Thursday 4 August 2011

Alex Rodriguez under investigation by MLB for high stakes poker game playing

Baseball has a well documented history going back to the 1919 Black Sox scandal in which eight players were banned for life for throwing the World Series.

Back in the day, ballplayers and gamblers had a cozy relationship and often many a game was thrown so gamblers can collect on huge bets.

Since then MLB has signs posted in every locker-room specifically warning players against getting involved in any form of gambling

But, who says Arod is particularly bright?

The Sporting News

New York Yankees
third baseman Alex Rodriguez, currently rehabbing in Miami after knee surgery July 11, could face suspension if reports are true that he took part in illegal, underground poker games in California, allegations that Major League Baseball is taking “very seriously,” ESPNNewYork.com reported Wednesday.

“We're talking to people involved in the investigation, and we're taking this very seriously,” an MLB executive who spoke to ESPNNewYork.com on condition of anonymity. “Because he had been warned about this before, I would say a possible suspension would be very much in play.”


MLB said Wednesday that investigators with the commissioner's office will interview Rodriguez. Yahoo! Sports, citing an anonymous source close to Rodriguez, reported Wednesday night that Rodriguez will cooperate in the probe.

The allegations, first published by RadarOnline.com, are that Rodriguez played in at least two of the games, one of which took place at the Beverly Hills mansion of a record executive at which “a fight nearly broke out” when one of the poker players refused to pay up after losing “more than a half-million dollars.”

More here