It is gambling season, folks!

It is a universal obsession! But come Diwali and Indians appear to beat all the rest of the world combined in the art of gambling. Crores of rupees are put up on stake and while winners appear to be reveling in the new-found wealth, losers don’t seem to mind it.
It is curious to note that the traditional game of dice, which evidently became responsible for all the hardships that Pandavas faced, and eventually led to the war of Mahabharata, became an obsession to such an extent that nobody seems to mind the loss, just for the sake of recreation or keeping the tradition alive.
Today, gambling is not restricted to dice alone. Internationally famous gambling options like casino games, baccarat, keno, pachinko parlours (of Japan) and various options of Poker may not be too common here, but Indians have devised their own wagering options.
So if the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex has hit an all-time high, even crossing the previous record of 2,612 points in May this year, this ‘Diwali Dhamaka’ could be attributed to Indians penchant to gamble this season.
Satta is being put on the ongoing civic elections in UP with bets on who is going to win, who is going to be runners-up and even who will be the last. As per information available with Hi Time Express, several crore of rupees are on stake during the elections in Lucknow and Kanpur alone.
To take advantage of the season, horse racing has been revived in Lucknow for the season this Sunday and the President of Lucknow Race Fund (LRF) Brigadier SK Khajuna and President of Genesis Club Pankaj Rastogi, are gearing up to ‘sell the races’ all over the country. We need not have to specify what ‘selling the races’ stands for!
Perhaps realizing the enormous potential that this ‘gambling’ season has for Indians, even ICC has organized the Champions Trophy during this month alone, as the build-up is taking place prior to Diwali and the important games are scheduled after Diwali. Even if ICC won’t like to associate with betting, the more the gamblers, the more will be the sale of tickets.
All this, when sports betting is a crime in India! But despite its unlawful nature, sports betting is prospering by the day in India and authorities have been unable to check its increase, leave alone curb it.
Most of sports betting in India is restricted to Cricket alone. This betting has seen several new entrants during the ongoing Champions Trophy, owing to its closeness with Diwali. More than 200 crore rupees worth of money is riding on the series and as the matches get bigger, more money is likely to float in. As of now, Australia is the favourite with India at close second. Sachin Tendulkar is joint favourite to top score at 11/2 (6.50), along with Ricky Ponting of Australia. At the same time, Brett Lee is favourite to be the top wicket-taker, at 100/30 (4.33) while Shoaib Akhtar is 6/1 (7.00), Shane Bond 7/1 (8.00) and Harbhajan Singh 8/1 (9.00) while Irfan Pathan is languishing at 12/1 (13.00).
Various sites like sportsbetting.com, cricinfobetting.com or freebetting.net has brought in credit card payments to betting, adding to the uneasiness of the regulatory authorities. Some of these sites even give options to bet on how much runs would be scored in a particular over, how many runs will a particular player make or will a batsman make more than 34 runs or less than 30 runs.
Wonder what the authorities are doing to check this, considering we journos have access to so much of information!

Box 1
In mechanical or electronic gambling such as lotteries, slot machines and bingo, the results are random and unpredictable; no amount of skill or knowledge (assuming machinery is functioning as intended) can give an advantage in predictability to any one.
However, for sports events such as horse racing and cricket matches, there is some predictability to the outcome; thus a person with greater knowledge and/or skill will have an advantage over others.

Box 2
Psychological aspects
Though many participate in gambling as a form of recreation or even as a means to gain an income, gambling, like any behaviour which involves variation in brain chemistry, can become a psychologically addictive and harmful behaviour in some people. Reinforcement phenomena may also make gamblers persist in gambling even after repeated losses. Because of the negative connotations of the word ‘gambling’, casinos and race tracks often use the euphemism ‘gaming’ to describe the recreational gambling activities they offer. Howsoever they name it, the number of houses that keep getting ruined, every year, right from the time of Pandavas, and lately through lottery and other means, is a reminder that we should try to check this menace, as early as possible.