Gambling911.com Top Stories for July 18, 2024

• UGA staffer let go for violating NCAA gambling policy.
• Trump shooter reportedly posted cryptic message on gaming forum about plans.
• Humble, Texas resident Jonathan Tamayo wins 2024 WSOP main event.
• Daniel Negreanu declares Jeremy Becker winner in popular poker prop bet between him and Landon Tice.
• Joe Biden has Covid and odds slip to 7-1.
• Covid news comes hours after California Rep Adam Schiff said Biden should get out of the race.
• Donald Trump's odds actually fell a bit by Wednesday evening as Kamala Harris sees her shortest odds yet.

Gambling Scandal

UGA Staffer Let Go for Violating NCAA Gambling Policy

The Georgia football program has dismissed a staffer from the program after violating NCAA rules on sports betting.

The wagers occurred in August of 2020, but were discovered, reviewed and processed in 2023, according to Will Lawler, Georgia’s deputy athletic director who oversees compliance.

“If the staff member is hired by another SEC institution in the future the staff member is required to complete a sports gambling education program/session, and the hiring institution is required to submit a written plan to the Conference office for monitoring the staff member to assure he does not commit similar violations in the future,” according to UGA’s violation summary.

Quick Takes

• Thomas Crooks reportedly left a cryptic message on a gaming platform shortly before he tried assassinating Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.
• According to Fox News, Crooks posted "July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds."
• The message was posted on the Steam platform.
• The discovery was made as investigators continue to review Crooks’ technological devices, including his cell phones and laptop.
• Investigators reportedly found searches on Crooks' laptop including, "Trump, Biden, when is DNC convention, and July 13 Trump rally."
• Jeremy Becker vs. Landon Tice poker matchup bets, Daniel Negreanu proclaims Becker the winner because "Becker lost less".
• Negreanu announced back in February he was crossbooking Becker vs Tice at this year's WSOP in over 25 events.  The concept being that Becker was backed tol win more money than Tice and match his profit, up to $250k.
• "One event left, Landon is out, Jeremy is still in with 3x the average," Negreanu noted.
• "Both clearly ran bad this summer, but the favorite going in (Jeremy -115) looks to have come through and can still book a winning summer if he catches heat in the last event that counts."
• "The battle between 'The Child of the Sim' and the 'King of the Vegas nightly' was lackluster and void of any big scores, but in the end, it was the nightly grinder that came out victorious."
• In February, PokerStrategy called Jeremy Becker vs. Landon Tice poker's "prop bet of the summer".
• How computers made poker a game for nerds: Vox article discusses how algorithms changed the classic card game for good — but is it for the better?
• “It used to be that poker was a game played by degenerates, people who live on the edge,” said Doug Polk in an interview for the Vox article. “But what’s funny about that is, if you boil down poker to its essence, it’s a math game. And so that means that nerds are going to eventually win.”

Politics

Biden Back Down to 7-1 Odds on Covid News and Loosening Stance on Staying Race

President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling Wednesday in Las Vegas and is experiencing “mild symptoms” including “general malaise” from the infection, the White House said.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden will fly to his home in Delaware, where he will “self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time.” The news had first been shared by UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía, who told guests at the group’s convention in Las Vegas that president had sent his regrets and could not appear because he tested positive for the virus.

Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, said in a note that Biden, 81, “presented this afternoon with upper respiratory symptoms, to include rhinorhea (runny nose) and non-productive cough, with general malaise.” After the positive COVID-19 test, Biden was prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid and has taken his first dose, O’Connor said.

The news continued to get worse as we are learning that Rep. Adam B. Schiff of California called on President Biden to drop out of the White House race Wednesday morning, hours before the Covid diagnosis. He becomes the most prominent Democrat in Congress to do so and it's not lost on many his close ties to former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

By Wednesday evening, odds on Biden winning the election were at 7-1, Kamala Harris was listed at her shortest odds yet at +285 and GOP nominee and former President Donald Trump actually dropped to -225.

Poker

Down to Two at WSOP Final Table

38-year-old Humble, Texas resident  Jonathan Tamayo would go on to become the 2024 world champion after defeating Jordan Griff in an epic back-and-forth heads-up match.

Heads-Up play has officially been reached at the @WSOP Main Event Final Table!

Who will win it all?

: https://t.co/s5mI1gdqOt pic.twitter.com/YMpjkkf4Kp

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) July 17, 2024

By  Gilbert Horowitz Gilbert is the esteemed reporter for Gambling911 covering all gamuts of the industry.  He has been with the site for the better part of a decade.  Gilbert works out of the Miami Beach bureau.