Ohio Gaming Regulators Considering Micro-Betting Prohibition

• The Ohio Casino Control Commission will consider a new regulation to ban some forms of micro-betting in the state
• Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) recently requested a prohibition of all prop bets
• Two Cleveland Guardians pitchers are currently on leave related to a MLB sports betting investigation

Ohio gaming regulators will consider a new rule to prohibit some forms of micro-betting, in response to Gov. Mike DeWine (R) requesting an all out ban of prop bets in the Buckeye State.

The new potential rule or regulation will have to be approved by the OCCC and the Ohio legislature before actually going into practice. Gov. DeWine has yet to respond to the plan and the commission’s decision to not seek an entire prohibition of the prop market in the state.

ESPN’s David Purdum was the first to report the news.

Compromise From Entire Ohio Prop Ban

The new potential rule is a compromise from Gov. DeWine’s initial request to ban all prop bets in Ohio.

The Ohio governor pointed to micro prop-bets on highly controllable moments within a game that can be influenced by a single athlete as particularly troublesome.

“The evidence that prop betting is harming athletics in Ohio is reaching critical mass. First, there were threats on Ohio athletes, and now two high-profile Ohio professional athletes have been suspended by Major League Baseball as part of a ‘sports betting investigation,’” DeWine said. “The harm to athletes and the integrity of the game is clear, and the benefits are not worth the harm. The prop betting experiment in this country has failed badly. I call on the Casino Control Commission to correct this problem and remove all prop bets from the Ohio marketplace.”

The harm hits close to home, as just this past month the Cleveland Guardians placed two separate pitchers on non-disciplinary paid leave as part of an MLB sports betting investigation.

The Guardians first placed starting pitcher Luis Ortiz on non-disciplinary paid leave on July 3, followed by all-star closer Emmanuel Clase being placed on non-disciplinary paid leave on July 28.

Both will remain on leave through Aug. 31.

Ohio regulators can look to ban certain micro-bets to reduce the chance of athletes altering the integrity of a small moment in a game.

AGA: Prohibitions Will Weaking Ohio Oversight

Gov. DeWine’s proposal to ban prop betting in the Buckeye State will weaken the legal, regulated market’s ability to monitor for potential misconduct, according to the American Gaming Association.

By completely eliminating Ohio’s prop betting market, Joe Maloney, SVP of Strategic Communications for the American Gaming Association (AGA), said the state will also be eliminating the legal operators’ ability to monitor the market for suspicious activity, which recently led to Major League Baseball instituting a sports betting investigation of two Cleveland Guardians pitchers.

“Recent instances of suspicious activity that led to player suspensions were flagged by legal, regulated operators working hand-in-hand with professional leagues and integrity monitors. This demonstrates that the regulated market works: it detects potential misconduct, it reports it, and it helps hold bad actors accountable. Prohibition doesn’t stop betting—it stops oversight. Illegal operators won’t honor bans, won’t partner with leagues, and won’t protect players or fans,” Maloney said.

The elimination of the market, Maloney noted, will not put an end to sports betting integrity concerns. It will only drive users to place prop bets with offshore markets and allow athletes to do the same, but do so in an illegal market where integrity monitoring does not exist.