Former OpenSea product manager Nathaniel Chastain has been charged with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with an insider trading scheme. Chastain was arrested Wednesday morning in New York City and is expected to be presented in court later today.
While employed at OpenSea, Chastain was responsible for deciding which NFT collections would be featured on OpenSea’s front page, a distinction that typically made the collections skyrocket in value. The indictment describes a pattern of 45 token…
The Sonos Arc and other refurbished Sonos speakers are all on sale. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
Everyone might be talking about the recent release of Sonos voice control or the Sonos Ray, but if Sonos’ entry-level soundbar doesn’t seem like a good fit, you can currently find discounts on a range of refurbished speakers in the Sonos catalog. Some of the current deal highlights include the Sonos Arc and Sonos Roam, which are available for $719 and $139, respectively.
The Sonos Arc normally sells for $900 new, but this refurbished model is available for $719. The Arc soundbar is perfect for anyone who wants to improve their home audio setup and offers a number of quality of life features in addition to an excellent sound profile. Like other Sonos soundbars, the Arc is compatible with Apple’s AirPlay 2, supports Google Assistant and…
There are two things you need to know about PXG founder and CEO Bob Parsons: he’s golf-obsessed and loves gambling. So naturally, Parsons is keen to put some cash on his regular matches.
“I just love to put myself in that position,” Parsons says. “The feeling’s wonderful.”
He’s not alone. Many players thrive under pressure. PGA tour pros will often play big money games to simulate the experience of a major championship. It’s also fun for amateurs to see if they can handle the pressure and not let the fear of losing diminish their abilities.
For Parsons, the trick to maintaining his focus with money on the line is remembering to have fun.
“I’ll catch myself not being happy about how it’s going, and I start thinking, ‘Brother, you’re doing the opposite of what you need to do to win.’ ” Re-engaging with a more jovial spirit almost always turns things around.
Of course, it’s called gambling because the risk of losing is a reality. “The most I’ve ever seen change hands on a hole is $9,600,” Parsons says; he is a billionaire, after all. “I’ve got the wherewithal to handle it. But I think about what I might lose and just accept it.”
Courtesy Image
What is golf gambling: types of games to play
As in the game of golf, gambling on it requires adhering to established etiquette, such as: Never welch on a bet, or no one will want to play with you; don’t get over-competitive, or no one will want to play with you; don’t tally up scores or exchange money on the greens, as it slows play.
Also, don’t gamble with money you don’t have or can’t comfortably afford to lose. If you think you might have a problem please contact ncpgambling.org.
For those who want to spice up their regular game with a little cash on the like, there are loads of ways for players to bet on a golf match. The “Nassau” is probably the most common. Essentially, it’s a match-play format with wagers on the front nine, the back nine, and the aggregate. Another intensely popular wagering concept is ‘Wolf.”
Each member of the group rotates as the “Wolf,” who hits the first tee shot. That player can then choose a partner as they tee off for a best ball contest on each hole. The “Wolf” can also choose to play solo against the rest of the group for a larger wager (usually double). And for those who are supremely confident in their game, the “Wolf” can also choose to go “Lone Wolf” before they hit their tee ball, which escalates the action further.
For fans of math, “Daytona” is a two-against-two game and scores are displayed as a double-digit integer—with the lower in the first place and the higher in the second. So, if you rolled in a par putt for a 4 and your partner made a double bogey, the group score would be 46; and if your competitors made bogey and double, their score would be 56 and the point differential would be 10. Each point can be assigned a dollar value. Had you made birdie, your team score would have been 36 and your opponents’ score flips their highest number first—now 65—for a 29-point shift.
But for Parsons and his usual crew of competitors, there’s only one game, and it’s called “Sweat.”
Scott Warman; Unsplash
Parsons describes his favorite on-course cash game as a kind of modified version of “Wolf,” in which you have the option to choose a partner for a hole. In “Sweat,” it’s one person versus the rest of the group, “so you have to beat three or four capable golfers’ best ball, which is no easy task,” Parsons says.
Every hole starts out with a value of one point. Parsons and his crew typically play for $100 per point. But here’s where it gets interesting: Any of the sides can double the bet against the person who has the tee whenever they want—as long as the ball has not already been holed. This is called a “roll.” A player can decline the “roll,” but they would then forfeit the hole and wager.
In another twist, when you “roll” someone, they get a half stroke advantage. So, you’d want to be in a good spot before kicking up the action.
Birdies automatically double the bet, eagles quadruple it, and a hole in one is 10x. There’s also what Parsons calls a “stop loss” rule that insists any player up 5 points or more must accept a “roll.”
There’s also no limit for “rolls” per hole, so “Sweat” is a game that can escalate quickly. While it sounds like it might be hard to keep track of where everything is during a match, Parsons insists it’s quite the opposite. “If you’re in it, you know exactly what’s happening,” he says.
Obviously, Parsons plays this game on a fairly sizable scale and will pretty much wager whatever his fellow competitors want to, but there are stakes he finds too high.
“Any amount that would devastate somebody I was playing with,” Parsons says. “I would have no interest in doing that.”
Twitter is pulling employees off of working on major consumer-facing features like audio Spaces, communities, and newsletters and instead plans to refocus their efforts on user growth and personalization, according to Bloomberg. The changes come as a pending buyout by Elon Musk is already casting a shadow on every move the company makes — and follows just weeks after Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced a pause on most hiring and fired both the company’s consumer product leader Kayvon Beykpour and the leader on the revenue side, Bruce Falck. Bloomberg’s report reveals some of the restructuring happening within Twitter under the direction of Jay Sullivan, the new head of product and interim head of revenue.
With two major championships down and two to go, the PGA Tour summer season is in full swing. The time between May’s PGA Championship and mid-June’s U.S. Open tends to be quiet, with one key exception: the Memorial Tournament, Jack Nicklaus’ event at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Ohio.
The Memorial tends to be notable for a few reasons. One is that broadcasters and players alike will shower praise on Nicklaus—and avoid any recent controversy surrounding him. Another is a strong field: As is the case in most years, the 2022 Memorial Tournament will draw most of the best players in the world. While it’s still not a major-caliber field, it comes closer than most tour events. In 2021, the Memorial had the sixth-strongest field of any tournament outside the majors and World Golf Championship events. In addition, last year’s Memorial Tournament leaderboard saw plenty of drama: Patrick Cantlay beat Colin Morikawa in a playoff after 54-hole leader Jon Rahm had to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test.
Wondering who to watch at this year’s event? Here are six players worth keeping an eye on at Muirfield this week. If you’re the betting type, you can browse a full odds list here, and the list below is loosely ordered by each player’s odds of winning.
The ‘use-by’ and ‘best-by’ dates printed on milk cartons and gallon jugs may soon become a thing of the past, giving way to more accurate and informative QR codes. A new study finds that consumers will use the QR codes — to better depict how long the milk is drinkable and create substantially less agricultural and food waste.
