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Former NBA player Jontay Porter wagered more than $50 million on FanDuel between September 2021 and November 2023, according to The New Yorker. His activity included 2,803 bets exceeding $1,000.
The profile, by Nick Berardini, examines Porter’s gambling addiction and the incentives that helped sustain it. It puts sportsbook VIP relationships at the center of his account.
FanDuel VIP Bonuses Kept Porter Betting
According to The New Yorker, FanDuel assigned Porter a VIP host who provided bonuses and credit to keep him betting. The article describes one $10,000 bonus.
“Frank became why I stayed,” Porter told the publication about his host.
Porter’s gambling extended beyond FanDuel. The profile describes betting through a friend’s DraftKings account, offshore casino sites and repeated wagers on table tennis.
Porter said the speed and intensity of live betting drew him in, particularly table tennis. His heavy betting also included a $125,000 wager on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Gambling Losses Prompted a Family Intervention
The New Yorker reports that Porter initially hid his gambling from his wife, Kelli Kingma. She later discovered it and tried to intervene.
The financial damage included a $500,000 loan against the house that Porter lost gambling, according to the article. He also owed money to bookmakers and others connected to his gambling debts.
His family staged an intervention and paid for a 30-day treatment program in Florida. Porter signed with the Toronto Raptors in December 2023 and returned to the court, but his gambling continued.
Sportsbook Engagement Practices Face Scrutiny
The profile places Porter’s experience within the expansion of U.S. sports betting after the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision.
It examines how app-based betting and VIP incentives can reinforce compulsive gambling. The article also references lawsuits and investigations alleging that sportsbook VIP programs and algorithmic targeting keep problem gamblers betting.
“We live in a generation of consumerism and greed, and I was the pinnacle of that,” Porter told The New Yorker.
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Source: As reported by The New Yorker.
