DFS Scandals BEGIN - "INSIDER "TRADING" " (1 Viewer)

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

Ned,

As the three co-founders of DraftKings, we want to speak to you directly about what has been going on.

We know that you play DraftKings because it's fun and because it gives you a chance to showcase your skills against millions of other fans, and we know that you cannot do that without a level playing field.

The fairness and integrity of our contests has been at the heart of everything we have built since we started the company three and a half years ago.

Over the past week, questions have arisen around an employee of ours who won a significant prize on a competitor's site. While our internal investigation has reflected absolutely no wrongdoing on his part, this has still pushed us to reevaluate our processes.

Long before this happened, the wheels were in motion for an external review of our policies and procedures. Given the pace of our growth, we felt that an audit was critical to ensure the security of our platform, so we hired an external law firm experienced with these issues to conduct a full review.

But that is not enough. In addition to this audit, we have put in place a set of core measures that we believe are central to this process:

• We expanded our existing policy prohibiting DraftKings employees from playing on our site to prohibit participation in any public daily fantasy sports contests for money.
• We also will prohibit employees from any other Daily Fantasy Sports contest operator from participating in games on DraftKings.
• We are actively reviewing our organizational structure and will add resources to ensure compliance with all recommendations stemming from internal and external findings.
• We are working with multiple third parties to strengthen all internal policies and procedures.

The events of the past week have caused us to take a broader look and to ask those both here and externally to widen the scope of their analysis of our business.

We are aware that there is room for growth, regardless of the strength of our current platform. We will work tirelessly to improve all aspects of our customer experience, which is every bit as important to us as the effort we put into our product.

You will no doubt continue to hear from the media about both DraftKings and the industry. It is our prerogative to keep driving that conversation ourselves. We will work to respond to your concerns in complete transparency and to inform you of the steps we are taking to inspire your full trust.

Please know how grateful we are for the passion and loyalty you have shown DraftKings throughout our history and especially over the past week. You remain our greatest priority.

Thank you,

Jason Robins, Matt Kalish & Paul Liberman

Co-Founders, DraftKings

LOL I got this email today as well

 

[Good Posting Judge]

I sent them a pic that the guy from Reddit posted, where it showed multiple attempts by a DK employee to "bumhunt" him on FD. And wished them well, and reminded them that life would go on after this, and that it was going to be real bad.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

Ned,

As the three co-founders of DraftKings, we want to speak to you directly about what has been going on.

We know that you play DraftKings because it's fun and because it gives you a chance to showcase your skills against millions of other fans, and we know that you cannot do that without a level playing field.

The fairness and integrity of our contests has been at the heart of everything we have built since we started the company three and a half years ago.

Over the past week, questions have arisen around an employee of ours who won a significant prize on a competitor's site. While our internal investigation has reflected absolutely no wrongdoing on his part, this has still pushed us to reevaluate our processes.

Long before this happened, the wheels were in motion for an external review of our policies and procedures. Given the pace of our growth, we felt that an audit was critical to ensure the security of our platform, so we hired an external law firm experienced with these issues to conduct a full review.

But that is not enough. In addition to this audit, we have put in place a set of core measures that we believe are central to this process:

• We expanded our existing policy prohibiting DraftKings employees from playing on our site to prohibit participation in any public daily fantasy sports contests for money.
• We also will prohibit employees from any other Daily Fantasy Sports contest operator from participating in games on DraftKings.
• We are actively reviewing our organizational structure and will add resources to ensure compliance with all recommendations stemming from internal and external findings.
• We are working with multiple third parties to strengthen all internal policies and procedures.

The events of the past week have caused us to take a broader look and to ask those both here and externally to widen the scope of their analysis of our business.

We are aware that there is room for growth, regardless of the strength of our current platform. We will work tirelessly to improve all aspects of our customer experience, which is every bit as important to us as the effort we put into our product.

You will no doubt continue to hear from the media about both DraftKings and the industry. It is our prerogative to keep driving that conversation ourselves. We will work to respond to your concerns in complete transparency and to inform you of the steps we are taking to inspire your full trust.

Please know how grateful we are for the passion and loyalty you have shown DraftKings throughout our history and especially over the past week. You remain our greatest priority.

Thank you,

Jason Robins, Matt Kalish & Paul Liberman

Co-Founders, DraftKings

This will totally stop DK and FD employees from having their friends and relatives play for them.

 

[Mr. Ected]

The taxes aren't that difficult.

If I'm banned from playing on DK and therefore play under my mom's account, my mom will get 1099ed for "her" winnings and then either I can reimburse her for her tax liability or she can 1099 me for my share of "our" winnings. Either way, not a real deterrent to such an arrangement.

Wouldn't a 1099 from your mom to you be 'trailable' if someone wanted to prove you were involved in the process? And I would think anyone in your family winning a huge amount of $$$ would seem suspicious.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

The taxes aren't that difficult.

If I'm banned from playing on DK and therefore play under my mom's account, my mom will get 1099ed for "her" winnings and then either I can reimburse her for her tax liability or she can 1099 me for my share of "our" winnings. Either way, not a real deterrent to such an arrangement.

Wouldn't a 1099 from your mom to you be 'trailable' if someone wanted to prove you were involved in the process? And I would think anyone in your family winning a huge amount of $$$ would seem suspicious.

You mean if someone at the IRS leaks it? I don't think that happens very often.

Tax returns are privileged. I know that extends to W-2s, and without specifically looking it up, I believe it applies to 1099s as well. So if someone sues you alleging that you played under your mom's account, and they ask you during discovery (or at trial) for any 1099s you received, you can just say, "LOL, no way, man." I mean, if they ask you whether you played under your mom's account, you'll have to say yes unless you commit perjury (or can think of a reason why the question is objectionable) -- but it won't be the 1099 itself that does you in.

 

[Peyton Marino]

I sent them a pic that the guy from Reddit posted, where it showed multiple attempts by a DK employee to "bumhunt" him on FD. And wished them well, and reminded them that life would go on after this, and that it was going to be real bad.

that ricksawyer cat deleted his twitter and linkedin accounts. seems pretty above board imo.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

I sent them a pic that the guy from Reddit posted, where it showed multiple attempts by a DK employee to "bumhunt" him on FD. And wished them well, and reminded them that life would go on after this, and that it was going to be real bad.

that ricksawyer cat deleted his twitter and linkedin accounts. seems pretty above board imo.

AUDIT IS IN THE WORKS.

 

[lumpy19]

I sent them a pic that the guy from Reddit posted, where it showed multiple attempts by a DK employee to "bumhunt" him on FD. And wished them well, and reminded them that life would go on after this, and that it was going to be real bad.

that ricksawyer cat deleted his twitter and linkedin accounts. seems pretty above board imo.

AUDIT IS IN THE WORKS.

I tried to tell you but everyone in here thinks a 1099 for 350k is no big deal, happens all the time!!

 

[Mr. Ected]

I sent them a pic that the guy from Reddit posted, where it showed multiple attempts by a DK employee to "bumhunt" him on FD. And wished them well, and reminded them that life would go on after this, and that it was going to be real bad.

that ricksawyer cat deleted his twitter and linkedin accounts. seems pretty above board imo.

AUDIT IS IN THE WORKS.

I tried to tell you but everyone in here thinks a 1099 for 350k is no big deal, happens all the time!!

I suppose your right, I guess I was thinking more if there was an investigation into an employee, and he got a $350k 1099 from his mom, who just won $400k or so, might seem suspicious.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

I pulled my money out of Fd and yesterday they miraculously entered me into a free roll for a Porsche.

Winner has 3 wins in 13 months. LOL

 

[Tom Servo]

Nevada bans DFS - calling it gambling. Granted, it's to protect the casinos, but there's also this little nugget in the story:

Therefore, Nevada will become the 12th state in which at least one of the major daily fantasy websites are banned.

A DraftKings/FanDuel commercial-free sports weekend is nigh...

 

[Quez]

What other states is DFS illegal in? I had no idea it was blocked out anywhere.

 

[Abraham]

What other states is DFS illegal in? I had no idea it was blocked out anywhere.

6 weeks from now? "All of them."

 

[Tom Servo]

What other states is DFS illegal in? I had no idea it was blocked out anywhere.

A 2-minute google search found THIS.

 

[Sammy3469]

What other states is DFS illegal in? I had no idea it was blocked out anywhere.

6 weeks from now? "All of them."

Yeah its never good to have the FBI sniffing around.

 

[[icon]]

What other states is DFS illegal in? I had no idea it was blocked out anywhere.

6 weeks from now? "All of them."

Yeah its never good to have the FBI sniffing around.

When was the last time these two headlines followed each other:

Day 1: FBI is investigating (insert stuff here)

Day 2: FBI finds no evidence of wrongdoing... we good to go!

 

[BassNBrew]

What other states is DFS illegal in? I had no idea it was blocked out anywhere.

6 weeks from now? "All of them."

Yeah its never good to have the FBI sniffing around.

When was the last time these two headlines followed each other:

Day 1: FBI is investigating (insert stuff here)

Day 2: FBI finds no evidence of wrongdoing... we good to go!

When politicians are involved.

 

[Ned]

Do we really think this is going to go away when both the NFL and MLB are backing it?

 

[MattFancy]

Do we really think this is going to go away when both the NFL and MLB are backing it?

Possibly? Nevada struck a big blow to it. If they want to continue in Nevada, they'll have to admit it's gambling. If they do that, no way the NFL, MLB, NBA, etc. continue to support.

 

[Tom Servo]

Do we really think this is going to go away when both the NFL and MLB are backing it?

FBI >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>MLB and NFL

HTH

 

[Doug B]

Do we really think this is going to go away when both the NFL and MLB are backing it?

You don't think leverage can be applied against them? DFS will likely stay around in some form or another, but the status quo is untenable.

 

[Quez]

What other states is DFS illegal in? I had no idea it was blocked out anywhere.

6 weeks from now? "All of them."

Yeah its never good to have the FBI sniffing around.

When was the last time these two headlines followed each other:

Day 1: FBI is investigating (insert stuff here)

Day 2: FBI finds no evidence of wrongdoing... we good to go!

Whenever they shoot someone.

 

[Steve Tasker]

I sent them a pic that the guy from Reddit posted, where it showed multiple attempts by a DK employee to "bumhunt" him on FD. And wished them well, and reminded them that life would go on after this, and that it was going to be real bad.

that ricksawyer cat deleted his twitter and linkedin accounts. seems pretty above board imo.

AUDIT IS IN THE WORKS.

I tried to tell you but everyone in here thinks a 1099 for 350k is no big deal, happens all the time!!

I suppose your right, I guess I was thinking more if there was an investigation into an employee, and he got a $350k 1099 from his mom, who just won $400k or so, might seem suspicious.

Maybe I'm missing something, but how would he get a 1099 from his mom?

 

[Tom Servo]

Do we really think this is going to go away when both the NFL and MLB are backing it?

You don't think leverage can be applied against them? DFS will likely stay around in some form or another, but the status quo is untenable.

When Nevada calls it "gambling" and other states follow suit, MLB will bail in 10 seconds. It's the one thing they do not want to be associated with; it's been that way since 1920 and they're not going to change now.

 

[Mr. Ected]

I sent them a pic that the guy from Reddit posted, where it showed multiple attempts by a DK employee to "bumhunt" him on FD. And wished them well, and reminded them that life would go on after this, and that it was going to be real bad.

that ricksawyer cat deleted his twitter and linkedin accounts. seems pretty above board imo.

AUDIT IS IN THE WORKS.

I tried to tell you but everyone in here thinks a 1099 for 350k is no big deal, happens all the time!!

I suppose your right, I guess I was thinking more if there was an investigation into an employee, and he got a $350k 1099 from his mom, who just won $400k or so, might seem suspicious.

Maybe I'm missing something, but how would he get a 1099 from his mom?

I read it as the mom (or other person) signing up for the site and paying the employee a portion (most) of the $$$ in exchange for the information. Legally the winner would need to issue a 1099 for the payment.

As a general rule, you must issue a Form 1099-MISC to each person to whom you have paid at least $600 in rents, services (including parts and materials), prizes and awards, or other income payments. You don't need to issue 1099s for payments made for personal purposes

I believe this would turn noses up in audits of either side. If they didn't it would be like any old mafia family, again turning noses up in an audit.

 

[Steve Tasker]

I read it as the mom (or other person) signing up for the site and paying the employee a portion (most) of the $$$ in exchange for the information. Legally the winner would need to issue a 1099 for the payment.

As a general rule, you must issue a Form 1099-MISC to each person to whom you have paid at least $600 in rents, services (including parts and materials), prizes and awards, or other income payments. You don't need to issue 1099s for payments made for personal purposes

I believe this would turn noses up in audits of either side. If they didn't it would be like any old mafia family, again turning noses up in an audit.

To be clear, you're not entirely incorrect, but I am not sure if you understand what you've pasted above here. If the mother is considered to be a nominee/middleman, she would issue a 1099 to her son, I believe that is correct. But what you've cut and pasted above is for business transactions, not personal transactions. The website will issue the mother a 1099, that is clear. What she does with her winnings would probably impact her reporting requirements, whether the transfer to her son is as a nominee or is treated as a taxable gift. I don't think simply 1099s would trigger an audit, but if you're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars you could be right.

 

[Sinn Fein]

Do we really think this is going to go away when both the NFL and MLB are backing it?

You don't think leverage can be applied against them? DFS will likely stay around in some form or another, but the status quo is untenable.

When Nevada calls it "gambling" and other states follow suit, MLB will bail in 10 seconds. It's the one thing they do not want to be associated with; it's been that way since 1920 and they're not going to change now.

Pete Rose is getting back into baseball as a spokesman for Draft Kings!!

 

[Mr. Ected]

Are we concerned with FBG posting on FB for one of their advertisers (FanDuel) in regards to laws.

"If you love fantasy sports, it's time to stand up and be counted. https://www.fanduel.com/takeaction"

 

[tdoss]

Are we concerned with FBG posting on FB for one of their advertisers (FanDuel) in regards to laws.

"If you love fantasy sports, it's time to stand up and be counted. https://www.fanduel.com/takeaction"

The money is too good...we all got the FBG email about DFS current situation...

I think it's a losing battle though...get in and get as much as you can now before it gets shut down/regulated. Which is what I think both FD and DK were doing from jumpstreet.

 

[Zegras11]

What other states is DFS illegal in? I had no idea it was blocked out anywhere.

Without looking it up, I recall Maryland, Louisiana, Arizona and 2-3 other states that have been banned from the start. It's in the rules on every site.

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Are we concerned with FBG posting on FB for one of their advertisers (FanDuel) in regards to laws.

"If you love fantasy sports, it's time to stand up and be counted. https://www.fanduel.com/takeaction"

Was that petition written by a child? My lord.

Love this in faint, small text at the bottom:

By hitting "Submit Petition", you agree to periodic email communications from FanDuel, Inc.

 

[dschuler]

This whole thing reminds me of the online poker craze years ago.

 

[SouthJersey]

Funny how that petition is about ALL fantasy sports and not just daily fantasy. My home league with my old college buddies is way different than FD/DK.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

Are we concerned with FBG posting on FB for one of their advertisers (FanDuel) in regards to laws.

"If you love fantasy sports, it's time to stand up and be counted. https://www.fanduel.com/takeaction"

Was that petition written by a child? My lord.

Love this in faint, small text at the bottom:

By hitting "Submit Petition", you agree to periodic email communications from FanDuel, Inc.

Why would anyone sign that? Even if you love DFS to death wouldn't you want someone to investigate the shadiness and ensure the employees aren't cheating like it appears to be?

I get why FBG and other "experts" are backing DK and FD. They all make a crap ton of money off people buying advice from them so they can make money and claim they didn't know about the cheating if an investigation proves it was more than just looking at ownership percentages.

 

[Tom Servo]

Frontline/NYT documentary on DFS coming soon.

That other outlet would be The New York Times, and the results of the collaboration started showing up this week, with a big overarching NYT story on everything from bags of cash to offshore betting to daily fantasy, details on just where offshore sites are located and how they operate, a story of one site’s efforts to help a reporter place untraceable illegal bets, and a PBS piece on how daily fantasy’s evaded regulation (although that’s starting to become less true, with Nevada declaring daily fantasy gambling Thursday and telling sites to cease and desist operating there until they get a license). There’s more to come, too, as PBS’ site says the world of fantasy sports is one Frontline “will explore in a documentary coming Winter 2016,” and both outlets seem to be investing substantial resources in daily fantasy coverage

That noose is getting a little tighter...

 

[Binky The Doormat]

Frontline/NYT documentary on DFS coming soon.

That other outlet would be The New York Times, and the results of the collaboration started showing up this week, with a big overarching NYT story on everything from bags of cash to offshore betting to daily fantasy, details on just where offshore sites are located and how they operate, a story of one site’s efforts to help a reporter place untraceable illegal bets, and a PBS piece on how daily fantasy’s evaded regulation (although that’s starting to become less true, with Nevada declaring daily fantasy gambling Thursday and telling sites to cease and desist operating there until they get a license). There’s more to come, too, as PBS’ site says the world of fantasy sports is one Frontline “will explore in a documentary coming Winter 2016,” and both outlets seem to be investing substantial resources in daily fantasy coverage

That noose is getting a little tighter...

Winter of 2016 doesn't sound like right around the corner to me.

 

[Sinn Fein]

You think Joe is going to refund everyones money?

Seems like the honorable thing to do after supporting this den of inequity. Bare minimum should probably be a refund of all subscriber fees to this site.

 

[jonessed]

You think Joe is going to refund everyones money?

Seems like the honorable thing to do after supporting this den of inequity. Bare minimum should probably be a refund of all subscriber fees to this site.

Noone involved in this giant scam is honorable.

 

[Tom Servo]

BREAKING: New York AG declares DK and FD to be illegal gambling and are ordered to cease operations inNY.

 

[Tom Servo]

BREAKING: New York AG declares DK and FD to be illegal gambling and are ordered to cease operations in NY.

http://espn.go.com/chalk/story/_/id/14100780/new-york-attorney-general-declares-daily-fantasy-sports-gambling

 

[Mister CIA]

BREAKING: New York AG declares DK and FD to be illegal gambling and are ordered to cease operations in NY.

http://espn.go.com/chalk/story/_/id/14100780/new-york-attorney-general-declares-daily-fantasy-sports-gambling

Kind of a big deal?

 

[[icon]]

RIP DFS

 

[shadyridr]

But the lottery is not gambling

 

[Good Posting Judge]

Kind of funny that they characterized dfs as a scheme to "fleece" people, yet there's a NY lottery whose motto is "Hey You Never Know."

 

[Tom Servo]

But the lottery is not gambling

When the Mafia does it, it's a numbers racket.

When the government does it, it's called a lottery.

 

[Das Boot]

Weird... all the DFS supporters have been warning us small time old timer year long league kinda guys that the government would be kicking down the doors of local leagues as well:

He drew a sharp distinction between the operations of daily fantasy sports sites and traditional fantasy leagues, which he said were legal partly because they relied on months of smart play over the course of several months. DraftKings and FanDuel contests, he wrote, are about "instant gratification" and involve no long-term strategy.

 

[Sinn Fein]

But the lottery is not gambling

shtick?

 

[shadyridr]

But the lottery is not gambling

shtick?

by NY state

 

[Limp Ditka]

Weird... all the DFS supporters have been warning us small time old timer year long league kinda guys that the government would be kicking down the doors of local leagues as well:

He drew a sharp distinction between the operations of daily fantasy sports sites and traditional fantasy leagues, which he said were legal partly because they relied on months of smart play over the course of several months. DraftKings and FanDuel contests, he wrote, are about "instant gratification" and involve no long-term strategy.

This guy's a chode.

Instant gratification is the problem?

I guess this means that I shouldn't be able to buy a stock on the NYSE one day and sell it the next.

Tell it like it is and stop blowing smoke up the ### of the populace.

It's about the house taking a cut and that house not giving enough of that cut to powers that be.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

But the lottery is not gambling

When the Mafia does it, it's a numbers racket.

When the government does it, it's called a lottery.

and the mafia paid off at higher odds (600-1) on the 3 digit instead of the gov's 500-1.