For people who bet college basketball

I have a question for folks that bet college basketball(like me).

In the era we live where schools are making money, and we get stories of student atheletes trying to cash in and make money as well (selling autographs, accepting free merchandise. tatoos, etc, parents getting free stuff)

I ask this about college basketball specficially because one person can make a big difference in the outcome of a game.

iF for example Duke is set to play Rutgers, and Duke is favored by 14. What if the pont guard on rutgers bets online (through friends or relatives) that duke will cover the 14. And to make sure it happens throws a couple errant passes, and misses a couple of free throws on purpose. It doesnt take alot . He doesnt have to play a horrible game. Nothing would stand out. If it looks like rutgers was going to lose by 11, the pont guard could make sure it was by 14 or more. I am not talking about the opposite where a team is favoried by 14 and a player throws the entire game so his team could lose.

Do you think student atheletes, by themselves, or with financial backing of friends/relatives in college basketball, are betting on their own games. Games that they can control.

It used to be point shaving involved the man in a trenchcoat arriving on campus and making a deal with a player. With online betting it seems to me, the players can make theirown deals . Especially in college basketball where one player can make a big difference.

And in the example if the 2 teams are too high profie. There are dozens of games daily with low profile teams with players who know they are never going to the pros. Such as a game like Sienna vs Manahttan, or denver vs north dakota. Do you think the mindset is...let me get paid now because I am not going to go to the pros and get paid later.

Generally not, but it's not impossible. This guy did it, served a year in prison, and helped mar his professional career in the process.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevin_Smith

Quote: LarryS

There are dozens of games daily with low profile teams with players who know they are never going to the pros. Do you think the mindset is...let me get paid now because I am not going to go to the pros and get paid later.

That would be the most dangerous situation though probably not the most profitable. Point shaving is hard to prove, betting is easier to prove. The coach's connections to gamblers are unknown.

Personally, I'd take the money and forget about reputation issues.

Your description of "what could happen" sounds a lot like what did happen with Arizona State a few years ago. (It came to a head when, if I remember correctly, there were so many rumors at ASU about point shaving that a lot of students went to Vegas and bet against them in their final regular season game - the point spread dropped from 15 to 11. It didn't help matters any that ASU came out cold in the first half. There were reports (some people have denied this) that somebody - a Pac-10 official, or even an FBI agent - went into the ASU locker room at halftime and told them what was going on; ASU got its act together and covered the point spread.)

An online book will take a game off the board if they think there's too much money coming from somewhere - and that's going to catch the eye of somebody in law enforcement somewhere.

Another reason it's hard to shave points, especially early in the season: anyone caught point shaving immediately loses all remaining NCAA eligibility. Of course, if you're a senior and it's the last game of the season, there isn't much to lose. (Even just placing a bet on a game involving your school - even in a different sport - results in a lifetime NCAA ban. For that matter, betting on any sport online, or through a bookmaker (it's not clear if sports books count), is a one-year ban for the first offense and a lifetime one for the second. This includes being in a fantasy football league where you have to pay a fee to get in and there's a prize - any prize - for winning.)

They can make more money from the man in the trenchcoat. You can't bet that much online. And a bunch of $500 bets coming in on a game that usually gets like $1000 total is a super easy red flag to spot.

who is going to get caught? THE ARIZONA ST game involved real people in the shadows showing up on campus and making deals.

Now with internet gambling you can make your own deals,

your uncle joey calls you up and says he is putting 5k AGAINST your team. If you make sure your team dont cover the 10 points he will send you 500 dollars. For a kid in college...who doesnt want a wad of 500 dollars in their pocket? So all you have to do is make sure you lose by more than 10. Its not easy to catch, your team is obviously inferior, your team is expected to lose. So you mis a couple foul shots. And you lose by 13 or 14. The player diesbt have to miss a bunch of shots. Just mis a couple foul shits and maybe mis 1 or 2 field goals in the course of an entire game.

How would that be "caught",......NEVER......unless someone talks.

Quote: LarryS

who is going to get caught? THE ARIZONA ST game involved real people in the shadows showing up on campus and making deals.

Now with internet gambling you can make your own deals,

your uncle joey calls you up and says he is putting 5k AGAINST your team. If you make sure your team dont cover the 10 points he will send you 500 dollars. For a kid in college...who doesnt want a wad of 500 dollars in their pocket? So all you have to do is make sure you lose by more than 10. Its not easy to catch, your team is obviously inferior, your team is expected to lose. So you mis a couple foul shots. And you lose by 13 or 14. The player diesbt have to miss a bunch of shots. Just mis a couple foul shits and maybe mis 1 or 2 field goals in the course of an entire game.

How would that be "caught",......NEVER......unless someone talks.

Which is what happens when your uncle Joey sends you the money, and then adds a note saying that now he has 20K bet on your team to lose, and if you don't throw the game, he'll send a copy of his original deal and proof that he made good on the payment to the NCAA, and unless you're really good at talking your way out of things, there goes your eligibility.

"Uncle Joey won't kill the goose laying his golden eggs, and besides, he'd be in a lot worse trouble than you" - that assumes that Joey doesn't need the money because he's in deep financial trouble, and it's this or sucking on the barrel of a loaded handgun as the only ways out.

Someone can get caught - does a player (especially one on scholarship) want to take the chance? (Like I said, it's probably far more likely at the end of a sub-.500 (and thus postseason-ineligible if it can't win its conference tournament) season where one of the star players is a senior without any NBA potential.)

the overwhelming amount of people doing this wont get caught. Just like student atheletes that get paid by local busnesses, agents,boosters. Someone every now and then squeels. But thats just the tip of the iceberg.

My guess , like getting paid under the table for appearances, autographs etc....student atheletes will also try to make money elsewhere as well..and if it means not throwing a game, but losing by the amount of points you are supposed to.....there will be creative ways to get that internet bet in.

for every uncle joey that will extort future point shaving from you...there are hundreds of good family men uncle joeys that love to make what they can with the goose that lays the golden egg .

whether the athelete is getting free tatoos as in the ohio state deal, or getting money for autographs as in the manziel situation. or getting an envelope of cash from a booster for attending his sons graduation party....this is all being done with the chance that someone might squeel.....but its done anyway. THe chance that someone might squeel does not seem to be a deterrant.

with ther internet betting access widely available....its naive to think no one is making creative bets on or against their own team. Unlike the arizona state players...noone today needs to wait for the main in the trenchcoat to physically arrive and make a deal.