Sportsbooks Limit Single-Pitch Wagers To $200, Prohibit Them From Parlays, In Wake Of MLB Gambling Charges

By Bill Speros Nov 10th, 2025 4:32 PM EST

Sportsbooks Monday took the first step to "adjust" certain baseball-related wagers in the wake of the betting-related indictments handed down against two pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians. Working in conjunction with Major League Baseball, top U.S. sportsbooks will now limit single-pitch wagers to $200. The books will also prohibit those wagers from use in parlays.

Betting Limits Apply To Books That Control 98% Of Market

The limits apply to MLB Authorized Gaming Operators. They handle more than 98% of the sports betting action in the United States.

Boston-based DraftKings confirmed it has "adjusted certain bet types to further deter bad actors" in collaboration with Major League Baseball.

“Recent events across professional sports demonstrate that the legal, regulated sports betting industry is working as intended — promoting transparency, accountability, and protecting the integrity of sport. In collaboration with Major League Baseball, we have adjusted certain bet types to further deter bad actors while helping maintain fairness and trust in the game,” DraftKings Senior Director of Communications Stephen Miraglia told bookies.com in a statement via email

FanDuel, which shares roughly 65% of the U.S. betting market with DraftKings, is also an official partner of MLB.

“The legalized sports betting industry is built on a foundation of dialogue and collaboration with our league partners and the states in which we operate. This initiative illustrates our unwavering commitment to building a legal and regulated market that roots out abuses by those who seek to undermine fair competition and damage the integrity of the games we love," FanDuel President Christian Genetski said in a statement shared by MLB announcing the move.

'Micro-Bet' Wagers At Root Of MLB Gambling Case

Federal prosecutors allege former Cleveland Guardians reliever Emmanuel Clase and minor-league pitcher George Ortiz participated in a betting-related scheme that corrupted Major League Baseball from within.

“Micro-bet” pitch-level markets (e.g., ball/strike; pitch velocity) present heightened integrity risks because they focus on one-off events that can be determined by a single player and can be inconsequential to the outcome of the game, MLB said.

The risk on these pitch-level markets will be significantly mitigated by this new action targeted at the incentive to engage in misconduct. The creation of a strict bet limit on this type of bet, and the ban on parlaying them, reduces the payout for these markets and the ability to circumvent the new limit.

“Since the Supreme Court decision opened the door to legalized sports betting, Major League Baseball has continuously worked with industry and regulatory stakeholders across the country to uphold our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans. I commend Ohio Governor DeWine for his leadership on this issue over the last several months. I also commend the industry for working with us to take action on a national solution to address the risks posed by these pitch-level markets, which are particularly vulnerable to integrity concerns. We look forward to continuing to work with all stakeholders, including licensed sports betting operators, elected officials and regulators, to ensure we are always protecting the integrity of our game,” Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. said in a statement.

Each Player Faces Up To 20 Years In Prison

According to the indictment, Clase began working with a bettor as early as May 2023, intentionally throwing specific pitches for balls so the gambler could place and profit from prop bets. Ortiz allegedly joined the operation in June 2025. Prosecutors said wagers tied to their performances netted gamblers at least $450,000, with both players receiving kickbacks for their roles.

Each man faces serious federal charges: up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy, another 20 years for honest-services wire fraud conspiracy, 20 years for money-laundering conspiracy, and five years for conspiracy to influence sporting events by bribery.

“The defendants deprived the Cleveland Guardians and Major League Baseball of their honest services,” said Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District. “They defrauded the online betting platforms where the bets were placed. And they betrayed America’s pastime. Integrity, honesty and fair play are part of the DNA of professional sports. When corruption infiltrates the sport, it brings disgrace not only to the participants but damages the public trust in an institution that is vital and dear to all of us.”

The indictment underscores the Justice Department’s growing focus on sports-betting integrity as legal wagering expands nationwide — and the steep consequences for athletes who cross the line between competition and corruption.

Sportsbooks Worked With Leagues, Investigators

Ahead of the NBA-related betting arrests concerning Terry Rozier and Damon Jones, sports books and their integrity monitoring companies, notified The Association of betting irregularities. The books and their integrity partners, like IC 360, did the same concerning pitches thrown by Clase and Ortiz.

MLB fully participated with law enforcement ahead of the indictments of Clase and Ortiz. The NBA, however, dropped its investigation into any wrong doing by Rozier after it found that Rozier did not make any of the bets in question. Meanwhile, FanDuel took the information it received concerning Rozier to federal law enforcement.

In an interesting tell. MLB issued a statement almost immediately after the Clase and Ortiz indictments Sunday. The NBA statement following the arrests of Jones, Rozier, and coach Chauncey Billups in an alleged illegal-poker scheme, did not come for several hours after both their arrests and press conference televised on national TV. The arrests of Clase and Ortiz did not come until after the World Series.

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