What are the odds?
Betting in India behind the scandal
Posted: Thursday December 17, 1998 09:22 AM
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President of International Cricket Council, Jagmohan Dalmiya, addresses a press conference on the recent charges of betting AP |
BOMBAY, India (AP) -- Less than 24 hours before the first test match between India and New Zealand, the stakes are evenly balanced, bookies said Thursday in Bombay, India's betting capital.
Australian test players Shane Warne and Mark Waugh's admission last week that they sold information to an Indian bookmaker has focused attention on the big money changing hands behind the scenes.
Only bets at the horse races are legal in India, but betting on the country's most popular sport is brisk, big business despite police raids. Cricket bookies face up to three years jail, but usually pay a small fine and are released the same night they are caught.
"Betting has permeated into middle class culture. People don't think of it as bad, but bet openly at home among friends and relatives," said Bombay resident Ravi Rao, who adds he no longer bets.
Bombay police say betting is the beginning of a convoluted money chain that leads to match fixing. But smalltime bookies, whom average people call to place their bets, are rarely connected with match fixing.
"There could be eight to 10 rungs between the small bookie and the top man. It is this top bookie who has the connection with the fixer," said S. Inamdar, a senior police officer.
"In the last half hour the match could turn around and the fixer knows what is happening," Inamdar said.
Stiff competition and insecurity about their place on the team could make cricketers turn to gambling, police believe.
Bookies -- many of whom also have legitimate jobs as grain merchants, textile traders or jewelers -- set up betting centers in matchbox apartments packed with telephones and television sets. The telephone lines are so crucial to the network that local telephone workers are offered bribes for temporary connections.
The bigger bookmakers are equipped with computers, while the smaller bookies keep track of code-named bettors on sheafs of paper.
While cricket matches in which India competes draw the highest stakes, matches involving South Africa, Pakistan, Australia, West Indies and Sri Lanka also are big draws. Other heavy betting events are Wimbledon tennis and World Cup football.
The minimum transaction over the telephone is 1,000 rupees and could go up to millions of rupees.
Bombay bookies take calls from cricket crazy bettors thousands of miles (kilometers) away in cities like Dubai and Hongkong. The money involved escapes the income tax net. On a good day a main operator could earn millions of rupees.
A first time gambler must be introduced by a regular as a security precaution. The regular must initially handle the first-timer's money; it is only after a test period that the newcomer gets a personal account.
Cricket betting is not just a matter of choosing who will win or lose. Bettors take odds on how the coin toss that opens play will fall, or on a team's total score. Regulars on open phone lines with the bookie can wager on the outcome of each ball thrown by the bowler -- whether the batsmen will slog a six or go out for a duck.
Bets can even be placed on the possibility of rain drowning out a match.
The police urge stricter laws and higher fines to curb betting.
"Gambling is a tendency. Cricket is the pretext," said police officer Inamdar.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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