You do realize that odds are determined by how much is wagered, right?
It's amazing that so few people realize this.
Most people think that they are betting against the casino or the bookie.
The simplest way to explain it is something like:
You (betting heads) and your friend (betting tails) are betting $1 each on the flip of a coin. I am booking the bet. I collect $1 from each of you. Heads comes up, and you win. Your friend loses. I pay you your $1 back, plus 90 cents. I keep 10 cents of the $2 total bet.
A casino or bookie isn't in the business of picking winners; they are in the business of taking as many bets as they can on both sides of the bets, and collecting the vig or rake or carrying fee or hold, or whatever term you want to call it.
You do realize that odds are determined by how much is wagered, right?
It's amazing that so few people realize this.
Most people think that they are betting against the casino or the bookie.
The simplest way to explain it is something like:
You (betting heads) and your friend (betting tails) are betting $1 each on the flip of a coin. I am booking the bet. I collect $1 from each of you. Heads comes up, and you win. Your friend loses. I pay you your $1 back, plus 90 cents. I keep 10 cents of the $2 total bet.
A casino or bookie isn't in the business of picking winners; they are in the business of taking as many bets as they can on both sides of the bets, and collecting the vig or rake or carrying fee or hold, or whatever term you want to call it.
Just a side note....the casinos and bookies don't always win.
Most well known example was the Tyson/Holyfield fight. The odds for Holyfield opened at about 25 to 1, and so much money came in on Holyfield that the casinos could find very few people to wager on Tyson, no matter what odds they offered. When Holyfield won, the casinos took a bath.
Must have been a lot of moaning and groaning for the casino execs after that fight!
Only a matter of time before some elite is busted gambling/fixing own race
It does happen, but it's not much publicised. Not only players, but refs, coaches, trainers, etc. Point shaving, fake injuries, all kinds of stuff.
I always laugh when someone has a bet on the team that lost, and that someone says "I knew that it was fixed!!" and gets all pissed off. I ask them, if they knew the fix was in for Team X to win, why the devil did you bet on Team Y?