A poke joint, a gambling whale, and a fishy D.C. response

My latest story for The Washington Post explores perhaps the most unpopular sportsbooks in the country — the one operated by D.C.'s government.

THIS SUMMER, I caught wind of a rule change affecting Washington, D.C.’s city-run sportsbook, GambetDC, that even some of the District’s most dialed-in bettors had missed. Citing a public “health” and “safety” emergency, GambetDC was granting itself the authority to severely limit how much certain people are allowed to wager at betting kiosks located in restaurants, bars, and other businesses around town.

My investigation for The Washington Post revealed a different possible motivation: a single person who’d bet more than $1 million in recent months, mostly through a tiny downtown poke shop’s GambetDC terminals. The man, realizing that these kiosks don’t require an account to wager, was able to place thousands of bets; on an app or inside a brick-and-mortar sportsbook, officials would have flagged his winning tactics and imposed strict limits. Instead, he was able to spend hours many day placing bets using a remarkably simple strategy, wagering whenever GambetDC’s notoriously inaccurate odds deviated from those at “sharp” national sportsbooks.

Did the D.C. government try to save face with its public explanation for changing GambetDC policies? I’ll let you decide for yourself. What’s hard to argue, however, is that GambetDC is widely regarded as a national embarrassment — offering rip-off odds to bettors, frustrating kiosk licensees, and failing to deliver a fraction of the revenue that its backers promised in 2019, when the city council legalized sports betting and gave the Office of Lottery and Gaming control over most of the action.

Here’s the story:

Betting inside a poke shop, he put D.C.’s sportsbook under attack

I’m always grateful to get to write for Dan Steinberg of the Post’s sports desk, who, along with several people on staff, spent a lot of time getting this piece airtight and fit for print.

I had a busy summer (aside from countless hours spent golfing). Please keep an eye out for another article and project in the works. As always, thank you for reading.

Wynnie also would have enjoyed spending the summer holed up at a poke restaurant — though, in her case, enjoying tuna and salmon. Instead, she’s been resting for her mommy’s birthday later this week!