OT: Iowa kicker used mother's account to bet under for El Assico

Submitted by iawolve on August 2nd, 2023 at 2:36 PM

Per the current betting investigation at Iowa, Iowa kicker Aaron Blom made 170 bets using his mother's Draft Kings account (he was not 21 and could not bet himself). He made 8 bets on Iowa games including betting the under (45 points) when they played ISU during El Assico in 2021, a bet which he won. I assume he saw enough of the Iowa offense that week to not assume they would not cover.

Not sure what is worse, betting that your team can't score or that you get busted with your mother's Draft Kings account?

Iowa kicker Aaron Blom accused of betting on Hawkeyes football game (hawkcentral.com)

Blue in Paradise

August 2nd, 2023 at 6:40 PM ^

This could actually be pretty serious.  The kid was 0-1 in FG attempts and his miss would have sent the game into overtime.

It was a 48 yard attempt so it certainly wasn't like he missed a chip shot but could there could be a perception that he missed it to avoid an OT in which (however unlikely) the total score could have gone over 45 points.

I doubt that could be realistic given they were 28 points from the over/under line - I guess it depends on how much money he had on the line.

M-GO-Beek

August 2nd, 2023 at 3:12 PM ^

I can't figure out how is it even possible the authorities could know the person using the account was not the person who owns the account (assuming Mom didn't turn her son in)? 

My best guess is that someone must have told the authorities they were using the account improperly and then they used geo-locating data to figure out where the bet was placed.  But even in this, how much of an ass do you have to be to have a presumed friend tell on you to the cops?  Crazy stuff

Blue Texan

August 2nd, 2023 at 3:23 PM ^

I don’t think it is much of a stretch for authorities to start looking at the draft kings accounts of close relatives. Then geo-tracking of the IPs is easy assuming they didn’t use a VPN (see mgoblog thread from ~3 weeks ago). 
This is easy sleuthing when no precautions are taken: use an account from an unrelated person, use VPN whenever accessing anything on your computer, including browsing.
You probably still will be caught. There is the huge problem of hiding the money trail. 

1VaBlue1

August 2nd, 2023 at 3:27 PM ^

No need for friends to spill any beans - computer logs will the trick.  Rest assured that any place you surf into has a record of the visit.  In this case, Mom's account signs in and makes a bet.  The PoPo see that the incoming IP address wasn't mom's, but came from an IU domain.  The particular IP can be traced right down to the one the kid is using.  Being somewhat unlikely for mom to be in her sons dorm room and using his computer to access Draft Kings betting site, it's a safe jump to call the boy in for questioning.

No need for any friends, just some unlikely betting trends to get people to sniff around.

chuck bass

August 2nd, 2023 at 8:37 PM ^

I assume they are nabbed using gambling apps on campus wi-fi, specifically in campus buildings which are only for student-athletes and athletic department staff. Same way they have caught NFL players. In other words, they are only catching low-hanging fruit. Safe bet more players are doing this who are not stupid enough to open gambling apps while on a university or pro franchise’s wi-fi network.

Booted Blue in PA

August 2nd, 2023 at 2:54 PM ^

damn.... iowa's leading scorer and team MVP (their kicker) was betting on games... that's terrible... i mean when you're responsible for 75% of the team scoring, the temptation to shave points is too great.

samsoccer7

August 2nd, 2023 at 2:56 PM ^

I would be willing to bet (see what I did there?) that on many teams, guys are making bets they shouldn't be.  It might be a walk-on, or a walk-on telling a friend, or something, but it's a slippery slope we've found ourselves in, making betting "legal" and more available to everyone.

Dennis

August 3rd, 2023 at 7:36 AM ^

It's also hypocrisy for media brands to be making money off Draft Kings ads (implicitly endorsing their use) and then having affiliated brands punishing players for betting with them. 

I think the simple solution is make rules similar to insider trading prevention... no bets on your own games, no bets xyz time before a game, declare all bets to your team's office, etc etc.

All this stupid shit is super avoidable with team and betting guidelines. 

BlueAggie

August 2nd, 2023 at 2:58 PM ^

That the Iowa gambling authority was looking into something mostly unrelated to college players (underaged gambling) and immediately found shenanigans at both major in-state programs should probably have us all worried.  This stuff is going to be widespread and under any rock you want to turn over.

BlueMk1690

August 2nd, 2023 at 4:51 PM ^

Well gambling went from basically illegal in most of the U.S. and difficult to access to being practically everywhere within the span of a few years.

We're at a point where traditional gambling hot spots like the UK and Ireland may actually have a better handle on this stuff than the U.S.

BlueAggie

August 2nd, 2023 at 6:49 PM ^

Yeah, absolutely.  And I'm not even sure the UK is doing great with it (Ivan Toney for example).  I guess my point is that it's fun to joke about Iowa players taking the under, but I'd be shocked if no student-athletes at Michigan are participating at some level in online gambling.  Hopefully the AD recognizes this as the best wake-up call they're going to receive and get out in front of it.  I suspect we're going to see a lot more weird suspensions popping up all over the college football landscape this season.

mp2

August 2nd, 2023 at 3:38 PM ^

Does this mean Iowa has a decent offense but all the players are taking the under? Maybe kirk knows and kept his son because of this.  

BlueGoM

August 2nd, 2023 at 9:16 PM ^

why bother using a relative's account?  just tell them what to bet, why involve yourself?

+1 for El Assico

perhaps a tribute to El Generico

 

CFraser

August 3rd, 2023 at 8:55 AM ^

Idk all of congress does this with stocks. Not sure why we’re surprised. If you have information, that can make you a bunch of money, you tend to use it. Unless you have exceptional morals. Im pretty sure this is ubiquitous.