Sports Betting Lifestyle: English Premier League Seeing Red Over Suspicious Yellow Card

Welcome to a new feature at Sports Betting Dime, a look into the sports betting lifestyle. Each week, we’ll be looking at trends in the industry and newsworthy items from the sports betting world, As well, there will be the highlighting of betting trends and big-ticket wagers that either cash or go up in flames.

Betting On Yellow Card Raising Concerns in EPL

The National Crime Agency, the policing group assigned the task of investigating organized crime, is now looking into a suspicious yellow card picked up by Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka during an English Premier League match against Leeds United on Dec. 18, 2021.

Arsenal was leading 4-1 late in the match. At that point, referee Andre Marriner was issuing a yellow card to Xhaka for time-wasting as he was setting up for a free kick.

Granit Xhaka’s yellow card at Leeds ‘being probed by National Crime Agency’ after large bet placed https://t.co/jFcB9gAOEY

— Granit Xhaka Fan (@undeludedassnah) June 20, 2022

Yellow cards and Xhaka are not uncommon companions. He saw 10 of them during the 2021-22 EPL season. Referees saw fit to be assessing 47 cautions to Xhaka over the past five seasons. This is averaging out to him picking up a yellow card in 25% of all matches he’s seen action in for Arsenal.

However, what is making this particular yellow card suspicious is the irregular betting activity surrounding it. A $64,000 bet was placed on a prop that Xhaka would be assessed a yellow card during the final 10 minutes of the match. Xhaka was yellow carded by Marriner in the 86th minute.

The payout on the wager was in excess of $300,000. At that stage of the match the odds of the yellow card coming were much higher. That factor, coupled with the unusual size of the wager on such a prop caused the raising of red flags. Several leading British sports betting sites were making the decision to contact the English Football Association about it.

The FA conducted a six-month investigation and recently handed off its findings to the National Crime Agency. There’s been no suggestion of any wrongdoing by either Xhaka or Marriner.

NFL Creates Sports Betting Czar

Sports betting and the NFL have gone hand in hand for as long as there’s been an NFL and people had hands. However, it wasn’t until this week that the league put someone in charge of overseeing the impact of NFL betting on the league.

The NFL announces David Highhill as vice president, general manager of sports betting, the league’s first position solely focused on overseeing its business in the legal sports betting industry.

— David Payne Purdum (@DavidPurdum) June 28, 2022

On Tuesday, the NFL announced that David Highhill would be filling the position of vice president, general manager of sports betting. The entire focus of the position will be in overseeing the NFL’s business dealings with the legal sports betting industry.

Hurricanes GM Waddell Disappointed By North Carolina Decision

This week saw the North Carolina Assembly rejecting a proposal to legalize online sports betting this week. this decision was a punch in the gut to the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. Part of a proposal to renovate PNC Arena, home to the Hurricanes, would be including an on-site sportsbook.

Five days later, it's still hard to believe the General Assembly screwed up sports betting.

But they did.

There truly are no sure things.https://t.co/GHE03Xb2sq

— Luke DeCock (@LukeDeCock) June 27, 2022

Hurricanes GM Don Waddell thinks the state government is being very shortsighted by going against the growing sports betting trend in the USA.

“Obviously we’re hoping to get some movement going in the other direction and there’s been lots of talk about it,” Waddell told the Raleigh News & Obeserver. “I think gambling is coming to all 50 states, eventually, because of the tax revenue. I’ve always said if we don’t think there’s gambling going on in North Carolina we live under a rock.”

Over? Did You Say Over?

The Colorado Avalanche are Stanley Cup champions, crushing the threepeat dreams of the Tampa Bay Lightning. En route to their first title in 21 years, the Avalanche also crushed the dreams of one DraftKings Sportsbook bettor.

Prior to Game 4 of the Western Conference final between Colorado and the Edmonton Oilers, a big bet was put down. One hopeful bettor was placing a $390,000 wager with DraftKings on the under of 7 goals. The payout on this bet would be $690,000.

BIG-ASS BET 🚨

A bettor has placed a $390,000 wager on UNDER 7 Goals at -130.

Potential Payout: $690,000 pic.twitter.com/tu3AwJNFBa

— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) June 6, 2022

With two periods in the books, things were looking good. Edmonton took a 3-1 lead to the dressing room for the second intermission. However, late-period goals by Oilers forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (16:57) and Connor McDavid (18:54) were an omen of things to come.

Devon Toews scored for Colorado just 31 seconds into the third period. The conclusion of that 20-minute frame saw the two teams combining for six goals. They were heading to overtime deadlocked 5-5. The once-promising under play had gone up in smoke.

Colorado’s Artturi Lehkonen scored 1:19 into overtime. The Avalanche won the game and swept the best-of-seven set. Yes, much like the Game 4 total, the series was over.