Meet the Yale med student who made thousands — and then was banned from sports betting sites - CT Insider

Lee, 29, didn't see himself a sports instrumentality and seldom bothered to ticker the games he'd stake on, but helium could recite stats astir mid-major assemblage shot teams and reel disconnected players connected Korean Baseball Organization rosters. He was hyper-competitive and consenting to prosecute immoderate vantage — and saw those traits arsenic a concealed to his success.

Then, successful precocious May, came the letter, a single-page from the Connecticut Lottery informing him he'd been banned from wagering astatine off-track betting sites statewide, making him 1 of lone 5 radical successful the authorities connected a peculiar database of "prohibited patrons." Just similar that, his days betting the mode helium liked to were over.

"From my position it was beauteous overmuch retired of the blue," Lee says.

The lottery, arsenic explained successful the letter, says Lee broke rules and can't beryllium allowed to wager further. Lee says helium was ne'er informed of the rules successful question and that he's been banned astatine slightest successful portion due to the fact that helium was making excessively overmuch wealth from betting. A lottery authoritative says that enactment of statement sounds similar "sour grapes."

Lee has hired a lawyer and is presently successful the midst of an appeals process that appears to beryllium the archetypal of its benignant since Connecticut legalized sports betting. It's the benignant of play that apt wasn't beforehand of caput erstwhile legislators voted past twelvemonth to legalize sports betting but that inevitably comes with authorized gambling.

For idiosyncratic who bets arsenic overmuch arsenic helium does, and who is warring truthful hard for his close to continue, Lee says he's uneasy astir gambling's relation successful society, particularly present that it is authorized successful truthful galore places. He wonders what worth the games truly supply the authorities of Connecticut. He questions the state's quality to decently negociate sports betting. And helium struggles with his relation successful what helium considers a morally questionable industry.

Though Lee believes helium could marque a steadfast surviving connected sports betting, for present helium plans to postgraduate aesculapian schoolhouse and go a doctor.

"For each intents and purchases, I americium a leech connected the system," helium said of his sports betting exploits. "I don't make immoderate societal worth for anyone progressive anywhere. This is the astir selfish nonrecreational happening I person ever been progressive with, and that doesn't beryllium good with me."

As Lee sees it, his communicative is astir much than conscionable his idiosyncratic quality to wager. It's astir thorny questions that sports betting continues to rise successful Connecticut and beyond. Who wins and loses from ineligible gambling? Who gets to decide? And what precisely person states similar ours gotten themselves into?

'I get precise satisfied erstwhile I'm right'

Ike Lee isn't similar astir radical who stake connected sports.

Most radical who stake connected sports bash truthful casually, placing a wager present oregon there, often conscionable for fun. Lee does truthful with purpose, precision and research, seizing connected fluctuations successful betting likelihood that fewer others adjacent notice.

Most radical who stake connected sports suffer money, if not successful the abbreviated word past surely successful the long-term. Lee says helium has made thousands of dollars successful the twelvemonth since Connecticut legalized sports gambling and that betting has helped wage disconnected his pupil debt.

Most radical who stake connected sports wager connected teams and games they attraction astir and program to watch. Lee says helium doesn't peculiarly similar sports oregon attraction who wins.

"I'm not a sports fan," helium says. "I don't person a hometown team, I don't cheer for anyone — possibly Yale a small bit, but beyond that I couldn't virtually attraction little who wins and who loses."

Lee grew up successful New York City, arsenic a self-described "goody two-shoes" who spent astir of his clip studying. He attended Yale undergrad, past enrolled successful aesculapian schoolhouse determination successful 2016, readying to beryllium a doctor.

Not agelong into aesculapian school, though, a person urged him to effort sports betting, which was amerciable astatine the clip successful each but a fewer states but wide fashionable nonetheless. He began with Ivy League basketball, wagering connected games and posting insights connected online connection boards, and recovered that helium enjoyed it.

"It benignant of made intuitive consciousness to maine however it was conscionable different puzzle to solve," helium said. "The marketplace gives you a 'price,' it tells you a squad is favored by 2 oregon 3 points, and past you say, 'No, I deliberation that's wrong.'"

Soon, Lee recovered himself wading deeper and deeper into the betting world, learning from radical helium met online and yet hiring others to assistance him. He sought advantages successful improbable places, learning much astir Asian shot than he'd ever intended to cognize aft uncovering likelihood connected those games that helium liked.

As astir fans ticker large games betwixt highly ranked teams, Lee prefers under-the-radar match-ups wherever helium tin find an edge. In precocious 2020, for example, earlier sports betting was ineligible successful Connecticut, helium won thousands connected a assemblage shot vessel match-up betwixt Houston and Hawaii aft the Houston squad was slammed by a COVID-19 outbreak. (He didn't really ticker that game, of course, because, successful his words, "Why would I?")

Lee won't accidental precisely however overmuch wealth helium has made from sports betting, lone that helium reliably comes retired ahead. At 1 constituent helium near schoolhouse to absorption connected gambling, though helium returned earlier excessively long.

While Lee cites nett arsenic his main motivation, helium says self-gratification drives him arsenic well. Whereas aesculapian schoolhouse was each astir the pursuit of knowledge, sports betting came with a satisfying finality. You stake connected what was going to happen, and a fewer hours aboriginal you were proven either close oregon wrong.

This, Lee said, appealed to his property type. Brian Patt, a person who met Lee online and talks sports with him frequently, describes Lee arsenic "high energy." Lee himself puts it differently.

"I americium benignant of a New York City [a-hole]," helium says. "I get precise satisfied erstwhile I'm right."

When sports betting became ineligible successful Connecticut past year, Lee happily began placing wagers astatine sanctioned locations. Though he'd sometimes thrust to the casino to spot ample bets, it was easier to bash truthful astatine an off-track betting tract adjacent wherever helium lived successful New Haven, operated by the lottery and its affiliated sportsbook, PlaySugarHouse. Before long, helium was connected a first-name ground with unit there.

Then, with small warning, came the letter.

Banned for life

The letter, which Lee shared with CT Insider, drove consecutive to the point.

"Effective instantly you are Ejected from each PlaySugarHouse Sportsbook retail locations," it informed Lee. "You are besides prohibited from entering the premises of immoderate PlaySugarHouse Sportsbook installation successful the State of Connecticut."

According to the letter, Lee had committed 3 offenses, allegedly captured connected video: He was placing bets "just beneath kiosk limits," helium was utilizing aggregate machines astatine once, and helium was placing bets connected behalf of different people.

Lee denies placing bets connected behalf of different people. He admits betting ample quantities utilizing aggregate machines ("I americium truly damn bully astatine manipulating the kiosks") but says nary 1 had ever told him that wasn't allowed. In fact, helium has been incapable to find immoderate documentation of these rules helium is said to person violated. The kiosks are self-service and portion determination is video surveillance, cipher watches implicit a users' shoulder.

"In my view, there's a large miscommunication from ... the CT Lottery to the bully guys astatine Winners and Sportech who are really trying to tally the concern connected the ground," Lee said.

In an interview, Greg Smith, the CT Lottery's president and CEO, declined to remark connected the specifics of Lee's case, but to stress that Lee is banned lone from retail locations, not from betting online.

Speaking generally, Smith noted that the Connecticut's authorities statute grants gaming operators specified arsenic the CT Lottery the powerfulness to designate "prohibited patrons" successful instances erstwhile a bettor breaks the law, places bets connected behalf of others, oregon is determined "to airs a menace to the integrity of gaming owed to cheating oregon engagement successful transgression activity." He said officials thin to instrumentality enactment of bettors who aren't behaving "normally."

"Normal betting looks similar this: Somebody walks up to a kiosk, puts their wealth in, places their wager, walks distant with their stake slip," Smith said. "It's erstwhile radical aren't acting usually that things travel to our attraction to either look much closely, prosecute with the idiosyncratic oregon show their activity."

Because failing to enactment "normally" didn't look to Lee similar a crushed for him to suffer his quality to bet, helium hired an lawyer and told the lottery helium wanted shed to appeal his ban. Months went by until finally, successful aboriginal December, helium appeared for a proceeding successful beforehand of Smith and different officials, arguing that helium hadn't intended to interruption immoderate rules and that a beingness prohibition was excessive and unnecessary.

As of aboriginal this week, lottery officials had not informed Lee whether his ejection would beryllium upheld oregon overturned, but Lee is assured he'll beryllium banned for good. Smith and different officials, arsenic Lee recounts it, told him that they had wide authorization to run sports betting arsenic they wished and that they were wrong their rights to barroom him from retail locations.

The astir important grounds the lottery presented against him, Lee said, was a video that supposedly showed him betting connected behalf of a antheral astatine the kiosk adjacent to him. In reality, Lee insists, helium was really placing a stake for himself, arsenic the antheral watched.

Prior to the hearing, Lee had told CT Insider that helium nary longer wanted to determination up being interviewed and would alternatively fto the process play retired quietly. His acquisition successful beforehand of the lottery executives changed his mind.

"The lottery seems to beryllium consenting to usage nary grounds to backmost up to their claims arsenic to what I americium doing," helium said. "It further emphasizes the constituent that they don't cognize what they're doing."

'You've got to springiness the winners a chance'

To lottery officials, Lee's communicative seems to beryllium astir a bettor who flew excessively adjacent to sun, who attempted to exploit the strategy and got himself successful trouble.

To Lee, it's astir a quasi-public authorities bureau abusing its powerfulness to support from losing money. He contrasts the lottery with the tribal casinos, which people their rules publically and, arsenic helium sees it, amended recognize the cat-and-mouse crippled betwixt bettors and operators.

"You don't similar what I do, archer maine what to do, archer maine precisely what the process is and past reprogram your software," helium said. "[The casinos] cognize however to grip gambling. The authorities is successful this authorities of flux wherever they're trying to fig it out."

While Lee whitethorn beryllium biased connected the subject, he's not the lone 1 who sees the concern the mode helium does. CT Insider ran the details of Lee's lawsuit by Declan Hill, a wide recognized sports betting adept astatine the University of New Haven, who said betting connected behalf of different radical is typically a no-no but that the different offenses Lee was accused of seemed harmless.

"Everything other sounds like, hey mate, if he's got a strategy to win, if he's worked astatine this, if he's done his homework, God bless him," Hill said.

Hill said casinos and different gambling institutions often look to privation it some ways. They happily people addicts who suffer immense sums but support coming back, but erstwhile idiosyncratic beats them they look for ways to get escaped of him.

"You tin plunder the perennial losers, but you've got to springiness the winners a chance," Hill said.

Smith, from the CT Lottery, countered that the lottery has nothing against "sharp bettors," lone those who broke rules.

Lee is acceptable to postgraduate aesculapian schoolhouse successful May and plans to take medicine implicit gambling, successful portion retired of ambivalence toward the sports betting industry.

To beryllium a bully bettor, Lee says, requires reasoning of athletes arsenic "pawns connected a chessboard" successful the pursuit of idiosyncratic nett and small else, amid an manufacture successful which casinos, the lottery and the authorities of Connecticut capitalize disconnected radical with superior gambling problems. In his view, the strategy helium has lived successful for years is really "exhibit 1 successful capitalism gone wrong."

"It doesn't beryllium good with maine that what I bash creates nary worth for anybody other but myself and yet is capable to beryllium profitable," helium said.

Still, Lee would similar to beryllium reinstated, successful portion truthful helium tin proceed betting and successful portion retired of principle. If the authorities is going to person ineligible sports betting, helium says, hard-core bettors similar him should beryllium allowed to stake similar anyone else, nary substance what havoc they whitethorn wreak.

Before helium yet pulls backmost from sports betting (if helium ever genuinely does), Lee hopes to nonstop a connection — a warning, of sorts — to the CT Lottery and the authorities of Connecticut.

"If you privation to play with guys similar maine and spell caput to head, mano a mano, the procedurally close way, you've got to beef up your stuff," Lee said. "Because I'm mode up of you."

alex.putterman@hearstmedia.com.