Do you always think of conspiracy theories when betting on sports?

[Su-asa]

As bettors we must always come to terms with the fact that anything can happen when it comes to sports games. A lot of people are always quick to say that a game was rigged or the referee was bribed when the game does not go according to how they predicted forgetting that it is a game of probability and doesn't always go in the direction of how we predicted it. Even though there is a possibility of those things we are thinking about to happen we must always know that anything can still happen and our predictions can be affected.

[CryptSafe]

I have not really had such experience in my games but I believe things of such nature happens. I have watched matches and see some refs control pattern that doesn't seat well with me. Sometimes, it seems a side of the team's playing were rubbed or cheated but in the spirit of sports players tend to obey and respect the football protocols while on pitch. It happened the last AFCON held in morroco between Senegal and the host country morroco which bursted and became a thing of continental disgrace to the African football league.

[Cityhunter34]

As bettors we must always come to terms with the fact that anything can happen when it comes to sports games. A lot of people are always quick to say that a game was rigged or the referee was bribed when the game does not go according to how they predicted forgetting that it is a game of probability and doesn't always go in the direction of how we predicted it. Even though there is a possibility of those things we are thinking about to happen we must always know that anything can still happen and our predictions can be affected.

That's absolutely true. I think it's necessary to know that gambling involves more losses than wins, so it's always good to remember this while gambling, nothing else can change the game. We are just making predictions, but luck has the final say. So it's obvious that something can happen at any time.

That's why we need to treat it as entertainment and only use what you can afford to lose, because gamblers only feel bad when they gamble above their limit. Nothing more than that.

[YOSHIE]

Do you ever get that feeling when betting on sports, like something is not really right with the game?

Even though I don't see strong evidence for the sports betting conspiracy theory, sometimes I have also thought about it, where the match that should have been won by team A is actually won by team B, instead. I don't know whether these bets were made fraudulently by bribing referees, players, goalkeepers and so on, even though sports gambling mafia syndicates exist to gain financial benefits, but honestly I don't dare say that, because I don't have proof.

In short, even though there are accusations and also speculation about conspiracy theories, which involve various elements, to be honest I either believe it or not, because I often bet on the top leagues, even though it is impossible to carry out these theories, my suspicions remain.

[mv1986]

Do you ever get that feeling when betting on sports, like something is not really right with the game?

I’m not saying every game is rigged, but sometimes you can’t help but think about it, especially with referee calls. Refs can really control the flow of the game if they want to. A few soft fouls here, a few missed calls there, and the whole result or even the total score can change.

For example, if they want the game to go over, they can call more fouls and send players to the free throw line. But if they want the game to stay under, they can just allow more physical play and swallow the whistle, even when there is obvious contact. I noticed this in the Spurs vs OKC series. SGA was not shooting that well on the road because the refs allowed more physical defense on him. But when he was playing at home, it looked like the refs were happy to blow the whistle even with very minimal contact. That’s the part that makes me question things. It should not matter where the game is played. If the calls are consistent, then home or away should not change how much contact is allowed.

So when I see that kind of difference, I can’t blame people for thinking something is being controlled. Maybe not fully rigged, but at least influenced by how the refs call the game.

It all begins with the question about what you think is "rigged" in a concrete sense? Imagine the NBA bosses meet the referee and say something like "damn it would be great to see Spurs vs. Thunders go into game 7".

Even in that situation - without any money changing hands - it could influence the game I guess. It could be done in many subtle ways without ever being called "rigged" in the sense how we understand it.

For a referee to stay neutral for their entire career, I think that is tough. So many ways cross, so many new people they get to know and you never know whether perhaps subconsciously certain events influence the mind of a referee.

Hard cold money bribes, I don't think that happens a lot in the highest leagues of professional sports. It probably does, but I don't think that is a kind of standard behind the scenes.

[Yorubek]

As bettors we must always come to terms with the fact that anything can happen when it comes to sports games. A lot of people are always quick to say that a game was rigged or the referee was bribed when the game does not go according to how they predicted forgetting that it is a game of probability and doesn't always go in the direction of how we predicted it. Even though there is a possibility of those things we are thinking about to happen we must always know that anything can still happen and our predictions can be affected.

I agree with you, betting using research or strategy increases our confidence many times over. We keep thinking that victory will come our way but in reality there is no confirm that any result can occur on the playing field. When we do not get the result as per our plan then we start making negative comments about that game we start calling the referee decision as proven wrong we basically say such things because we cannot accept defeat. However, the referee results may not always be correct because human beings make mistakes and referee are not exempt from this.

[Bright0515]

Referees always have the bigger control of the game, they just have to be just to blow the whistle as the game is being played or they do unjust to favour one side over the other. Doing things, they use a very strategic approach in order not to make it look like that, but sometimes it becomes obvious that teams report when they feel they’ve betrayed them and these officials also faces panels. There is conspiracy in sport, some can be seen while some are hidden without clear facts to make it look like that.

That's right mate, the referee have more advantage to manipulate the game because whatever he says is what the players obeys while on the field. Some gamblers deliberately blames the referee whenever they lose their bet, they also blames the teams coach when they lose their bet.
Although most of the times there are a little conspiracy but I don't think if anyone will make it public. However, most of this upcoming leagues games can be rigged.

[YellowSwap]

Conspiracy theory ideas comes only after gamblers have lost a lot money to gambling, it's the same with a lot of gamblers too, actually I just used myself as an example but it has never happened to me.

It's easier for people to believe that something unfair is going on because they have just lost money not too long ago and it's repeating itself.

It's not affecting sports bet only, but also every only casinos.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Actually it's been a while since I had that conviction about a game where I felt that the ref was purposely against the win of that team and so was just blowing the whistle at every small chance and all of what he did ended up to affect the  team, I have ceased to bet in some games where I don't feel too convinced about what the outcome would be after doing every necessary evaluation on the team. So, it's been long I have that feeling you're talking about.

[rachael9385]

Bettors must be logical and open minded in order not to always think that these conspiracy theories are the final opinions on sports betting. We could come up with a lot of theories and give reasons why a game played out the way it did, a lot of times the reason is simple, the obvious outcome failed to happen because the teams probably lost their chances or some other things went wrong.

[o48o]

Do you ever get that feeling when betting on sports, like something is not really right with the game?

I’m not saying every game is rigged, but sometimes you can’t help but think about it, especially with referee calls. Refs can really control the flow of the game if they want to. A few soft fouls here, a few missed calls there, and the whole result or even the total score can change.

For example, if they want the game to go over, they can call more fouls and send players to the free throw line. But if they want the game to stay under, they can just allow more physical play and swallow the whistle, even when there is obvious contact. I noticed this in the Spurs vs OKC series. SGA was not shooting that well on the road because the refs allowed more physical defense on him. But when he was playing at home, it looked like the refs were happy to blow the whistle even with very minimal contact. That’s the part that makes me question things. It should not matter where the game is played. If the calls are consistent, then home or away should not change how much contact is allowed.

So when I see that kind of difference, I can’t blame people for thinking something is being controlled. Maybe not fully rigged, but at least influenced by how the refs call the game.

I think that rigged matches are more plausible either with relatively unknown teams, who are not under magnifying glass of so many people. Also with sports that have 2 opponents matching against each other.

Reason i don't think that big clubs are that involved, is because there's so many possible whistle blowers, and money is already being made with their teams. Suddenly winning millions on top of that will rise suspicions.

But i am certain that this happens in sports like MMA, where all it needs is 2 people being in it, or 4 if their managers are in it as well. So it will be less likely that someone accidentally reveals their plans.

[ralle14]

I usually get those thoughts when i'm about to lose, but I don't let myself get carried away because that could get me tilted. Sometimes it's hard not to when even the players are pointing it out, but at the end of the day, they still get away with it and that's how certain officials become notable.

If i'm on the winning side, I tend to dismiss these thoughts because I can't help but be glad that my side is getting the better foul calls.

[Odohu]

I believe that match fixing is real because I have seen a lot of times things that are on unusual in terms of odds and even officiating. Since it is not always easy to know what direction the match is programmed to go, I try my best to discard this thoughts and just bet my games based on my analysis. Dwelling on the idea of match fixing without access to such classified information is a complete psychological burden that I don't want to carry.

[Ever-young]

Bettors must be logical and open minded in order not to always think that these conspiracy theories are the final opinions on sports betting. We could come up with a lot of theories and give reasons why a game played out the way it did, a lot of times the reason is simple, the obvious outcome failed to happen because the teams probably lost their chances or some other things went wrong.

When things don’t go the way some people initially planned or wanted, rather than accepting the fact that things, especially in gambling cannot always go according to the way they planned it, they start to look for whom to blame, claiming there are various hidden agendas, but in reality, most outcomes in gambling, especially in games like sports are mostly explained by the team’s performances, tactics and of course randomness. When folks think too much about the possibilities of the conspiracy theory in sports, they easily get distracted from the actual reality of the game, and this isn’t good for any gambler.

[Frankolala]

If it's in football VAR is there to call the referee to order if he makes a wrong decision. It's a norm to feel that way that the game you bet on is been rigged but I must tell you that nothing is being rigged. You feel that way because you are losing. Assuming, you are winning, you wouldn't feel that way. I have also got angry towards the decision of a ref that made me lose my bet but it wasn't the ref that caused it. Luck wasn't on my side.

[Woodie]

This usually happens when you have some money on the line, if you expecting a goal not to come but ref calls for a penalty that really triggers me.. but when you expecting a penalty call to be made but Referee doesn't do their job and makes the wrong call.. this really triggers me 
We don't want the ref to be the man of the match lol

[|MINER|]

 Actually I think I have already seen something like similar of your topic previously maybe on this forum or on the others forum. However, what I think here is that rigged or match fixing was once a common occurrence in sports betting, but currently, in the tournaments or matches that are held at the international level, such incidents are completely absent. I have not even heard or seen such incidents in the last two or three years.

So, according to the current situation, no conspiracy theory about sports betting works for me, but if I were to say this only in terms of casino games, then of course I wouldn't completely rule out the possibility that the games are rigged if the casino is new.

[danherbias07]

Swallow the whistle. I like that.

Just recently, this happened to me. I felt like something was about to happen that was controlled by the league, but I am thankful it went the other way. We have theories that can sometimes be right, but it doesn't mean the game is actually rigged. Maybe we just did well at using facts to make a correct call, or maybe we are just thinking too much about the game, especially when we see referees who are biased and sometimes call the absurd ones.
I always like to think that professional sports are clean, but of course, that is not true.

[memehunter]

Do you ever get that feeling when betting on sports, like something is not really right with the game?

Well it happened many times but I will give you an recent example.
It is super rare to get out through 'hit wicket' in cricket. You will not see any hit wicket in hundreds of matches it is that rare. A player got out twice in a row in consecutive matches with the same style 
I mean, I dont want to say anything but to me it is sus as hell.
You can read more: https://www.msn.com/en-in/sports/cricket/bizarre-dismissal-sai-sudharsan-becomes-first-batter-ever-to-get-out-hit-wicket-twice-in-ipl-season-watch/ar-AA24n6CV?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[Alphakilo]

We should always factor in the part if human errors which may be intentional or not and that's why there's VAR and so many eyes ready to scrutinize the officiating of any match suspected of being rigged or being influenced by refs decisions.
There's always going to be some form of influence to affect the results of a match and we can't really say what the intentions really is in the end, but it's sure that one party gets to benefit from the outcome and the other party losses.

I try to do as much analysis as I can to avoid thinking about conspiracy theories when betting on sports and I find much satisfaction and peace of mind with whatever results I get even though I may not like having to swallow the pill of losing on a sure bet.