Satta Bazaar bids cross Rs 100 cr on India-Pak tie

On the eve of the World Cup clash between India and Pakistan,the betting bazaars in Delhi have gone crazy: the police estimates that thebids in the illegal satta (betting) market could have crossed the Rs 100-croremark 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 satta operators in thewake of the crucial India-Pakistan match on Sunday. We are keeping a tab onfive star hotels and guest houses, particularly in Karol Bagh and Old Delhiarea that are hired by big-time punters. These operators have strong networks,which are often difficult to crack, but we are on the job,” DeputyCommissioner of Police Madhur Verma told IANS.

“On previous occasions, the police arrested top bookiesfrom north Delhi, who had a sophisticated internet software of betting linkedwith mobile phones,” said Verma.

Police sources said odds are placed on Pakistan as Indiaseem favourites in Sunday’s tie. Bookies are well aware of India’s recentdominance over Pakistan. The bids are not only placed on who wins, but alsoover-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 rigt at the toss. “Mostpunters place their bids on which team will win the toss. Besides, afterwinning the toss, bids are placed on the decision of the captain, whether hewould decide to bat or field. This time the base betting rate on Team India isRs 1.55 and Rs 45 on Pakistan,” a punter from west Delhi said.

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 in2011 World Cup.

“Like every year during IPL matches, in this World Cup,most college youths, businessmen, hoteliers, cricket lovers, traders, corporatewomen and hawala operaters are betting with us. Over 60 per cent bidders are infavour of India’s victory. That means thumbs-up for skipper Virat Kohli and histeam,” 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 Pakistan couldbe 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 Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz or India’s Jasprit Bumrahand Yuzvendra Chahal?

The base betting rate of Indian players, for example JaspritBumrah, is Rs 15, while for Amir it is Rs 6, said a source.

The other bets are on star batsmen — whether they wouldscore half-century or century. For instance, could it be skipper Virat Kohliand Rohit Sharma or Pakistan’s Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman?

Vaibhav Krishna, Senior Superintendent of Police, GautamBuddh Nagar, said the police were keeping an eye on known gamblers. “Wehave made a list of old and recently caught gamblers,” said Krishna.

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 localnewspaper clippings.

Police sources said this time, punters have sent some of theirmiddlemen to the UK to keep tabs on all updates, the weather included.

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