Betting on NBA 2K suspended after results leaked

Tournament results were published ahead of the event being broadcast forcing operators to halt betting activity.

US.- Online bookmakers have suspended betting on the NBA 2K players-only tournament after results from the first round of fixtures were leaked before the broadcast.

The results from the tournament, which features 16 current NBA players battling one another from home, were made public yesterday ahead of the broadcast.

Despite the first-round games appearing to be broadcast live on ESPN and ESPN 2, they were in-fact pre-recorded.

Mybookie head oddsmaker, David Strauss, told Reuters: “It became clear that somebody knew something, and that the results had been leaked.

“That’s a nightmare scenario for us. When a result is compromised, we close the lines and look for the info ourselves.

“It’s almost always in the forums or on Twitter.”

A flurry of bets were placed on 16th-seeded Miami Heat forward Derrick Jones to beat top-seeded Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant, which he did 78-62 on Friday. From there it became clear to operators that punters were aware of results.

Before the results were leaked, favourites for the tournament changed day by day. At one point last week, Devin Booker was considered the clear favourite and he won his first-round game over Michael Porter Jnr 85-75.