2011 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Mr MattM wrote:
Clearly you can gamble on just about anything. However, if you popularize wagering in T&F the corruption would start almost immediately. Considering that most T&F athletes don't make big money in their careers it would be pretty easy to payoff certain athletes to get a certain outcome. Not a fan of organized wagering on Track events, I guess.

I thought about this, but it wouldn't be easy to pull off.

A runner can't guarantee a victory for either him or for someone else in the same way that a 2 team/2 person competition. In a basketball game, a point guard can easily shave points to influence the spread so that the other team covers. In track, even if one runner was bought off, he couldn't guarantee who would win. And you can't bet "Haile won't win the Berlin marathon;" you have to bet on who will win. So I don't see how the bookies could make money unless they bought off, for example, 7 of the 8 runners in a 5k.

That being said, given that T&F is still rebuilding its image from PED abuse, I don't see gambling at the event happening any time soon.

[quote="Dave-O"]

Mr MattM wrote:
So I don't see how the bookies could make money unless they bought off, for example, 7 of the 8 runners in a 5k.

That being said, given that T&F is still rebuilding its image from PED abuse, I don't see gambling at the event happening any time soon.

It's not who wins or loses, it's who's being bet on. You could pay the favorite to lose. If it's heavy favorite, the bookies come out ahead.

Mr MattM wrote:

Clearly you can gamble on just about anything.

Available lines this morning:

- Odds to win the Voice.(McClellan +800 (which means 8-1); Frampton +250; Colon -250; Martinez +175)
- Odd to win the Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest
- Tour De France
- RUgby World Cup
- World series of Poker (gambling on a gambling event?)
- US Presidential Election (too many to list)

Mr MattM wrote:

It's not who wins or loses, it's who's being bet on. You could pay the favorite to lose. If it's heavy favorite, the bookies come out ahead.

Not a lot of people bet heavy favorites, though, because there's no value. If Haile is an -500 favorite, are people really going to bet $100 to win only $20? You'd rather bet the 5th favorite at +200 to win double your bet.

If you're saying pay the competitor with the most action (so most exposure for the books), the books don't know that until the last second. Not enough time to negotiate a pay off when the majority of action comes in the last hour.

I have a few friends that bet UFC heavily and that seems to work. It'd bea lot easier to buy off a fighter in a 1-on-1 fight, and that seems to work okay.

we can open an offshore company create website and start taking bets for T&F. we would not be able to collect money from any us residents as it is illegal. So bets would only come from outside the US. You can be like poker stars and run the chance of spending a long time in jail. Who is in?

Kenny B. wrote:we can open an offshore company create website and start taking bets for T&F. we would not be able to collect money from any us residents as it is illegal. So bets would only come from outside the US. You can be like poker stars and run the chance of spending a long time in jail. Who is in?

I'll represent you! I need a new pair of Lunar Racers!

charles wrote:

Kenny B. wrote:we can open an offshore company create website and start taking bets for T&F. we would not be able to collect money from any us residents as it is illegal. So bets would only come from outside the US. You can be like poker stars and run the chance of spending a long time in jail. Who is in?

I'll represent you! I need a new pair of Lunar Racers!

We call it. Running Stars