Umpire Pat Hoberg Fired for Gambling Violations

[Vanimal46]

https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-major-league-baseball-statement-regarding-hoberg-appeal

From the linked article…

“The disciplinary action was taken due to Hoberg’s failure to uphold the integrity of the game by sharing sports betting accounts with a professional poker player and friend who bet on baseball and whom Hoberg should have known bet on baseball, and due to Hoberg’s intentional deletion of messages central to MLB’s investigation into his conduct. Throughout the investigation and appeals process, Hoberg adamantly denied betting on baseball directly or indirectly (i.e., through his friend), and the data provided by the sportsbooks does not show any baseball bets from his own electronic devices.“

Hoberg and Individual A, a professional poker player, met at a poker tournament circa 2014. They became friends. In addition to poker, they played golf, traveled together and watched sports on television. Individual A was a frequent overnight guest at Hoberg's home. These stays occurred one or two nights at a time and about 20 to 30 nights per year.

The data obtained from Sportsbook A shows that Hoberg's devices were used to place 417 direct bets between December 30, 2020, and January 15, 2024, on Individual A's accounts. The total amount bet was $487,475.83. These bets lost $53,189.65 in the aggregate. The data obtained from Sportsbook B shows that Hoberg’s devices were used to place at least 112 bets totaling $222,130.00. These bets lost $21,686.96 in the aggregate. Most of the direct bets (on both accounts) were on football, basketball, hockey or golf.

None of the bets placed on Individual A's accounts with Hoberg's devices were on baseball.

Data reflects that Individual A’s accounts bet on baseball 141 times between April 2, 2021, and November 1, 2023. The bets were almost exclusively on which team would win a certain game (i.e., money line) or whether more or less than a specific number of runs would be scored in a certain game (i.e., total). Of those 141 bets, 26 were parlays, and six of the 26 parlays included multiple MLB legs. The total amount bet on baseball from Individual A's accounts was $213,754.45 with an overall win of $34,583.06 in the aggregate.

[Vanimal46]

The biggest mistake every professional sport made was getting into bed with all of these gambling companies. I’m just waiting for the huge scandal to come out in the future of a network of refs who have been taking under the table money for years from gambling companies. 

[nicksaviking]

Yeah, and the guy lost 74K betting on other sports?

Even if he wasn't betting on baseball, how long until someone with this intel leverages that growing debt over his head to throw a game?

[Mike Sixel]

20 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

The biggest mistake every professional sport made was getting into bed with all of these gambling companies. I’m just waiting for the huge scandal to come out in the future of a network of refs who have been taking under the table money for years from gambling companies. 

It's going to be bad, very bad, someday soon. 

[Mike Sixel]

29 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Yeah, and the guy lost 74K betting on other sports?

Even if he wasn't betting on baseball, how long until someone with this intel leverages that growing debt over his head to throw a game?

That's one of the big issues for sure. 

[nicksaviking]

2 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

It's going to be bad, very bad, someday soon. 

It will turn out fine. The billionaires will have already milked as much money as they could out of the sports before they collapse.

So we don't need to worry ourselves, they will all be OK.

[USAFChief]

On 2/4/2025 at 12:00 PM, nicksaviking said:

Yeah, and the guy lost 74K betting on other sports?

Even if he wasn't betting on baseball, how long until someone with this intel leverages that growing debt over his head to throw a game?

That's $75k over about 37 months. I doubt there was any actual "debt."

He lost about $25k per year. An MLB ump pay starts at $120k. I'm sure losing $25k/yr was a little painful, but not enough so he couldn't pay. And these bets were at established sports books anyway  where you're wagering with cash on account. The book already had the cash before he lost it  You don't call the MGM book and say "hey, front me $1000 on the Lakers." 

None of which is to excuse his behavior in any way. 

But he wasn't in a position to be financially "Leveraged."

[Eldless]

On 2/13/2025 at 9:18 AM, USAFChief said:

That's $75k over about 37 months. I doubt there was any actual "debt."

He lost about $25k per year. An MLB ump pay starts at $120k. I'm sure losing $25k/yr was a little painful, but not enough so he couldn't pay. And these bets were at established sports books anyway  where you're wagering with cash on account. The book already had the cash before he lost it  You don't call the MGM book and say "hey, front me $1000 on the Lakers." 

None of which is to excuse his behavior in any way. 

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But he wasn't in a position to be financially "Leveraged."

I also think that it is not about financial addiction. Usually, we can talk about it when a person has a low income and creates a financial hole through gambling