LOL...NBA

harder? i dunno, maybe. counting cards in blackjack is all about trends, too, and it's pretty effective. having a ref on your side is more than just having arbitrary stats on your side.

it would be exceedingly difficult to get a 100% fix in any sport without the use of a high powered rifle. some times, guys have bad games and miss everything they put up. some times guys are unstoppable.

and blowing the whistle to get more points is itself a trend thing, isn't it? more whistles tend to mean more points, but there's no direct correlation between whistles and points.

 

Is anything 100%? No.

Is any mobster in his right mind gonna drop a few mil on card counting when he can instead get the dealer to send the card I want directly to me on a known specific hand? Again, no. Card counting would be a waste of time.

That's the difference between card counting and fixing though. Nothing is perfect. But getting the dealer on your side is a LOT different than lowering the house's edge using probabilities (card counting) or perceived probabilities (trend players).

 

las vegas was built on money earned from having a few percentage points in the house's favor. they don't need to win every hand, they just need you to keep playing. the money will come.

there is no equivalent of an ace up the sleeve in sports -- unless you control all the players. so whatever you do will be with an eye towards tilting the percentage in your favor.

 

Yes, having a ref is the equivalent to that in sports. You do realize that having a cheating ace doesn't guarantee you victory in a hand of poker either, don't you?

 

You are trying to minimize the degree to which "fixing" the game alters those percentages we talked about. Not sure why. The other situations that have been described presumes an honest game that happens to have the odds tilted in the house's favor. People then use tactics within the rules to try and improve those odds. It's not the same as a dishonest game.

And, sure, the money will keep coming to the casino - but only if the public doesn't think the outcome is altered by another interest. How long do you think people will keep returning to the casino if they think the games are fixed? There's a reason why they don't offer rasslin' lines.

 

One more thing on percentages...

The casino's interests and the gamblers' aren't the same. We - the gamblers - are trying to beat the house.

So, the sports gambler is trying to hit 53% to make a profit. Let's say trend betting - a perfectly honest tactic - helps a bettor go from about 53% to about 56%. That's a nice chunk of change for some nice work. Fixing the game moves that percentage into the 90's. Now, it's not a sure thing but it's a huge difference. Giant. Not nearly small enough to wave away by saying "well there's no sure thing" so everything will work out ok. It screws both the honest bettor and the casino. I have no love for THE MAN, but cheating him is gonna make him go away.

 

Plus, the house adjusts the number based on the action, and the number moved a couple of points in the games Danaghy was supposed to have fixed. That means an awful lot of money was coming in on that over. Coincidence. Um, sure. Yeah.

And a ref giving a few more free throws down the stretch could EASILY add a couple of points to any game if he needed to.

 

I got caught counting dice at the craps table at some Seneca Nation speakeasy.

 

They took you out back and hit you in the nuts with a hammer, didn't they?

 

tomahawk