Daily Times

LAHORE: As the final match of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy is due today (Sunday) between archrivals Pakistan and India at Oval Ground, gambling dens in the city and across the world have become active to make “fortunes”.

According to sources, loads of Lahoris are allegedly indulged in the illegal business, gambling, which picks up momentum during the cricket matches of Pakistan team, especially with archrival India.

As the advance technology has made the communication, travel and excess to information easier and converted the world into a global village, it also made gambling effortless. Now people need not need to travel to a casino, gambling den or racecourse, as there are computers, cell phones by which one can bet millions of rupees even from his or her bed.

Sadly, the cricket, which was once called as the `gentleman’ game, has become a hub of gambling. A handful of nations in the world are playing this game but no game in the world has ever been called as the hub of gambling. In this game, players, management, coaches and even empires have been accused of betting.

Some bookies working in different parts of the city, requesting to remain unnamed, said that bookies were using latest technologies like smartphones, wireless phones, Skype and different apps, including WhatsApp, Viber and WeChat to “flourish” their business. “People get themselves registered for online gambling on different websites and use their credit cards to bet on different games, including cricket, soccer, wrestling to name a few.

They said that police didn’t take any action against bookies as they pay bribes to police stations concerned. “If some police officers ever decide to raid a gambling den, their corrupt colleagues inform bookies prior to the raid,” they said.

Aside from taking bets on the results of matches, bookmakers offer odds on just about anything – the number of catches in a game, the amount of time it lasts and, in the latest case, when bowlers will be penalised by the umpire for a no-ball.

This betting on individual events in a match is known as spot-fixing, which is what some Pakistan’s players have been accused of in the recent past.

Cricket authorities have been trying to clean up the sport for a decade but the popularity of gambling in Asia and the variety of bets available are still undermining their efforts.

Talking to Daily Times, police high-ups said that the department had gathered all record and information about gambling dens operational in different parts of the city and soon a strict action would be taken against them. They added that frequent raids were being conducted by police and they soon all gamblers would be brought to the book.