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Report: FBI investigating Phil Mickelson

Mward said:
I don't know, saying he's not the target of inside trading kinda kills it dead. He might be being asked questions in regards to Mr Walters and Mr Icahn.

As busy as Phil is with practice, family, travel etc I highly doubt he's really making a lot of his own financial decisions. His financial advisors are doing all his handling for him and he's just being told to let them do their job and he keep doing his. That's just my unofficial and information lacking opinion though.
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I woldn't expect his lawyer to say any different, even if he is up to his eyeballs in it.
 
Good men are capable of making bad decisions, there goes my US open pick darnit!
 
Trout Bum said:
Good men are capable of making bad decisions, there goes my US open pick darnit!
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Just drives me crazy when it's people that are already set for life trying to make another quick buck (assuming that's the case)
 
Me too Mike me too, let's hope he's clean.
 
FBI approached him "after a round". I'd think half Phil's life is "after a round".
Did they go to the course? That would seem like a publicity stunt. If it's in the media, wouldn't that mean they've already done their investigating?

And how does insider trading equate to gambling and sports here? Those are occupations, I don't see the connection. If he was a contractor, I doubt this would involve plumbing.
 
Icahn claims to have never met Phil and barely knows of him. If this is true then Phil would have had to gotten the tip from another source to be consider in this investigation.

Someone mention Michael Jordon got away with it. What did he get away with, insider trading?
 
This should be an interesting story to follow along with over the weekend.


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Tadashi70 said:
Icahn claims to have never met Phil and barely knows of him. If this is true then Phil would have had to gotten the tip from another source to be consider in this investigation.

Someone mention Michael Jordon got away with it. What did he get away with, insider trading?
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Jordan is an interesting comparison as they both have gambling "habits"
 
This still bugs me. Without getting into whether he did it or not, there is a presumption of innocence in this country. We are all innocent of any crime until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt as determined by a jury of our peers.

That used to be true, until our country morphed into one giant reality TV show culture. Although I don't know for sure, I suspect that if the FBI were investigating someone back in say, the early 60s, they wouldn't have done a press release saying "hey, were investigating this guy." But I guess they do now. And once that's out there, we have a 'journalistic' culture to not only report on it 24/7 for days, sometimes weeks, but then, what seems like a majority of journalism is currently hell bent on damning anyone who is rich, especially wall street people. Think about it, when was the last time you heard the phrase "Koch Brothers" in a positive light? Prior to stepping down as CEO, Bill Gates was constantly under media scrutiny, but now that he's given up a chunk of his fortune and primarily retired, he has turned into a media favorite with his charitable work. No one brings up his years of lawsuits for alleged antitrust violations, the multiple class actions lawsuits over all of us having to purchase windows with our PC, etc.

As a lawyer, although I'm not a white collar federal criminal lawyer, I do know that usually, a person is aware of an investigation pretty early on by the Feds. The Feds just aren't that sneaky when they want your financial information. I think it's beyond 'low class' to approach a guy after he gets done with his job for the day. I also find it astounding that his lawyer(s) were not on top of this to prevent it from being a media circus.

If Phil isn't guilty of anything, I hope he (meaning his lawyers) puts the Feds in their place. But even if he does, the majority of media won't report it beyond a 10 second soundbite or a 1 paragraph side bar newspaper article. The damage to his reputation is already done.

~Rock
 
Wow, you just never know, hope Phil is cleared of all of this.
 
Gambling is a real issue when it comes to golf. I say "issue" and not "problem", because I don't believe the sport is damaged by it. It's just a big elephant in the room if you are the PGA Tour.

The sport of golf in general involves a lot of gambling. It rarely involves large amounts of money for the weekly hacker, but it is very, very common. For the tour player, it's quite common to hear them talk about bets they have going with other players. It also used to be the only way some golfers could survive on tour. In the old days, players often made more money gambling in the practice rounds than they did on the weekend. Purses were small, and simply making the cut wasn't enough to guarantee covering your expenses. In Frank Beard's book "Pro" he says that a young player with any desire to play professional golf must learn how to gamble. He must learn how to play with something significant on the line if he is going to learn to handle the pressure of professional golf. At any rate, almost all professional golfers gamble, whether it's a friendly Nassau or a high dollar skins game.

In the U.K. there is constant gambling going on just outside tournament grounds. It is accepted and perhaps encouraged over there. Rory McIlroy's father famously made a bet at 500-1 odds that Rory would win the Open Championship by the age of 25. I believe some other guy made a bunch of money by his son merely playing in the Open last year, but I don't recall exactly the terms.

Here in the Tampa area, there was recently a very public crackdown on golf course gambling. I believe it was at Bogeybrain's course. One course employee was mad at the pro there and reported all of the gambling that went on there to the police.

Now, the gambling Phil has been rumored to be involved in is not limited to golf, but if this story starts getting more attention, I can see the PGA Tour having to address gambling in golf. It could really become a problem.
 
Wicked Cool Bearded Man said:
Weird. I don't recall that either
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Jordan had some pretty well known gambling problems. There is a conspiracy that his temporary retirement from the NBA was secretly a suspension for gambling. The theory is that David Stern decided that it could destroy the game if the best player went down for gambling, so Jordan agreed to retire for a year or two.
 
Erky said:
Jordan had some pretty well known gambling problems. There is a conspiracy that his temporary retirement from the NBA was secretly a suspension for gambling. The theory is that David Stern decided that it could destroy the game if the best player went down for gambling, so Jordan agreed to retire for a year or two.
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Oh I remember the gambling issues and the theory- I don't remember him being questioned about insider trading
 
Erky said:
Gambling is a real issue when it comes to golf. I say "issue" and not "problem", because I don't believe the sport is damaged by it. It's just a big elephant in the room if you are the PGA Tour.

The sport of golf in general involves a lot of gambling. It rarely involves large amounts of money for the weekly hacker, but it is very, very common. For the tour player, it's quite common to hear them talk about bets they have going with other players. It also used to be the only way some golfers could survive on tour. In the old days, players often made more money gambling in the practice rounds than they did on the weekend. Purses were small, and simply making the cut wasn't enough to guarantee covering your expenses. In Frank Beard's book "Pro" he says that a young player with any desire to play professional golf must learn how to gamble. He must learn how to play with something significant on the line if he is going to learn to handle the pressure of professional golf. At any rate, almost all professional golfers gamble, whether it's a friendly Nassau or a high dollar skins game.

In the U.K. there is constant gambling going on just outside tournament grounds. It is accepted and perhaps encouraged over there. Rory McIlroy's father famously made a bet at 500-1 odds that Rory would win the Open Championship by the age of 25. I believe some other guy made a bunch of money by his son merely playing in the Open last year, but I don't recall exactly the terms.

Here in the Tampa area, there was recently a very public crackdown on golf course gambling. I believe it was at Bogeybrain's course. One course employee was mad at the pro there and reported all of the gambling that went on there to the police.

Now, the gambling Phil has been rumored to be involved in is not limited to golf, but if this story starts getting more attention, I can see the PGA Tour having to address gambling in golf. It could really become a problem.
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This has nothing to do with gambling. His bets are well documented and above board. Not sure why gambling is even being brought into it as an issue.
 
Tadashi70 said:
This has nothing to do with gambling. His bets are well documented and above board. Not sure why gambling is even being brought into it as an issue.
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Exactly my point Freddie.
 
Erky said:
Yeah, no idea on insider trading.
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I think that it's a jump to say someone's gambling habits would automatically role over into stocks and it's kind of an unfair assumption
 
This isn't a big deal. A guy of Mickelson worth has resources to battle in court and get his wrist slapped. I had a buddy go through something like this and all he got was probation.

The jordan thing in my mind is no doubt true.
 
Tadashi70 said:
This has nothing to do with gambling. His bets are well documented and above board. Not sure why gambling is even being brought into it as an issue.
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They are going to have to deal with the fact that he is apparently being associated with an illegal activity (insider trading) with a well known gambler. They didn't include the word "gambler" by accident in the article.

Phil Mickelson gambler William "Billy" Walters and legendary billionaire investor Carl Icahn are being investigated by the FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a "major insider-trading probe involving finance, gambling and sports," according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.


 
With the company Phil keeps, he certainly runs across insider information, at least as it's defined by the SEC. Let's hope he wasn't dumb and acted on that information like Martha Stewart did.
 
Wicked Cool Bearded Man said:
I think that it's a jump to say someone's gambling habits would automatically role over into stocks and it's kind of an unfair assumption
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The article says the probe is about insider trading, sports and gambling. Nobody here is making a jump. Either the media or FBI is making that jump.
 
Erky said:
They are going to have to deal with the fact that he is apparently being associated with an illegal activity (insider trading) with a well known gambler. They didn't include the word "gambler" by accident in the article.

Phil Mickelson gambler William "Billy" Walters and legendary billionaire investor Carl Icahn are being investigated by the FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a "major insider-trading probe involving finance, gambling and sports," according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
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walters is a professional gambler and business man. Not sire how being mentioned with Phil means the PGA needs to handle gambling. There is no rule saying Phil can't gamble.

I've played lots of poker with a few professional poker players that are under investigation for stealing millions. Should I be included or associated because I have associated with these guys.
 
Tadashi70 said:
walters is a professional gambler and business man. Not sire how being mentioned with Phil means the PGA needs to handle gambling. There is no rule saying Phil can't gamble.

I've played lots of poker with a few professional poker players that are under investigation for stealing millions. Should I be included or associated because I have associated with these guys.
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I just see a world now where you are forced to address things like this. It's possible everything is on the up and up. However, I can see media members forcing Tim Finchem or someone to address questions like "One of your biggest stars is being connected to professional gamblers and FBI probes into gambling, sports and insider trading. What is the Tour's stance?" "Commissioner, do you believe there is a connection between one of the game's biggest stars playing below his ability in big tournaments this year, and him potentially owing a gambler for some insider stock advice?"
 
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