
Three UTEP Miners basketball players are suspended after allegations of illegal sports gambling
If you are a college sports fan, you most likely do not think much about the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) when considering to teams. Sure, you’ve probably heard about UTEP, but you aren’t too worried when your chosen team suits up to try out them, and you will not be selecting them to win a championship that is national basketball or football anytime soon. If their basketball team is in the news headlines, you know it’s not likely for anything they’ve done on the court.
Three Players Accused of Betting on Games
And that’s precisely true for the headlines coming out of UTEP this week. Three players were kicked off of the UTEP men’s basketball team after allegations were made against them regarding gambling on sports. Those allegations ultimately caused the college to report the gambling to the FBI that is local field, and then eliminate the players from their team.
For those looking for similar to the 1994 Arizona State point shaving scandal, however, it doesn’t appear that things went quite that far in this case. In line with the school, none of the three UTEP players involved are accused of shaving points or throwing games, and there’s no evidence that any one of them bet on games played by UTEP. Mentor Tim Floyd stated that the evidence he’s seen backs up this belief.
‘We assess every movie after each pastime and I was not dubious of any behavior that they were betting on any UTEP event,’ Floyd said.
The 3 players involved with the betting had been McKenzie Moore, Jalen Ragland and Justin Crosgile. Moore is the most prominent associated with the three: he was a 6’6′ guard whom led the group in scoring at 13.1 points per game. Crosgile and Ragland were both regular components for the UTEP rotation since well, with Crosgile playing 21 minutes per game and Ragland over a quarter-hour each night.
Moore and Ragland were initially suspended through the team on December 28 after ‘a resident of [the UTEP] community’ gave the UTEP athletic department a tip about their alleged gambling. Crosgile’s involvement came to recently light more.
UTEP Games Not Specifically Involved
While UTEP professional vice president Ricardo Adauto reiterated that the school understands the players weren’t betting on UTEP games, that won’t stop the players from dealing with some penalties that are harsh.
School officials haven’t yet said exactly what forms of bets the players made. Nonetheless, if the allegations are accurate, each player will have to be suspended for at least a year under ncaa guidelines. Those same guidelines would then require the players to reduce a year of their eligibility after their suspensions end. Since all three players are in at the least their junior year of college, that effortlessly implies that their college basketball careers are over.
The school itself isn’t likely to face any penalties, and with the dismissal of the players, the school’s involvement in the case is likely over on the other hand.
Trinidad and Tobago Betting Shops Decry 10 % Betting Tax
Tale as old as time: Trinidad and Tobago’s government says activities books are underpaying, while neighborhood companies say taxes hurt myfreepokies.com their earnings.
An ongoing dispute between Trinidad and Tobago’s government and betting shops regarding tax percentages comes from what business owners claim is ‘hurting racing’ by simply making punters angry and causing a significant decline in bets being placed. The island nation that sits north of Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles is dealing with the classic battle of what the government desires versus what the market that is actual bear.
Taxing Face Off
One business that is local on the tourist location Peter George, owner of Fairchance Racing provider in Port of Spain, the island’s capital city says his own business is now closed because associated with the tax issues, resulting in 300 people losing their jobs. George claims his company has been siphoned so badly over the course regarding the past 36 months with the 10 per cent tax levy on every horse racing bet, that he simply made a decision to shut down.
‘We have lost in the past two to 3 years 40 per cent of our volume. We are hoping the national government gets our attention and calls us and says what is the situation and exactly what can we do to assist,’ George said.
‘ The existing legislation is not workable, it is obsolete with no good to the racing fraternity. The Betting Levy Board (BLB) is requesting more and more taxes from the pools and also this is burdensome,’ explained George, whose betting shop is found on Queen Street. ‘We even get threats from the BLB, however the long and short of it is we cannot pay more than we are gathering.
‘Everyone knows we need to have this legislation changed immediately,’ George added. ‘The racing pools are perhaps not making the money they accustomed make in years gone by and in the last decade we have seen the closure of at the very least ten pools. We can’t go on with all the ten percent return tax. It is hurting racing.’
George says that because customers must fork throughout the that taxation directly at the time a bet is placed then leaving the betting shops responsible for switching those into the State since it was first implemented that it has had a ‘punitive’ effect of driving customers away more and more in the decade. He added that as more options have been introduced within the last 10 years for alternative ways to place wagers that do not cost clients that tax, they have actually just taken their business elsewhere, including to unregulated and therefore ‘tax-free’ underground bookmaking operators.
These operators have actually become brazen enough to source, looking clients, George added.
‘They are coming into our establishment and soliciting the no tax initiative to our clients. We wish the betting stores to endure additionally the illegal move of refunding the punters turnover tax must stop. It is unlawful.
‘[The customer] gets the ability to do online betting, calling anywhere in the world and obtain a tax-free bet, [so] there is certainly no reason behind him to spend 10 percent taxation on a bet,’ the frustrated betting store owner noted. ‘ Nowhere in the world is there a turnover income tax. [Only] in the Caribbean, Jamaica, Barbados or Guyana does such a tax exist. This will be impacting negatively on the industry.’
Needless to say, George isn’t alone in his displeasure within the disincentivizing levy; the Bookmakers Association in that region is pushing for a flat annual licensing charge to replace it.
Apparently underground operators aren’t the threat that is only Trinidad and Tobago’s local sportsbooks; George noted that since 2011, betting volume in the outlets has dropped by as much as 40 percent due mainly to competition from area casinos, who lure punters with their slot machines.
‘They have free beverages and free food to entice the punter in which he can sit and have fun with the slots throughout the day,’ explained George. ‘ For the industry to survive we need to meet with the national federal government and workout something which is amicable to all and certainly will make sure that many others employees will be employed rather than sent home.’
In 2012, the chairman that is now-former of Betting Levy Board, Kama Maharaj, advertised the recreations book industry actually took in billions, but had only given out some $15 million in taxes. Maharaj said that figure should have been nearer to $100 million.
Appears like somewhat of a standoff regarding the OK Corral for now, but also for George, the decision now rests firmly with changing the existing legislation to be friendlier to his business.
Anti-Online Gambling Group Says Kids, Terrorists Will Be Next to relax and Play
Often when hard and cold facts elude you, just plain ol’ fear-mongering seems like a path that is good trot straight down. At least, that seems to be the thinking behind the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG) and a recently available Facebook post, depicting a young boy of perhaps 9 or 10, who is apparently immersed in an poker game that is online.
Kids as Future Gambling Addicts
The post went on December 27, 2013 and stays on their Facebook page as of this writing. Associated the photo runs the copy:
‘it is that kids will find ways to outsmart their parents if we have learned anything about the Internet. Gaming experts say that Internet gambling is in part meant to draw younger generation into gambling.’
Of course, they don’t tell you whom these apparent harbingers of the future might be, but vagueness is the weapon that is best whenever you’re pretty much pulling ‘facts’ out of your derrière.
Not surprisingly, seasoned gaming that is pro-Internet just like the longstanding Poker Players Alliance are firing back at these posts, and others that also feature stories about impending terrorist operations that could infiltrate online gaming web sites, move cash around, and generally result in the end of the world as we know it.
While we realize this is somewhat off the beaten course of difficult news, we could not assist but stop by the ‘Recent articles by Others’ box and chuckle at a few of the comments. a sampling that is small your entertainment, along with their unedited sentence structure and poorly conjugated thought streams:
‘wow you sure are a pig that is greedy . and you are saying to want to protect kids from online gambling , What a joke you’ve got a app to gamble on your own site . therefore the Coalition against online gambling is such a joke that is bloody you are an item of work .’
‘A gaming expert says that more individuals that regard this page are from the Coalition to quit Internet Gambling and wish you’d focus your amount that is massive of and obviously time to good reasons instead of attempting to simply take away individuals choices. It is a New Year Mr. Adelson use your some time money for something more productive.’
‘This site is a tale. I like to gamble but i’ve never lost any plain thing due to gambling to much. If any thing it has helped me out of some spots that are tough. It sucks that Alabama does not have a casino that is real play poker in just slots that are a guarantee lose for a lot more people. Poker is a way more skill game than slots will ever be. Plus people are going to gamble and spend cash .’
We must admit, with the spending plan available to Sheldon Adelson the Las Vegas Sands CEO whose vehement anti-Internet stance makes sense only to him and their lackeys we think the writing and talking points on this page might be made at the least a tad bit more believable and compelling. Perhaps next, the page need a post claiming that most the earth’s poverty and hunger can be attributed to online play; it could make about as sense that is much.
Other Billionaires Disagree
Regardless and despite Adelson’s virtually budget that is limitless throw more hysteria on this issue he’s benefiting from of his own medicine with a few hefty hitters which can be fighting right back. Fellow billlionaires George Soros, John Paulson and Leon Cooperman have all invested heavily in online’s success via the Caesars Entertainment subsidiary that is running the company’s WSOP-branded Internet sites.
It appears pretty apparent that CSIG is fighting a fire that’s long since changed into a blaze beyond control. A possible fourth in the near future we’re not sure how Adelson and his crew think they are going to turn back the hands of time with three U.S. states already legally operational and California. And, in reality, well-known irony of it all is that unlawful operations are much more apt to be subject to infiltration that is illicit legal ones that have numerous watchdog features built into the complete regulatory set up of the sites.
Add to all or any this ammo the American Gaming Association which, once we recently reported, has had in five heavy-hitters that are new obtain message out and we are confident that will not be to kick online gambling in the kishkes. Aside from the five we currently reported on, it appears that AGA CEO Geoff Freeman has now recruited Jim Messina Obama’s 2012 campaign manager ‘to work on grassroots initiatives.’
A work credit, we’re not entirely sure what they’re trying to accomplish with it as for the CSIG Facebook page which as of this writing has a pretty paltry 960 ‘Likes’ and far more derisive comments from visitors than not other than giving some just-out-school interns.
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