ESPN, a media that has been following the development and interviewing different members of the Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) community, has provided updates on the case of Amit Patel, 31, who is accused of misusing the team’s virtual credit card program from 2019 through 2023 to fuel what prosecutors allege is a luxurious lifestyle.
Gambling Addiction That Pre-Dates the Man’s Alleged Crime
Patel, though, and his lawyer, insist that the man is a recovering gambling addict who used 99% of the funds on gambling, and specifically DFS, which has now been confirmed by ESPN which dug deeper. According to various interviewees from the community, Patel’s identity was not known to his fellow players, which was unusual for the amounts that he was placing down at the time.
Known as ParlayPicker, Patel’s then-anonymous alter ego broke into the DFS scene out of nowhere. He quickly caught the eye of fellow DFS fans especially those who were very serious about this type of betting. That got people talking as ParlayPicker would go into tournaments and wager $500,000 across contests such as PGA Tour, UFC, NFL, Major League Baseball, and more.
He actually broke into space earlier than the alleged period of the theft and was first making waves in 2017. DFS fans though were mostly amazed at the account holder’s proclivity for spending large amounts without having a working grasp of how the DFS contest worked. Interviewed players and community members argued that ParlayPicker would put together a team with players who were not even supposed to play, which would naturally diminish the chances of a successful return.
He Was Legendary Bad at DFS
He would buy into events, but would not form teams or place drafts to compete, even when the buy-ins were as high as $3,000. Fantasy sports community members would attest that ParlayPicker came out of nowhere and that the other serious guys were keen on finding out how he could sustain his habit of spending so much at the rate he was and losing that much.
Naturally, the majority concluded that the guy must be loaded, never mind the fact that he was “legendary bad.” Not only that, but Patel may have been the biggest loser to ever grace websites such as FanDuel, as confirmed by an anonymous source who spoke to ESPN. The extent of his true gambling is not known, however, and it’s to be established if the money he syphoned off from the VCC program were indeed spent on betting and gambling.