Re: Cheating in sport
Originally Posted by
dinahsmum
->
How I hate this. Athletics, cricket, football and now tennis all apparently victims of this pernicious action. Others as well, I suspect
Call me old-fashioned but to me the very essence of sport is fair competition
It really is time the general populous bloody woke up. There is NO FAIR AND SQUARE sport any more.
When online betting was created the world changed . . . PERMANENTLY.
Online betting means computer systems which means that bookies know INSTANTLY how much money is riding on every competitor. Before the inline world it was much much harder to know instantly this information.
Some time after the advent of online gambling, there was another permanent change which was the ability to bet AGAINST a competitor or team or horse. Sites like Betfair for example allow you to bet that a horse WILL NOT win.
Once these 2 events took place the world of sport changed forever. There is just too much money at stake now for bookies and competitors to not be tempted to cheat. Armed with the knowledge that Player A winning will net the bookies £1m and that Player B winning will net the bookies £10m the result is going to be obvious. You can offer to pay Player A £2m to lose the match and you're still going to make a cool £8m.
This IS what happens in practice. Horse jockeys are paid to not win a race and have been exposed doing so. Snooker players dump matches. Boxers take a fall. etc etc
It is pointless betting on any sport to be honest because the entire industry is now crooked as a direct result of the advent of online gambling and the ability to both TAKE and LAY bets. Steer well clear imo.