Three members of Taiwanese baseball team fined for online gambling
Three members of the Taiwanese professional baseball team, the TSG Hawkes, have received fines and game suspensions after an investigation found that they had been participating in online gambling.
After reports that players participated in online Texas hold ’em poker games, the Chinese Professional Baseball League investigated and penalised three team members, Guo Yu-yan, Chen Guan-hao, and We Yu-cheng.
Guo was found to be the initiator after participating in the online games from January of this year until June, after an agent from the Taiyu Sports Agency had involved him in the games. He received the harshest penalty of a 10-game suspension and was fined NT$100,000.
Both Chen and We received five-game suspensions and fines of NT$50,000 after it was discovered they had been introduced to the game by Yu-yan in March. However, neither continued to play afterward.
A statement from the Chinese Professional Baseball League read, “Engaging in online gambling is not a sanctioned activity for players, which has tarnished Taiwan’s professional baseball… Baseball clubs must impose better internal monitoring and instruct players on the code of conduct.”
Abi Bray brings strong researching skills to the forefront of all of her writing, whether it’s the newest slots, industry trends or the ever changing legislation across the U.S, Asia and Australia, she maintains a keen eye for detail and a passion for reporting.
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The Backstory
How a series of gambling flashpoints set the stage
Concerns over betting’s grip on professional sports have intensified through a succession of cases that cross borders, leagues and business models. In Taiwan, the Chinese Professional Baseball League sanctioned three TSG Hawks players for taking part in unsanctioned online card games, underscoring how easily smartphones can ferry athletes into prohibited contests even when wagers appear casual. The league’s probe found one player initiated the activity and brought teammates into the games, leading to suspensions and fines that the league said were necessary to protect the sport’s reputation. The disciplinary action against the trio — detailed in the league’s penalties for TSG Hawks players — placed responsibility on clubs to strengthen internal monitoring and reinforce codes of conduct.
Japan’s top league has faced similar allegations with higher stakes. Two Yomiuri Giants players were referred to prosecutors after admitting they used offshore casino sites accessed by phone to play blackjack and baccarat over a two-year span, according to a report on the Giants case. The National Police Agency’s own survey suggested millions of Japanese residents have at least tried overseas internet casinos, signaling a broader compliance challenge as operators court customers in jurisdictions where such gambling is illegal. Together, the Taiwan and Japan episodes reveal a consistent vulnerability: athletes, targeted as consumers, can slide into illicit or unsanctioned play with minimal friction, creating integrity risks that extend beyond any single league’s oversight.
Offshore access and gray markets widen exposure
The pressure is not confined to players. Policymakers and regulators are contending with an ecosystem where unlicensed platforms can reach massive audiences despite blocking orders and advertising rules. In India, a think tank documented 1.6 billion visits to prohibited gambling sites in just three months, with traffic flowing through search, social media and mirror sites. The report’s description of “seamless payment processing” and relentless reemergence via cloned domains captures why enforcement often lags innovation. When illicit sites scale that quickly, athlete education and team compliance programs can be outgunned by the volume and sophistication of promotions reaching players and fans alike.
Japan’s example points to similar dynamics. Authorities told researchers that offshore casinos actively target local users, a finding that tracks with the Yomiuri case and the National Police Agency’s data on consumer confusion about legality. The common thread is access: if a player can open an app or browser and gamble in minutes, league rules and national laws become only as effective as the tools available to detect and deter it. That raises the stakes for regulated operators to demonstrate high compliance standards — and for governments to close gaps that let offshore sites capture demand outside established guardrails.
Regulators escalate compliance demands on operators
Against that backdrop, supervisors are signaling they will punish lapses that could facilitate illicit flows or weak oversight. The Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission imposed a £3.9 million fine on Celton Manx, the holding company behind Asia-facing SBOBET, for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing violations. In a public statement, the regulator said the company failed to ensure network partners met Isle of Man standards and cited shortcomings in customer verification, enhanced due diligence and suspicious activity controls. The enforcement followed an investigation launched in October 2024 and referenced requirements embedded in the island’s Gambling Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Code 2019.
Although Celton Manx said it found no evidence of laundering, the reduced fine still carried a clear message: regulators expect operators to apply consistent controls across networks, not just within their home market. That standard matters to sports integrity because weak links in payments and onboarding can let bad actors bet anonymously or launder proceeds through accounts tied to sports events. As leagues work to police player behavior, supervisors are sharpening the tools that keep the licensed market cleaner — and, in theory, more attractive than gray-market alternatives that thrive on speed and opacity.
Celebrity campaigns push growth, but scrutiny follows
At the same time, legal sportsbooks continue to seek mainstream growth by recruiting star power. BetMGM’s deal naming Derek Jeter a brand ambassador exemplifies how operators are using iconic athletes to reach broader audiences, with the company planning a Jeter-themed slot and a national ad campaign to cement the tie-in. The Jeter partnership follows a familiar playbook that also features Wayne Gretzky, Tim Howard and Barry Sanders backing the brand, alongside team-level sponsorships like the Las Vegas Aces.
These campaigns highlight a tension policy makers are now confronting: the more gambling is normalized through celebrity endorsements and league partnerships, the harder it becomes to fence off high-risk behaviors like micro prop betting or to keep players, staff and young fans at arm’s length from the product. For operators, the commercial upside is clear. For regulators and leagues, the question is how to preserve integrity and protect consumers when the marketing machine keeps accelerating.
Prop bets become a political and integrity flashpoint
That debate has reached statehouses. In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine urged the regulator to remove all proposition bets from the legal menu after a Major League Baseball investigation prompted paid leave for two Cleveland Guardians pitchers and amid reports of threats against college athletes tied to prop outcomes. DeWine called micro prop bets particularly harmful because a single player’s action can decide the wager, heightening the risk of harassment and manipulation. His stance, described in coverage of the Ohio proposal and detailed in a state news release, seeks league support for a broader, cross-sport ban.
The move reflects a shift from early legalization strategies that emphasized channeling bettors into regulated markets toward a risk-weighted approach that trims offerings most likely to trigger integrity incidents or abuse. It also bridges the gaps revealed elsewhere: athletes tempted by easy access to offshore sites, a digital ad ecosystem that can amplify illegal operators, and compliance failures that undermine trust in the licensed market. Whether regulators prune prop betting, step up enforcement against illicit platforms or tighten operator controls, the aim is the same — reduce the pressure points where gambling intersects most perilously with the games themselves.
Taken together, the recent scandals and policy responses outline a causal arc. Player infractions in Asia illustrate the human-level risks when access is frictionless. Gray-market scale in India shows how quickly consumer behavior can outpace enforcement. The Isle of Man case signals that regulators expect operators to anticipate and contain those risks. And Ohio’s push on prop bets demonstrates how political leaders may redraw the boundaries of legal markets to protect athletes and preserve public confidence. The next phase will test whether those measures can curb abuse without driving bettors back to the shadows that created the problem in the first place.
