Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Spot Betting NOT fixing

The spot fixing sting has caused a minor storm in the world of cricket and loads is being written about it. What I am going to write about is not "fixing" but "betting". Recently a channel was running a contest, during the Champions League, "Guess the commentator for the 11th over and win a XYZ"

This was about an off field entity but then I remembered some other contests that I had seen while watching matches, "Guess the score at the end of the 50th over" , "Guess the number of 4s/6s being hit in an inning" , "Guess the number of dropped catches in an inning" , "How many players will wear shades during an inning"

I know that these contests offer a prize(fixed value) and do not ask for any money to enter them (other than the money earned by telephone companies!) but still what is to stop the contest organizers who are known to the cricketers, probably friends with them , asking them to score one run less or more? Will it affect the outcome maybe maybe not.

If these contests are acceptable why not betting? As long as all people involved in the bet are aware of the risks, why is it illegal? In fact the risks involved seem quite similar trading in the stock market. Like the evil of fixing there is always the risk of insider trading but that does not mean trading stocks should be made illegal, does it? Wouldn't making betting legal reduce black money in the market and generate higher revenue for the government?

Maybe I am not aware of some other problems in legalizing betting, but then why are such TV contest considered legal? either ban both or allow both.

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