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Tocchet Gambling Ring

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What matters is how they gamble their money. I don't give a shit how much money Michael Jordan dropped at the golf course. And if athletes are betting money that they have (and not racking up debts) at casinos, that's fine.

But if they're betting with bookies, that's an issue, and it doesn't matter if the bets were on a different sport . People that think that's not a potential problem need to watch more Sopranos episodes. :wink2:

A professional athlete with a big gambling debt to organized crime is a 'fix' waiting to happen. Once an organized crime outfit has its hooks in you, you're in deep shit.
 
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The coin toss is not a very good bet, but you can get it at -105 (instead of the usual -110). Which means you only have to be correct 51.2195% of the time to break even (on a 50% proposition) instead of the standard 52.381%. Therefore you have a negative expected value.
 
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Gretzky must quit Coyotes immediately

Remaining as coach amid gambling scandal will be terrible distraction


COMMENTARY
By Kara Yorio
Updated: 3:30 p.m. ET Feb. 9, 2006

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First of all, well done to Gary Bettman. After the initial statement from the league from Bill Daly made is sound as if the NHL would assume its typical ostrich position on a situation, Bettman has taken action and promised cooperation. The indefinite leave of absence for Rick Tocchet, during which he cannot talk to anyone connected to the NHL, was absolutely the right decision.
But now, Bettman's decisions are going to get a lot more difficult. It's easy enough to banish Coyotes assistant coach Tocchet, not exactly a household name and alleged to be a leader in a gambling ring that may have involved links to organized crime. Now, however, Bettman must deal with Tocchet's boss, the Great One himself.
According to a story in The Star-Ledger (NJ), Wayne Gretzky did, in fact, know about Tocchet's gambling ring (despite denying any knowledge of the situation when it first came up with reporters on Tuesday) and is caught on wiretaps talking about it before the charges came down on Tocchet and allegations that Gretzky's wife, Janet Jones, bet through Tocchet came to light. Now the last thing the NHL (and Team Canada) wants is anything that can hurt the reputation of Gretzky, and Bettman and the rest will want to stand by his side. But how can they ignore the fact that he may be called to testify in front of a grand jury, that he is caught on tape discussing the situation and that he is not only a head coach in the National Hockey League and its most famous player of all time, but also a part owner of the Coyotes? They can't.
Unfortunately, Gretzky is about to be swallowed into the circumstances around him. It is exactly why his wife should have found another way to get her gambling fix, if the allegations are true, because the risk to her husband and his entire life was just too great to take.
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</td></tr></tbody></table><table class="boxB_3053751" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="300"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td class="boxBI_3053751">• Gretzky reportedly talked with ringleader
• Vote: Should Great One quit Coyotes?
• Tocchet might have ties to mobsters
• TSN: Gretzky must resign from Coyotes
• Duff: Great One's greatest challenge yet
• Coyotes try to ignore 'Operation Slapshot'
• Vote: OK to bet on non-NHL sports?
• Some infamous sports gambling scandals

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Gretzky's standing will be different, too, from any players found to have bet through Tocchet. While gambling on sports is not the brightest thing for an athlete to do -- any time the questions of even possibly betting on your own game comes up, the games' integrity is already in doubt -- it is not against the rules for an NHLer to gamble on football or basketball or any other sport than hockey.
Of course, illegal activity, illegal gambling could fall into a different category. But the fact is, if the players were simply giving their money to Tocchet and didn't know anything but the spread on their games, their punishment must be less severe than that of Tocchet's. But it's going to take a long time to sort out these facts, and what is Bettman to do in the meantime?
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If he's lucky, Gretzky will do the right thing and step down before Bettman has to say anything. Gretzky must say that, while he didn't place any bets and while he doesn't believe Tocchet or Janet bet on hockey, he cannot compromise the league in this way until the investigation has been completed.
This is not an admission of any guilt other than by association and the guilt of tarnishing the league's image by that association. He must step down, saying he doesn't want to be a longer-lasting, bigger distraction to his team as they try to make the playoffs. He must give up his control of Team Canada for Turin, citing the same idea of distraction and not wanting to hurt the image and reputation of Hockey Canada.
Is any of this fair? Probably not. But it is what the situation has become. It is as bad as it can get for the NHL . . . unless there's another taped conversation or two out there that talks about betting on hockey or passing along inside information.
Then 2006 becomes 1919 and any strides the NHL has taken since the lockout are immediately lost.
 
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This is definetly an issue that you can look at multiple ways. Pro sports would be very difficult to fix, difficult, not impossible. Pro athletes, especially "outcome changing" athletes are so well paid, and watched, that it would have to be a ridiculous offer, that in turn would red flag everything. I am really familar with the point shaving scandal that happened at ASU, I know the guys that set that up. The thing is they got red flagged by the NCAA via Vegas, and then sent in officals and authorities to get to the bottom. All because of the differential in an average bet on that game, to the current wagers. These things are tracked and followed year after year. Back to this situation, I don't think there's anything wrong with betting on sports, as long as you can cover your wagers. I partake in it every football season, and enjoy it. It's my high from my love of sports. It tests my knowledge of sports, gives me an extra incentive to cheer for a certain team and provides a reward or penalty. Again if you are able to cover possible losses then there's no negative consequences from a little wagering.
 
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Dispatch

2/10/06

COMMENTARY

Gambling probe puts NHL on slippery slope

Friday, February 10, 2006

BOB HUNTER


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Did you see anything in the Super Bowl that raised your eyebrows? Besides the Rolling Fossils’ halftime show, that is.
Maybe a penalty you thought looked a little suspicious. Or a player who appeared to give less than his best effort.
There are situations like that in every game, and in every sport. Most of us are smart enough to know it doesn’t mean the fix is in, as angry as it sometimes makes us. Conspiracy theories and their accompanying jokes still make the rounds — I received in an e-mail a photo of a referee wearing a gold-and-black striped shirt with a Steelers logo on his gold hat and a wad of money in his waist — but deep down, we know better. We wouldn’t watch if we thought the plot was hatched by some wise guy in a trench coat in Jersey City.
But what if we had a real reason to be suspicious of some of the games? What if we found out that gambling interests had their talons buried in some of sports’ principal figures? And what if we discovered those gambling interests were a front for organized crime? Would you still buy tickets? Would you still care?
This is the seamy scenario the NHL finds itself investigating with the allegations in New Jersey of a $1.7 million gambling ring involving Phoenix Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet. There is no indication it goes beyond Tocchet’s involvement and maybe some hockey players gambling on other sports. But as the details of "Operation Slap Shot" trickle out, it makes you shudder to even think what might be possible.
When Jaromir Jagr of the New York Rangers was asked whether he had ever placed a bet with Tocchet, he offered a curious answer.
"Me? No," he said.
The way it was worded, you almost expected him to follow with, Now, that guy over there, and the guy next to him, and the guy next to him ...
If he didn’t mean it that way, it’s still part of the boxcar of worms that has been opened, including one that the gambling ring might have ties to organized crime. Far-fetched? Maybe not. When Tocchet played for the Philadelphia Flyers in the late 1980s, his name was linked to South Philadelphia mobster Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino in FBI reports.
Reports indicate that New Jersey state police will interview at least a half-dozen NHL players, and the images of players who are known to have had gambling problems in the past — Jagr settled debts of almost $1 million with two Internet gambling sites between 1998 and 2002 — are the first to get tarnished by speculation.
The problem could be much, much bigger than the reputations of a few players, though. Janet Jones, the wife of Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky, allegedly placed thousands of dollars in bets with Tocchet, and when the name of a sport’s most revered figure is linked even indirectly with the scandal, its credibility can plummet pretty fast.
There is a hypocrisy about gambling in sports to be sure. An estimated half-billion dollars was legally wagered on the Super Bowl. But stories such as this one are never about gambling. They’re about perception. If an athlete or coach or manager is betting large sums on games of any type and losing, and if he’s doing it with illegal bookmakers who are often known to let tabs grow, what happens then?
Does he start betting on the sport he knows best to get himself out of the hole? And if he does, isn’t it just a short step to offering tips or even fixing a game he’s involved in to make sure his bets come out right?
Most athletes have too much pride and integrity to take that final step, but letting even a legal gambling culture thrive inside a sport is a dangerous course. Unlike the NFL, the NHL does not ban players from associating with gamblers or betting on team sports, as long as the sport is not hockey. This might be a good time to change that. Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch. [email protected]
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Dispatch

2/17/06

Gretzky, wife not likely to face charges in gambling probe

Friday, February 17, 2006


ASSOCIATED PRESS

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TRENTON, N.J. — Wayne Gretzky will not face criminal charges in connection with a multimillion-dollar sports betting ring busted in New Jersey last week, and he is unlikely to be called to testify against others in the case, his lawyer said yesterday.
Attorney Ron Fujikawa said he received assurances from New Jersey authorities last week that the hockey great was not in any way a central figure in the criminal investigation.
"He is not a person of interest," Fujikawa said. "We have received no indication he is somebody who will be called before a grand jury. We have received assurances that he is at most a fact witness."
A fact witness is someone interviewed informally by authorities, the lawyer said.
Gretzky’s wife, Janet Jones, also is unlikely to face criminal charges, her lawyer said yesterday. Jones wagered more than $100,000 through the ring, a person with knowledge of the investigation has told the Associated Press; her husband was not directly implicated.
If correct, the attorneys’ statements indicate that Gretzky and Jones at most placed wagers with the ring but had nothing to do with its operations. Under New Jersey law, it is not a crime to place a bet, even with a bookie. People who place bets for others can be prosecuted, however, as can people who profit off someone else’s bets.
Jones’ lawyer, Evan A. Jenness, said she expected Jones to be subpoenaed to testify in the case. She said no documents had been served as of yesterday.
"I’ve been told she’s just a witness," Jenness said. "I’m quite confident that’s the case."
Jenness did not say whether Jones planned to assist officials. But Jones’ spokesman, Elliot Mintz, said Jones "plans to fully cooperate with the authorities."
John Hagerty, a spokesman for the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, did not return phone messages left yesterday. ESPN.com reported that Hagerty on Wednesday said Jones and others could be called as witnesses but indicated she would not be charged.
The gambling operation allegedly was run by Gretzky’s friend and Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet, along with two New Jersey men, including a state trooper.
The three men had been scheduled to appear in court Tuesday to have their charges read and rights explained. But a judge yesterday approved a request from the men’s lawyers to waive their appearances. "In light of the illegal press leaks that have plagued this matter and the gross mischaracterization of this case that has appeared in the international media, we are extremely pleased that Rick Tocchet will not be subjected to the further public humiliation a first appearance would entail," Kevin Marino, the defense lawyer for Tocchet, said in a written statement.
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nbcsports

Tocchet: Guilty of running gambling ring

Associated Press Updated: May25, 2007, 2:35 pm EDT

Former NHL player Rick Tocchet pleaded guilty Friday to running a sports gambling ring, but might not have to serve any jail time.


Tocchet, who played for six NHL teams in a 22-year career, is on leave from his job as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Coyotes. He pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to promote gambling and promoting gambling. Such offenses usually do not carry a jail sentence for first-time offenders.


"It's a huge operation and I think it exposes to people the allure of gambling, illegal gambling, in New Jersey," state Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw said outside the courthouse.


The maximum sentence for the charges Tocchet pleaded guilty to are 10 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. Paw would not say whether prosecutors will ask for jail time for Tocchet.


The 43-year-old Tocchet is the third man to plead guilty in the case, which New Jersey authorities dubbed "Operation Slapshot." The others, including state Trooper James Harney, are expected to get jail time.


Janet Jones, the wife of hockey great Wayne Gretzky, was accused of betting but was not charged in the case.

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