Something I'm curious, why are players banned from betting on their team, in general? I can certainly understand if they were banned from betting against their team; that would incentivize them to...
Something I'm curious, why are players banned from betting on their team, in general? I can certainly understand if they were banned from betting against their team; that would incentivize them to deliberately throw a game. But what's the harm in allowing them to bet for their team?
First, it's much more practical to have a simple blanket ban than to try to make complex rules about what particular bets are allowed. You couldn't just say "you can bet for your own team",...
First, it's much more practical to have a simple blanket ban than to try to make complex rules about what particular bets are allowed. You couldn't just say "you can bet for your own team", because there are lots of prop bets like "player X runs at least 100 yards" or something like that. You don't want players ignoring play-calls or something to try to hit a certain statline, even if they're still trying to win. Also, even if you're betting on the outcome of the whole game, you usually pick a particular point spread. You don't want a player trying to win, but then trying not to score once they're ahead so they stay within the spread.
Finally, even if players were only allowed to make dead simple bets that their own team will win, they could still offer players on the other team a cut of the winnings (or even all the winnings) if they throw the game. Better to just ban everything than have to worry about all these possibilities.
Something I'm curious, why are players banned from betting on their team, in general? I can certainly understand if they were banned from betting against their team; that would incentivize them to deliberately throw a game. But what's the harm in allowing them to bet for their team?
First, it's much more practical to have a simple blanket ban than to try to make complex rules about what particular bets are allowed. You couldn't just say "you can bet for your own team", because there are lots of prop bets like "player X runs at least 100 yards" or something like that. You don't want players ignoring play-calls or something to try to hit a certain statline, even if they're still trying to win. Also, even if you're betting on the outcome of the whole game, you usually pick a particular point spread. You don't want a player trying to win, but then trying not to score once they're ahead so they stay within the spread.
Finally, even if players were only allowed to make dead simple bets that their own team will win, they could still offer players on the other team a cut of the winnings (or even all the winnings) if they throw the game. Better to just ban everything than have to worry about all these possibilities.
Yeah… those prop bets could be big trouble.