Heartbreaker for sports bettors; What killed Tony Hsieh?

However, ESPN (which was carrying the game) made no mention of the point-spread erasure, even though some of its fellows, like CBS, have acknowledged sports betting at least to the extent of publishing the over/under. Fox Sports‘ Joe Buck has spoken of the verboten subject of covering. But not ESPN, even though it carries sports-betting programming. Heck, you can’t watch an NFL game this season without seeing a FanDuel ad, can you? It’s the elephant in the middle of the room. Traina argues, “when you have a significant and surreal turnaround like the one in Philadelphia on Monday night, it has to be mentioned because the only people still watching at that point are the ones with cash on the line.”

Speaking of bad beats, who would have figured the “Washington football team” to clobber the Dallas Cowboys 41-16 in a Thanksgiving Day turkey? Thirty million-plus people, evidently, as it is 2020’s most-watched game to date. Clearly people are so starved for NFL action they’ll tune into a meaningless matchup like this. It’s a cinch to beat the viewership of the much-delayed Pittsburgh Steelers/Baltimore Ravens matchup, now shoehorned into a 12:40 p.m. (Vegas time) broadcast slot. The NFL was offered prime time but didn’t take it. WTF, Roger Goodell?

Global Gaming Business thinks sports betting is all well and good but that the gold mine is in Internet gambling—and they’re right. Revenue between now and 2030 is projected by Wall Street as anywhere from $20 billion to $30 billion. As SB Tech Chairman Gavin Isaacs, a true industry expert, told the news service, “Casino games are higher margin than sports betting, so there is going to be lots of opportunity for game developers willing to get licensed and develop iGaming titles.” We’ve already seen in New Jersey and Pennsylvania how i-gaming can come to the rescue of brick-and-mortar casinos during a shutdown. Green Jade Games boss Jesper Kärrbrink adds, “The merging of the video game and gambling industries into one is a no-brainer. The gambling industry needs new players and the video game industry needs new revenue streams.” Indeed.

Was Tony Hsieh the victim of adult game-playing gone wrong or felled by an accidental overdose? Those are some of the questions arising as more becomes known about the house fire that ultimately killed the business genius and philanthropist last week. For one thing, the house itself wasn’t more than slightly burned, the damage confined to an attached shed in which Hsieh was locked. Why? By whom? The 911 call adds layers of mystery to what seemed a straightforward news story. Dispatchers were told Hsieh was “barricaded inside … Everyone else is outside the house. They are trying to get him to open up.” The British press is less than circumspect, painting Hsieh as someone whose substance abuse was an open secret, hooked on nitrous oxide (shades of Blue Velvet) and Grey Goose vodka, and fascinated by burning candles.

Speculation is that some mix of the above ingredients set off the conflagration in New London. “In recent months the nitrous oxide had become as important to Tony as his alcohol and Grey Goose vodka was his best friend,” a “close colleague” told the Daily Mail. Said another, “The talk among his former colleagues at Zappos is that Tony was likely in the shed blacked out drunk and on drugs.” We won’t know for sure until the toxicology screen comes back, which won’t be until next month. “His heavy alcohol and drug use was known by everyone around him,” the “close colleague” related. “Anyone that challenged him about it was cast aside … He was a major alcoholic and a drug addict. He was hardcore.” (Having dealt with alcoholics, we can vouch for the behavior.)

That allegedly included “dozens” of daily infusions of nitrous oxide. “He lived a crazy, eccentric life. The drugs often made him hallucinate, he became paranoid—that could explain why he barricaded himself in,” said the Daily Mail‘s primary source. “Tony was very fond of candles. He liked to set the atmosphere. The guess is that he managed to ignite one of the nitrous oxide canisters which caused a small explosion that killed him.” The timing of the fire—3:30 a.m.—would jibe with stories of Hsieh bingeing on drink and drugs in the predawn hours. It’s all a tremendous shame, as it threatens to overshadow Hsieh’s Midas touch in business and his community accomplishments, the foremost of which was to reclaim downtown Las Vegas for locals, making it a place to eat, drink and be merry, not just gamble and serve jury duty.