Is Betting on Fixed Matches Considered Cheating?

Over the last few years there has been an increase in the number of people looking at fixed matches. This is because of the fact that there have been a number of high profile scandals where sportspeople have been found to be actively seeking out matches where they can attempt to get a fixed score. Many sportspeople feel that these are unfair and seem to place a lot of emphasis on sportsmanship instead of fair play. However, some sections of the public are always looking for an advantage, be it through cheating in a sporting event or even purposefully taking part in matches where there is no chance of win or loss.

In many cases the reason that matches are fixed is to ensure that the teams playing in the matches will not lose their opportunity to progress to the next round of the playoffs. As with other sports leagues around the world, the United States, Canada and many other countries, the fixed matches differ from country to country with certain fixed matches being commonplace in the United States and some in Canada. The concept of fixed matches in the United States and Canada is almost unknown compared to other countries, but the way it works is that matches are put together by professional sportswomen and sportscasters and not by the teams themselves. As such, the teams are never given any notice or are not consulted before matches are arranged so that the teams have a fixed number of games to achieve the goal of winning or placing in a tournament.

Matches are arranged through the authority of the respective governing body who are then carried out by the matches' official. In the case of the governing bodies of both the sexes, this is usually the women's league while in men's leagues, it is the men's cup. The point here is that all governing bodies have an interest in ensuring that matches are fair and competitive. For this reason, the results of the matches are announced and the teams are penalized for deliberately trying to beat each other in order to gain an advantage.

Sports journalists feel that fixing is not as widespread as people think it to be simply because there are not as many professional sportswomen and sportscasters covering the major league baseball, basketball, and football games. Also, in many ways, fixing comes across as entertainment more than anything else. Professional sportspersons and correspondents for major league sports openly admit to fixing a match or two and this may give baseball fans some hope that the sport may one day be fixed. Also, given the fact that governing bodies have their own interests in fixing the match, there is no chance whatsoever that the sport will be fixed in the near future.

In summary, fixing is a major problem in sports betting and sports journalism, but fixing is not the problem in the World Series of Poker. In fact, the problem is much worse in poker because there are a lot fewer sportswomen and correspondents covering the sport. So, if you are a sport bettor and you find yourself getting information from an unreliable source about fixed matches, my advice is to ignore that source. If you want to find out more about a potential match fixing scandal in the World Series of Poker, you can visit the websites of the three sportsbooks that organize the main tournament in poker, pay attention to the live blog of the final table and the forums at the site. The information you get from these resources will help you decide if the story is true and whether you should place your bets on the mentioned match.

My final advice to sport bettors is to ignore what they are told by everyone from friends, to gamblers, and to the sports magazines. All these people tell you that it is a great idea to bet deliberately against your opponent, regardless of the fact that your opponent is making statistical mistakes or is tanking. These people are telling you to engage in what is called "intentionally fixing" where you intentionally pick a losing team and bet that they will lose more games in the next series of the same set. While it may seem like it's a good strategy, I have never seen a professional gambler make any money doing it, so I would strongly discourage you from engaging in this tactic.