The good news, though, is that there has not been an increase in golf hecklers, but the PGA Tour has been following such incidents intently. For example, a fan had to be walked out of the BMW Championship this Saturday, after he was yelling at Max Homa to “pull it.”

Fans Mindful of Golfers Play, But Hecklers Not So Much

It later transpired that the said fan had a $3 bet riding on Homa to miss the putt. Bizarre as these incidents may seem, the PGA Tour has raised concern that fans may be trying to influence the game too much.

Therefore, it is now down to the organization to protect the integrity, VP of brand communications Laura Neal said in a statement to ESPN, one of the media outlets reporting on the story. Neal told the publication that heckling wasn’t rampant, but that the PGA Tour’s security team was there to make sure that participants had the best possible competitive environment – especially when prize purses can run in the millions of dollars.

Betting on golf has been a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it has supposedly led to an increase in viewership, with many major American sportsbooks offering exclusive coverage. On the other, it has brought out some unsavory characters although the PGA Tour does not have evidence that more hecklers are attending as already stated.

Homa, too, said that although it was cool to see fans bet and he generally agreed that fans were quiet when golfers were taking a swing. In the cases when someone speaks during a hit, argued Homa, it’s usually quite unintentional, but he said that it “sucked” to have someone doing so on purpose.

Betting and Gambling Interests Pushes Golfers

Although Homa has been tamer in his response to the situation, other golfers have not really taken kindly to the idea of hecklers – no matter what their numbers are. Jon Rahm was amongst the golfers to particularly address this matter.

The fan ejected from the BMW Championship was not alone – with another fan also having to be removed over constant remarks towards the golfers at the time of hitting. Rahm has said that this heckling though is omnipresent and it’s there every single round. This significantly diverges from the PGA Tour and Homa’s stances which are far milder.

The golfer also believes that the PGA Tour has a significant challenge on its hands – trying to prevent people who have gambled on from influencing the game. In the meantime, the organizaiton has also teamed up with US Integrity to bolster integrity efforts across the board.

The post PGA Golf Hecklers May Be Trying to Fix Betting Outcomes appeared first on Keno Wizard.

Betting on political events is a relatively new activity that has seen some popularity recently. Similar to sporting events, election market bets for political events can favor one candidate or another. In some cases, bettors can wager how far a candidate may go through a political campaign or when they may drop off. In sports, the expansion of betting across the US caused a great deal of concern, primarily related to the integrity of the competitions, especially when it comes to collegiate sports.

Now, a group of lawmakers raised concerns about the possibility of legal gambling on US elections in a recent letter addressed to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The letter comes after back in June, a private predictions company called Kalshi, notified the Commission that it intends to offer “event contracts on the outcomes of US elections,” wrote the concerned lawmakers. This, in other words, means that the company seeks the approval of the CFTC to offer for-profit gambling on political outcomes.

For-Profit Gambling on Political Events Raises Concerns

In light of this, US Sen. Chris Van Hollen along with Sen. Jeff Merkley, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Edward J. Markey, Elizabeth Warren and Dianne Feinstein, sent a letter to the CFTC, urging the Commission’s chairman, Rostin Behnam, to reject the request submitted by Kalshi.

“There is no doubt that the mass commodification of our democratic process would raise widespread concerns about the integrity of our electoral process,“

reads a letter sent by the lawmakers to the CFTC

In their letter, the lawmakers said that if the democratic process goes through commodification, concerns about the integrity of the process may come. The letter underlines that this would represent an activity that is in opposition to the public interest, which is why, they urged the CFTC to reject the request from the private predictions company.

“Such an outcome is in clear conflict with the public interest and would undermine confidence in our political process — we urge the CFTC to deny Kalshi’s proposal,“

explained the lawmakers in their letter

According to the lawmakers, approval of the proposal by Kalshi would bring statewide for-profit gambling on political outcomes, an activity that may interfere with the elections. The concerned group of lawmakers also added that such for-profit activities may negatively impact the trust in the integrity of the elections in the United States. At the same time, the lawmakers warned that wealthy groups can abuse that process and impact the outcomes of what is otherwise a democratic election process.

The post Concerned Lawmakers Speak Against Betting on Political Outcomes appeared first on Keno Wizard.