The Pakistani Betting Scandal
Now I’ve held a bookmaking licence in my time and I’ve also had some good successes making the odd ridiculous bet. I had £10 each-way on Terimon for the Derby many years ago at 500-1 and it came second, so I made a profit of over a £1,000 on the transaction.
Usually though I’ve had inside information, as the horse has either been one of mine or it has been trained in the same stable. There was also my last winner, Joy of Freedom, who won at Folkestone at long odds, because she was pregnant and that had improved her no end!
But in all these cases the bookies offered the odds and we took them.
The one case we didn’t take the odds, was when my horse, Debach Delight, won at Ayr. She started at odds of 22-1 on, which meant that to win a pound, you needed to stake tenty-two. Not good betting odds, but I had noticed that to generate business the bookies were offering 10-1, if she won the race by ten lengths. When she duly won by twelve, I told the jockey about the betting, who said that I should have had a bet and told him, as he would have made sure I won. He wasn’t suggesting anything dishonest, but he had eased the horse down in the last furlong and if it had mattered, he would have made sure, she had won by the requisite distance, as she in fact had.
This just shows that if bookmakers offer silly bets, like whether the next delivery will be a no-ball, it is very easy to take advantage.
In part this is what has happened with the scandal involving the Pakistani cricketers. The bookies offer a silly bet, so someone takes advantage and asks the bowler to bowl a no-ball.
The first thing that needs to be done is rid the sport of these illegal bookmakers or at least the bets that encourage cheating. Only then will we be able to clean up the game.
I have to say that the response of Pakistani supporters in the UK, seems to have been exemplary, with most appearing to be extremely disappointed about the actions of the Pakistani players.
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The Anonymous Widower 
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