🗞️ Bandit Betting Newsletter: Wagering on Murder

Welcome back to the Bandit Betting Newsletter, where we deliver the top stories in sports and gambling directly to your inbox, every Sunday.

In today's email:

• Kalshi: offered betting markets on UnitedHealthcare shooting suspect Luigi Mangione.

• Australian sports book: caught refusing to pay out winning customers.

• Colorado: standout player Travis Hunter wins Heisman Trophy.

Let's gamble...

WAGERING ON MURDER

“Time’s Person of the Year for 2024 - Luigi Mangione?”

Users on predictive betting website Kalshi have started wagering on Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, after he was arrested Monday.

This is just one of Kalshi’s latest offerings into betting on news events, after the site rose to fame in this year’s presidential race.

The bet featured a less-than probable outcome of Luigi Mangione to be “Person of the Year” at less than 5% chance.

Meaning if you bet $1k it would pay out $20,000 USD.

The company’s markets come from fielding interest in topics and taking suggestions from users…

Which means you can write them to make a market for you.

We are truly at a gambling inflection point - where users can bet on anything these days.

SPORTS BETTING THIEVES

“Everyone makes mistakes - it’s only okay when we do it though.”

Two of Australia’s largest bookmakers, Sportsbet and TAB, have faced backlash for withholding winnings from customers, blaming the incidents on "errors."

Sportsbet denied Melbourne gambler Cameron $658 in winnings from a $350 bet on Faisal Khan scoring over 86.5 runs in a T20 cricket match.

Khan scored 101, but Sportsbet marked the bet as a loss.

When questioned, a Sportsbet company dismissed the issue as a “routine error” and redirected Cameron to refresh his account.

Despite eventually paying out, Sportsbet attributed the issue to a “manual error” prompting Cameron to switch to rival Bet365, citing poor treatment and restrictive betting practices.

Separately, Melbourne native Frank Grulli struggled to withdraw $7,000 in winnings from TAB after betting on 151-to-1 Melbourne Cup winner Knight’s Choice.

TAB blocked his account over a minor date-of-birth discrepancy…

Backlash online eventually led to the release of his winnings, but TAB declined to comment.

HEISMAN WINNER

“I never thought I’d be in this position.”

Travis Hunter turned every play into prime time and secured the Heisman Trophy, making history as a dynamic two-way player under Colorado coach Deion Sanders.

Hunter, a standout wide receiver and lockdown cornerback, became only the second Heisman winner in Colorado's history, joining Rashaan Salaam (1994).

Hunter received 552 first-place votes and narrowly edged Boise State's Ashton Jeanty for the award.

His victory marked just the fifth time this century a quarterback didn’t win. Hunter also joined Michigan's Charles Woodson (1997) as one of the only defensive players to claim the prize, excelling on both sides of the ball like no one else in decades.

This season, Hunter had 92 catches for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns on offense, while contributing four interceptions, 32 tackles, and a critical forced fumble on defense.

His 1,356 total snaps dwarfed all other FBS players, with 84% of Colorado’s plays featuring him.

Hunter's efforts helped Colorado improve from 4-8 last year to 9-3, earning their first bowl bid in four years.

Despite being projected as the No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick, Hunter pledged to play in the Alamo Bowl against BYU.

MEME

COMMUNITY CHAT

If you haven’t already, be sure to join our free community chat on Telegram. It’s jam packed with casino promos, betting tools and hundreds of others just like you!

TODAY’S PICKS

Subscribe to Bandit Premium to read the rest.