What do drugs and match-fixing mean for betting exchanges?

I really don't think it makes that much difference as we are dealing here with two or three outcome events and they would have to outlaw all betting to stop this.  It's a lot different to a bent horse where the lay aspect obviously comes in much more useful.

Grandstanding

ask the people who are involved in match fixing which they'd prefer.

a murky collection of underworld bookmakers or a transparent regulated industry with mou's with the major sporting bodies.

the puritanical window licking knee jerk reaction calling for a ban in any area of betting shows up idiots who don't deserve the right to vote.

the french may have set an attractive example where taxes on betting are directly fed back into the relevant sporting bodies, but you need confidence that they will act.

In fact an FSA model, i.e. entirely independent of the sport's governing/controlling body, is the ideal model; given the years i've been following tennis markets on here, i am very confident that the anti corruption unit choose not to pursue higher profile cases for fear of damaging their own sport. i would therefore question whether they deserve any additional funding.

Getting rid of legalised bookies and betting exchanges would just exarcerbate the problem imo.

Think of all the skewed stats and the resulting flawed statistical models!

Australia seems to be in the grip of a new wave of wowserism in recent years. And with an election happening in September this year gambling could well be a bit of a side issue.

Everyone always regarded horse-racing as being a bit on-the-nose but there was a resigned acceptance of that and the only people who cared were the die hard punters, many of whom were not averse to taking advantage of the occasional bit of extra-curricular information if they were fortunate enough to be privy.

But the current drug scandals affecting Australian Rules football (AFL) are touching on an area which has long been regarded as sacred, particularly in Melbourne. In fact, legalized betting on AFL is a relatively recent phenomenon. The game was considered too sacred to be tainted by gambling, even though there had been a lucrative black market of gambling on the game going back many decades.

Melbourne, for all its shabby modernity, is still wowser central at heart. They don't call the state "Victoria" for nothing. To suggest that Melbourne's very own game has been tainted by the involvement of criminals is too traumatic for Victorians to bear, even though just about everything else about Victoria and the city of Melbourne is blatantly corrupt to the core.

It's like the guy who once said "I can handle corruption in most things ... but not football."

With this latest apparent assault on the integrity of Victoria's own game, you can expect some reprisals which could possibly be aimed at the gambling industry. These reprisals are unlikely to make any sense or  do anything to stop any alleged wrongdoing. But wowserism is never logical, sensible or effective in achieving its own goals. It is, however, invariably, a bloody nuisance.

PittsburghPhil 09 Feb 13 13:11

With this latest apparent assault on the integrity of Victoria's own game, you can expect some reprisals which could possibly be aimed at the gambling industry. These reprisals are unlikely to make any sense or  do anything to stop any alleged wrongdoing. But wowserism is never logical, sensible or effective in achieving its own goals. It is, however, invariably, a bloody nuisance.

This is pretty much what made me start this thread.  It's not what should happen but what could happen as a result of the criminal underworld's deep involvement with match fixing.

Bookies can respond to a substantial number of bets being taken place by slashing the price (or even suspending if they're concerned something's up).  Exchanges don't do this, there are so many people taking the bets that it's much more difficult to identify something fishy.

Removing exchanges would not affect the criminal underworld's involvement in match fixing. It does however help provide very useful information for organisations that are in force to try to determine where games may be subject to match fixing. As such you could argue that it is beneficial to have exchanges when trying to deal with match fixing.

Can I ask a question.

Apart from our soul dying a little who loses when Asia fixes a sport/match

the bookies, punters etc..?

From what everyone seems to be saying, it's unregulated/black market bookies in Asia.  What I don't understand is how these entities exist if they're constantly being fleeced.  Unless it's actually these bookies who are doing the fixing and are so it's the foolish punters who are losing out.

I know next to nothing about it so I'm sure someone here can enlighten us.

If you have enough power, money and contacts to be able to influence sports outcomes then you have enough power, money and contacts to set up an unlicensed betting site or at the very least work with that betting site for a hefty sum.

so you think the bookies are in on it?

Not the regulated ones.