On the eve of the World Cup semi-final clash between Indiaand New Zealand, the betting bazaars in Delhi have gone crazy: the policeestimates that the bids in the illegal satta (betting) market could havecrossed the Rs 150-crore mark in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Punters, mostly from the trading class, and bookies linkedto underworld syndicates are known to have wider network in Delhi’s adjoiningtowns of Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida and Gurugram.
Delhi Police have put their electronic surveillance in topgear.
“We are taking all measures to monitor the sattaoperators in the wake of the crucial India-New Zealand semi-final match onTuesday,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Madhur Verma told IANS.
“We are keeping a tab on five star hotels and guesthouses, particularly in Karol Bagh and Old Delhi area that are hired bybig-time punters. These operators have strong networks, which are oftendifficult to crack, but we are on the job.
“On previous occasions, the police arrested top bookiesfrom north Delhi, who had a sophisticated internet software of betting linkedwith mobile phones.”
Police sources said odds were placed on New Zealand as Indiaseem the favourites in Tuesday’s tie. The bids are not only placed on who wins,but also over-to-over and ball-to-ball.
Individual bids are placed on who will take maximum wicketsor who will hit the most sixes. The betting starts right at the toss.
“Most punters place their bids on which team will winthe toss. Besides, after winning the toss, bids are placed on the decision ofthe captain, whether he would decide to bat or field. This time the basebetting rate on Team India is Rs 4.35 and Rs 49 on New Zealand,” a punterfrom West Delhi told IANS.
The punters in the capital’s satta market — in Khari Baoli,Karol Bagh, Old Delhi and South Delhi’s guest houses and big hotels — aresiding with Team India. But they have not handed them a clean sweep, like inthe 2011 World Cup as New Zealand is also a strong competitor this time.
“Like every year during IPL matches, in this World Cup,most college-going youth, businessmen, hoteliers, cricket lovers, traders,corporate women and hawala operators are betting with us. Over 60 per centbidders are in favour of India’s victory. That means thumbs-up for skipperVirat Kohli and his team,” a punter said.
Bets are also being placed on the margin of victory in termsof runs and wickets and also on whether runs scored by India and New Zealandcould be 400-plus or below 400.
An interesting bet is on who will take more than threewickets from both sides — whether it would be spinners or pace bowlers. Also,will it be India’s Jaspirt Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal or New Zealand’s TrentBoult or Lockie Ferguson?
The base betting rate of Indian players, for example, incase of Bumrah, it is Rs 20, while for Boult, it is Rs 7, said a source.
The other bets are on star batsmen — Indian skipper ViratKohli, his deputy Rohit Sharma, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and MartinGuptill — whether they would score half-century or century.
Gurugram Police PRO, Subhash Bokan said: “We arealready keeping tight vigil to crack the betting racket on the ongoing WorldCup. We have arrested over a dozen of gamblers in the city in the last fewweeks. A circular was issued to guest houses and hotel owners to avoid biddingin their premises,”
The satta bazaar operators are closely monitoring the tweetsof the players, captains and coaches to know the status of the players who willbe in or out. They are also keeping a tab on weather reports and newspaperclippings.
Police sources said that this time, punters have sent someof their middlemen to the UK to keep tabs on all updates, the weather included.