Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk revealed how bettors pressured him as sports gambling keeps growing.
Senators' Brady Tkachuk Reveals Why He Had to Hide His Venmo From NHL Fans originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk has admitted that he was under so much pressure involving gambling and fan requests about it that he was forced to change his Venmo.
Tkachuk arrived at that decision after fans began sending him messages demanding compensation for lost sports bets.
Speaking to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski on Tuesday, Tkachuk revealed that gamblers somehow found his personal account, which he had created in college, and started requesting money when their parlays failed.
“I eventually had to change my name because my Venmo, I had it in college,” Tkachuk said. “There was a selfie of me and my name, so people got hold of it. I had to change my name on it, take down my profile picture.
“Now, when I Venmo people, they’re probably like, ‘Who the hell is Venmoing?’”
"Do you really think I care about your parlay?"
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) August 12, 2025
Brady Tkachuk (@Senators) tells me that he changed his Venmo because so many gamblers were asking him to cover their losses. #NHLpic.twitter.com/VjqywJAlqy
Brady Tkachuk Reveals His Approach to Dealing with Sports Gamblers
Many of the messages Tkachuk received were centered on his shot or hit totals rather than his goals scored. That's a clever strategy for fans to use, given that the first two statistics are under much more control of players than the goals they can put in the opposite net.
Wyshynski asked Tkachuk if fans had asked him to cover their losses directly and how he takes all of the pressure those fans put on him.
“Honestly, it’s funny because it’s like, people really think I’m going to send them money like for the shots,” Tkachuk said. “I’m more pissed that we didn’t win the game or score or whatever it may be, like I could care less about not hitting the four, four and a half or whatever the cover is for the bet, like the parlay for scoring.
“Do you really think I care about your parlay? It’s pretty funny that people get so emotional and mad about that stuff.”
Tkachuk, however, was serious in stressing that he's never sent money to fans, correctly noting that doing so would violate NHL rules.
"Absolutely not," Tkachuk said. "I wouldn’t be playing in the NHL, because I bet that’s breaking a lot of rules."
Speaking about the idea that players should factor gambling lines into their play and whether or not it impacts their performances, Tkachuk didn't hesitate, saying, “That’s not even in our thought process.”
Michael Porter Jr. on sports gambling:
— NetsKingdom 👑🗽 (@NetsKingdomAJ) August 12, 2025
“Think about it if you can get all your homies rich by telling yo bet 10K on my under..this one game imma act like I got an injury and they all get a lil bag ..some people come from nothing & they think like that.”
🎥@onenightsteinypic.twitter.com/vqT7JYiNMc
Growing Gambling Concerns Across Sports
Tkachuk’s experience came in parallel to NBA's Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr. appearance on the “One Night With Steiny” podcast, where he warned that the rise of online wagering has shifted fans’ focus from the game to gambling outcomes.
“Think about it, if you can get all your homies rich by telling them, ‘Yo, bet $10,000 on my Under this one game. Imma act like I got an injury and I’ma sit out. Imma come out after three minutes. And they all get a lil bag because you did it one game,” Porter Jr. said. “Some people come from nothing, and they think like that.”
Related: Senators' Brady Tkachuk Drops Honest Take on Maple Leafs-Mitch Marner Saga
Related: Senators' Brady Tkachuk Reveals What He Learned From Auston Matthews at 4 Nations
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Hockey
