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REPORT: Sports Gambling App Allegedly Uses AI To Target Those Most Likely To Lose Money On Bets

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A popular betting company built artificial intelligence to hunt down the customers most likely to bleed money, then flooded them with incentives to keep wagering.

DraftKings created a machine learning system in 2023 that ranked online casino players by how much they were expected to lose after collecting a free bet or bonus, according to a New York Times investigation published Friday. The Times reviewed internal memos, presentations and betting records, and spoke with more than 40 former staffers.

The tool weighed each gambler’s playing frequency, daily balances and the ratio of losses to wagers, the Times reported. Workers referred to the resulting figure as an “elasticity” score, and a higher number meant a customer was worth chasing with more perks.

Jayden Butts, a former data analyst who tested the system on thousands of casino players, grew uneasy about who the math favored. “We are looking for traits and features that we can target that indicate a good investment,” Butts told the Times. “The best investment would be a problem gambler.”

The company could have pointed the same data the other way. A data scientist named Nestor Hernandez began building a model in 2024 to flag gamblers sliding toward crisis, but DraftKings shelved the project, according to the Times. Chief Responsible Gaming Officer Lori Kalani said leaders reached a “collective decision” against predictive tools because the approach was not “evidence-based.” (Read more from “REPORT: Sports Gambling App Allegedly Uses AI To Target Those Most Likely To Lose Money On Bets” HERE)

After Losing Bet, Man Offers His Wife as Payment

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An Indian man is being investigated for gambling his wife away before assaulting her when she refused to go with the winner.

The incident took place in the district of Banka in the north-eastern Indian state of Bihar when Binod Kumar Shah lost a bet who could not afford to pay, according to local media. . .

When he returned home later that evening, he woke up his wife and told her to pack her bags because he lost the bet and the winner was arriving in the morning to collect his ‘winnings’.

Devi told local media: ‘My husband told me the winner was coming to the house in the morning so I should get ready to leave with him because he lost the bet.’

That morning, Shah allegedly assaulted Devi when she refused to go with the winner. (Read more from “After Losing Bet, Man Offers His Wife as Payment” HERE)

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US Nuclear Commander Suspended Over Gambling, Officials Say

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The No 2 officer at the military command in charge of all US nuclear war-fighting forces has been suspended and is under investigation by the naval criminal investigation command for issues related to gambling, officials said on Saturday.

The highly unusual action against a high-ranking officer at US strategic command was made more than three weeks ago but not publicly announced.

Air force general Robert Kehler, who heads Strategic Command, suspended the deputy commander, navy vice admiral Tim Giardina, from his duties on September 3, according to the command’s top spokeswoman, navy captain Pamela Kunze. Giardina is still assigned to the command but is prohibited from performing duties related to nuclear weapons and other issues requiring a security clearance, she said.

Kehler has recommended to defense secretary Chuck Hagel that Giardina be reassigned, Kunze said. Giardina has been the deputy commander of strategic command since December 2011. He is a career submarine officer and prior to starting his assignment there was the deputy commander and chief of staff at US pacific fleet.

Read more from this story HERE.

Dozens Of TSA Employees Fired, Suspended For Illegal Gambling Ring At Pittsburgh Int’l Airport (+video)

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Photo Credit: KDKA

Photo Credit: KDKA

Dozens of local Transportation Security Administration workers have been fired or suspended after they were caught in an illegal gambling ring at Pittsburgh International Airport.

TSA sources tell the KDKA Investigators that the officers were fired or suspended Thursday morning.

The investigation took a few months. TSA took a look at more than 300 of its employees who work at Pittsburgh International Airport.

Sources confirm TSA employees on the job set up an office betting pool of sorts, employees betting year-round on all of the big sporting events, the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, the World Series, the Stanley Cup and more.

Read more from this story HERE.

John McCain Unapologetic After Playing iPhone Poker During Syria Hearing

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Photo Credit: Forbes

Photo Credit: Forbes

The elected members of the U.S. Congress will soon vote on whether the country should send missiles into Syria, intervening in a war that has already claimed the lives of over 100,000.

One would think that the matter before the Congress would at least command their attention. But, as the Senate conducted a hearing today to discuss the details of the strike, and the arguments for and against it, Sen. John McCain took out his iPhone and played poker to pass the time.

An image of McCain’s phone was captured by Washington Post photographer Melina Mara, and posted to the Post’s live blog of the hearing. The photo is blurry, but clearly depicts a game in progress.

When he learned of the picture, McCain posted a flippant response to Twitter. “Scandal!” he wrote. “Caught playing iPhone game at 3+ hour Senate hearing – worst of all I lost!”

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama’s DOJ retaliates against high profile GOP donor Sheldon Adelson with money laundering investigation?

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Photo credit: freddthompson

The Justice Department is investigating whether Las Vegas Sands Corp., owned by high-profile Republican donor Sheldon Adelson, broke federal law by failing to report millions of dollars of potentially laundered money transferred to its casinos by two high-rolling Las Vegas gamblers, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles is investigating deposits made in the mid-2000s by a Mexican pharmaceutical businessman, later indicted for drug trafficking in 2007, and a California executive with Fry’s Electronics, who later pleaded guilty to taking illegal kickbacks, the newspaper said, citing lawyers and federal officials working on the case.

The Journal said there were no indications that the investigation included actions by Adelson, Sands’ chief executive and a major political donor for the Republican Party. Adelson has pledged to spend as much as $100 million to help Republican candidates in this election cycle.

Federal investigators have begun focusing on casinos amid concerns that the industry’s lax financial systems could be used for money laundering and other illegal activities, according to Justice Department officials cited by the Journal.

Sands Corp. did not immediately return calls from the Associated Press on Sunday. A company spokesman, Ron Reese, told the Journal that the company believes “it has acted properly and has not committed any wrongdoing.”

Read more from this story HERE.