Sports some distance away, pandemic a safe bet for bookies
NEWDELHI: With all Indian sporting events suspended amid the public health crisis triggered by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), Delhi’s betting rings have found a new game to wager on – predictions of statistics linked to the pandemic.
While legal betting is limited to horse-racing in the country, syndicates run illicit betting markets, often called the “satta bazaar”. The Delhi Public Gambling Act (1955), which is an offshoot of the old colonial statute Public Gambling Act (1867), bans public gambling and keeping of common gaming houses in the national capital.
Seven illegal bookmakers HT spoke to in the Delhi-ncr said that since the Covid-19 outbreak forced sporting events to be put on hold, bets were now being placed on the dates and contours of the lockdown necessitated by the pandemic, the infection rate, the death toll, etc. These bets are often placed through surreptitious phone calls.
“Initially, when the virus was still new, bets were being placed on when it would be eradicated. Then, money was being placed on lockdown dates, which had a longer validity. Daily bets also included the infection and death counts in different cities,” a 38-year-old bookie involved in the illicit gambling business for nearly a decade.
Under the nationwide lockdown, which began on March 25, large gatherings, including social, political, religious, and sporting events were banned.
During the first phase of the lockdown, people were mostly placing bets on when the restrictions would be lifted. For instance, if a punter called to ask the “bhaav” (odds) to place a bet and they were told “44-46, Corona”, it meant that the odds were in “favour of corona” (infections rising in India) and the lockdown continuing beyond April 15. This means that for any bet, a bookie offers two odds — ‘safer’ and ‘riskier’. In the above cited instance, if a punter bets ₹1 lakh in favour of the safer odd (44), they get a return of ₹1.44 lakh. If they place their bet against safer odds, they bet ‘riskier’, so a win will earn the punter their principal amount of ₹1 lakh plus ₹46,000.
“The validity of the bet on lockdown dates was usually set a day before the government announcement was expected. Those who bet for Corona, which means lockdown extending, won a good sum of money,” the bookie quoted above said.
To seal transactions, most bookies are using code words such as “India jeetega”, “un-india” or “Dilli mein corona”. “If the odds are in favour of corona, it means you are betting that cases will rise or the lockdown will continue. In the context of Delhi, at present, the odds are in favour of Corona, which means cases will rise as compared to the previous day,” a second bookie said, asking not to be named.
An east Delhi-based bookmaker, who has been involved in the “satta market” for nearly three decades, said the interest in placing bets on the Covid-19 situation in India was primarily because of the ease with which predictions can be made on the widely available statistics.
He said many gamblers were waiting for the Indian Premier League (IPL), previously scheduled to begin from March 29, but the announcement on the postponement the matches came as a jolt to them.
According to Doha-based International Centre for Sports Security, which promotes integrity and security in sports, the illegal betting market in India is valued at $150 billion, which includes $200 million bet on every oneday international (ODI) played by the Indian cricket team. Officials estimate that everyday transactions worth ₹12-15 crore is made in Delhi on illegal bets.
Delhi Police commissioner SN Shrivastava said that even though police personnel were busy because of the Covid-19 outbreak, units of the force were keeping a watch on such illegal networks.
“We do not know how the nature of betting has exactly changed after the pandemic, but the Delhi Police are showing no laxity in cracking down on any crime network. Our teams are monitoring all cyber operations to check for any illegal activity. Yes, our men are getting infected because of the kind of work we do, but they are also recovering fast and we are taking all the care that policing in the city does not suffer in any sense,” Shrivastava said.