Sports Betting. Really?

Sports betting is apparently making big inroads in the United States, with several states legalizing it and more eager to get in on the scam. The question is, why? 

A prime example of why sports betting is utterly without merit can be found, oddly, in India and Russia, of all places. The New York Times has an entertaining article about a scam run on foolish Russian gamblers:

There were floodlights, high-definition cameras and umpires with walkie-talkies pinned to their shoulders. The cricket players wore colorful uniforms. The broadcast had the voices of recognized commentators, and the logo of the globally recognized television channel: the BBC.

But this was no Indian Premier League, the lucrative cricket tournament that generates hundreds of millions of dollars every year. It was an elaborate fraud, turning a large farm in a small village in the western Indian state of Gujarat into an arena of sporting excitement.

After years of Russian hackers scamming and ripping off computer users across the world, this is, in one way, a refreshing change of pace. The scammers got scammed!

But why are Russians betting on cricket matches in India? I mean, I'm sure these Russians don't care about cricket or even know the rules of cricket (who does?). The players on the field were total amateurs: unemployed construction workers and village teenagers. 

I don't know anything about cricket, other than the pitchers are called bowlers, who throw a ball at a wicket and a batsman, who hits the ball then runs back and forth while the opposing team fields the ball.

But it's really hard to believe that the gamblers watching this fake cricket match couldn't tell that the players were amateurs. Such players would make tons of mistakes bowling and hitting, their hitting would be weak, they would run slowly, they would fail to field easy balls. It would be like watching a bad little league game. How could these gamblers not tell they were being scammed?

The only logical conclusion: gamblers are idiots. Or perhaps more aptly: suffering from a mental illness.

My only personal exposure to sports gambling was when I was eight or ten years old and my dad took me to the pool hall (they sold used comics) and he and his friends put money on the game. And that's not even real gambling. It's sort of like a self-run tournament. 

I've played in numerous volleyball tournaments in which there were prizes, but don't consider that gambling. The worst that happens in these events is when teams sandbag (for example, A level players play at BB level) for the regional tournament so they win the prize.

The one time I went to Vegas was to see a beach volleyball tournament. I never set foot in a casino (too much cigarette smoke back then), much less placed any bets.

But, again, why bet on something that you have absolutely no understanding of or control over? This compulsion to gamble is a mental illness, and has landed countless "church ladies" in jail for embezzling money from their jobs or churches to finance their casino sprees.

I can understand poker, in which your own skill makes a difference in the outcome. There's even some skill involved in craps. But why play the lottery? Or slot machines?? Or gamble in casinos on something like blackjack? What a total waste of time and money! If you actually use skill to play blackjack, you get thrown out for counting cards.

All those bets are sucker bets. The house always wins.

The entire ethos of gambling is corrupt. Cheating is endemic in all forms of gambling, especially in dice and card games among "friends." Loaded dice, marked cards, and hidden cameras these days, are the scourge of gamblers.

And then there's internet poker. Wow. Two obvious scams: 1) you're not playing against real opponents, just against the computer, which gives you good enough cards to keep you on the hook, but in the end is just siphoning money out of your credit card. 2) On a "legitimate" poker site the other three people at your "table" are sitting in the same room, looking at each other's cards, and splitting the take among themselves, playing you for a sucker.

On the internet nobody knows you're a dog, but they should just assume you're a cheater.

I can understand betting on your favorite team, though if you think putting money on the home team will somehow help them win you are delusional. Hopes and prayers have more of an effect.

Gambling on a sport inevitably corrupts the sport. The prime example is the infamous Black Sox Scandal of 1919, when the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. This resulted in rules banning players who bet on their own games, like Pete Rose, who bet against the team he was managing. This got him banned for life and kicked out of the Hall of Fame.

Now people across the country are legally betting on MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA games, and even college and high-school sports. 

This will inevitably result in cynicism and corruption across all sports. No one will ever be sure they legitimately won a game -- there will always be that suspicion that the opponent threw it to cash in on a bet.