It’s happened. A player has been suspended for betting on NFL games. The National Football League had always opposed sports betting, in part based on their concerns that players would do this. And as far fetched as it sounds that an athlete making millions would risk their career on such a move, it’s now happened. Josh Shaw of the Arizona Cardinals placed bets on NFL games while he was in Las Vegas earlier this year. He was not playing in those games, there was no inside information used, and no games were compromised. Still, the NFL has taken swift and decisive action.

Hello everyone, Jay Todd back after a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday and hey, what says Thanksgiving better than football? And football just happens to be the topic of this week’s big story! The expansion of sports betting in America was opposed by the National Football League for years! In fact, the only reason they ever accepted betting on sports was that the Supreme Court ruled the states had the right to regulate it!

Now that tedious relationship is being put to the test as one of their players has been suspended for betting on NFL games! A clear violation of league rules. Well, that didn’t take long, did it?! Josh Shaw of the Arizona Cardinals placed bets on NFL games when he was in Las Vegas earlier this year, and even though he’s on injured reserve Mr. Shaw has been suspended from the league for the remainder of this season… all of next season… and maybe even beyond that!

Now to put this in perspective it was only a few weeks ago that Cleveland Browns player Miles Garrett assaulted another player… with a deadly weapon… during a live prime time game… in front of the whole world! Felonious assault only got Garrett suspended for the rest of this season and maybe… maybe some of next season. Meanwhile Shaw may never play another NFL game again! All for placing legal bets in a Las Vegas casino!

Now don’t misunderstand me here… I am not condemning the NFL for taking their actions. Nor am I condoning Shaw for his boneheaded move of blatantly violating the league’s rules! Shaw could have just thrown his entire career straight in the crapper, when all he had to do was walk over to the craps table if he really wanted some action.

What I am trying to point out, however, is just how serious the NFL is when it comes to players betting on their games. So serious, in fact, that the punishment for it is more severe than assault with a deadly weapon! What does that tell you about the attitude of the NFL when it comes to protecting their games and consequently, their bottom line.

Football players betting on NFL games wasn’t the only story making headlines while I was off for Thanksgiving. In New Jersey, sports betting profits have just passed online gambling in the state. Plus in Florida, a brand new sports betting bill was just introduced. Additionally, today December 3rd, Washington DC has officially started accepting applications for sports betting licenses. You can find all of the stories we talk about on this show, plus many more, when you visit our website.

Also, we have a brand new game review to tell you about this time it’s Fortune Coin, a slot machine from our friends at IGT. It’s an asian-style game with multi-level jackpots, free games and progressive wins. The full review for this game and hundreds more is available on our YouTube channel.

And finally this week: O.J. Simpson! Need I say more? Yeah, guess I’d better: He is actually suing a casino in Las Vegas for defamation of character! Apparently Mr. Simpson still believes he has some character! O.J.filed a defamation suit against the Cosmopolitan after the kicked him out for being “drunk and disruptive” to which Mr. Simpson replied, “Hey! I was only in there looking for the real killers!”