gambling, who initially didn't need the money.
The old saying is eat your betting money, don't bet your eating money, which still holds true. 😉
But if there are links to him betting on MLB all hell will break loose regardless, and I know the feds don't care what he bet on but again if there were unpaid taxes from MLB winnings or something then MLB will be forced to do something, as much as they love him they can't give him a pass on that
This of course is a lot of "Ifs" but who knows?
I just watched a replay of the Ohtani press conference. He does seem credible.
His former buddy if he owes bookies a lot of money. I'm guessing it's likely he will move back to Japan. But it won't be over for him. Japan is well known for having a criminal underground network, perhaps like most countries do. The bookies here in the US will give a contract to the Japanese organized crime group to collect the money owed for a percentage. Just how far the Japanese collectors will go to make him pay-up, we shall see. But it might not be pretty.
I'm curious to see what the scope of the illegal betting market is at this point, bookies are thing of the past around here with Casinos popping up everywhere and the betting Apps on your phone
I hope Ohtani was telling the truth yesterday. He is probably my favorite current player. I have no cards of his, but he is a unicorn. I doubt I will ever see another like him again in my lifetime.
we shall see. I don't believe the feds don't care about getting Ohtani. I fully believe there is a federal prosecutor out there who would love to have that trophy on his/her wall.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
I think the scope of the illegal betting market is still fairly high. Certainly what you stated has taken business from illegal bookies. However in some aspects it may have increased it.
Casinos will allow pre-approved credit on their casino games. I'm not sure if they allow credit on sports betting or not? Also I don't think the popular sports betting websites allow credit. Please correct me if I'm wrong about these "credit" opportunities.
All that being said, most know that illegal bookies offer basically unlimited credit, within reason. That is their major allure as far as gambling is concerned. A gambler could be dead broke, but if he is in good standing with a dependable payback history, his illegal bookie will still allow him action. Whereby with the legal websites, if there's no money in your account, then there's no action possible.
When i mentioned that legal bookies may have actually increased business for illegal bookies, here is an example. Say somebody never knew an illegal bookie in his life, and when he started gambling, only played thru legal websites. But for whatever reason, he is now dead broke, perhaps out of work, can't borrow any money, and is in gambling heat, dying for some sports betting action. An illegal bookie is the only place he can go, and he will go.
If he wins in the first week he bet with the illegal bookie, that may actually be the worst thing that ever happened to him. The bookie pays him, and the bettor is overjoyed. He may not even go back to the legal websites, figuring he may as well bet with the illegal bookie who was nice enough to extend him credit.
As every gambler knows, sooner or later that cold streak hits, and one week the bettor could find himself deeply in debt to the illegal bookie, and simply can't pay. That's when the bigger problem starts. But hopefully he's back at work, at least makes regular partial payments to the illegal bookie to pay down the debt, and everything is basically okay.
Depending on the situation and payment history, the illegal bookie will probably still extend credit to a player such as this. Whereby if you screw around with a legal website in some manner, they will ban you quickly, and it's usually permanent. So in a weird sort of way, legalized gambling in this one example, increased the business for illegal gambling.
Yea, his words seem credible but it's a tough read because there was an interpreter there. So it's impossible to get the voice inflection, etc, on certain words to try to ascertain whether or not he may be lying. At this point though, after hearing the words, I don't think Ohtani is lying.
i agree with ya about the feds. Their primary goal with this is to take down that large illegal gambling operation. And very likely they will.
You can 100% use a credit card to fund your betting app
I use my Debit card and the transaction is instant whether I'm depositing or withdrawing
I've never used a CC but the option is there
A credit card yes, but it is not the gambling website that is actually extending you the credit. It is your bank or the credit card company.
I used to have a credit line at some AC casinos. Pure credit with no collateral or anything. Although I'm sure they did a credit check before doing it. I eventually canceled all of it. Paid off all the markers in full on time.
This was all before sports betting was allowed there. So I don't know if now the casinos would allow a player to use their casino credit line for sports bets or not? There might be different state regulations about that versus regular casino games.
I'm sure though, that ESPN at the least, will seek out their own interpreter to review Ohtani's statements, to verify what he said is actually what the Dodger interpreter relayed yesterday.
Steve