Anyone Bothered by the Normalizing of Gambling With the PGA Tour?

[colin007]

Tour pro is Venmoing money to gamblers who lost bets on him at Valspar Championship | Golf News and Tour Information | Golf Digest

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After a missed cut at...

 

Lol

[khalespace]

I know you can bet on other sports and golf for a long time but when betting goes mainstream and embraced by the PGA then I am very uneasy about it. If the betting amounts get big enough, it can lead to corruption. I have a gambling addict in the family so I am very much against gambling.

[colin007]

1 hour ago, khalespace said:

I know you can bet on other sports and golf for a long time but when betting goes mainstream and embraced by the PGA then I am very uneasy about it. If the betting amounts get big enough, it can lead to corruption. I have a gambling addict in the family so I am very much against gambling.

I'm an alcoholic, but I can't really rail against the alcohol companies' involvement in every major sport in the planet, can I?

[Shorty]

2 hours ago, colin007 said:

I'm an alcoholic, but I can't really rail against the alcohol companies' involvement in every major sport in the planet, can I?

No, but with a gambling addict the sport can become about the betting. If a brewery sponsors your team that is a source of income, not a diversion from the purity of the sport. Obviously there is  a downside in terms of the promotion of what can be an unhealthy product, but unlike tobacco, which, happily, has been run out of sport, there is a level of consumption that is not harmful.

Edited May 4, 2021 by Shorty

[Zeph]

I’m not too worried about it affecting the play, at least at the top level, but I won’t be surprised if some players try to take advantage.

What I don’t like is how gambling has become one of the main advertisement businesses in sports, not just golf. It’s a legitimate business, but I don’t care for it.

[Shorty]

12 hours ago, Zeph said:

but I won’t be surprised if some players try to take advantage.

The only way that I can see a player taking advantage is to deliberately LOSE a tournament. That would probably lead to a lifetime ban, so I don't see it happening.

Backing yourself to win is not "taking advantage" in a bad way.

Team sports have betting on all sorts of side issues within the game. Golfers aren't going to play the system by, say, shooting 9 under for the back 9 to win.

But if they stood more to win by backing player B against their own prizemoney and commercial rewards for a win and threw a tournament it would be taking advantage. Not going to happen.

[khalespace]

I think the Ryder Cup or President Cup format is where players can intentionally lose a match if the number of bets heavily favor one side.

[iacas]

2 hours ago, Shorty said:

The only way that I can see a player taking advantage is to deliberately LOSE a tournament. That would probably lead to a lifetime ban, so I don't see it happening.

Backing yourself to win is not "taking advantage" in a bad way.

There could be a bet where a player is given some shots. Like taking the Bengals +11 or something. And a player could still win an event but drop some shots coming in to cover the spread (or fail to cover the spread).

That's pretty involved and I'd rate it as pretty unlikely, but the more money involved, the more likely it becomes.

[Zeph]

11 hours ago, Shorty said:

The only way that I can see a player taking advantage is to deliberately LOSE a tournament. That would probably lead to a lifetime ban, so I don't see it happening.

Backing yourself to win is not "taking advantage" in a bad way.

Team sports have betting on all sorts of side issues within the game. Golfers aren't going to play the system by, say, shooting 9 under for the back 9 to win.

But if they stood more to win by backing player B against their own prizemoney and commercial rewards for a win and threw a tournament it would be taking advantage. Not going to happen.

There are many ways to bet and a deliberate poor performance is easy to pull off. A few poor shots might make a bet come in.

There are lots of players on the tours that don’t make a lot of money and aren’t in the top 30 all that often. Someone might be tempted to find other ways to make some money.

There are many ways to deliberately change your score and more likely to happen lower on the leaderboards. I’m not worried about someone with a position to win a tournament, but that is just a few players each tournament. The majority don’t stand a chance on Sunday.

[ChetlovesMer]

4 hours ago, Zeph said:

There are many ways to deliberately change your score and more likely to happen lower on the leaderboards. I’m not worried about someone with a position to win a tournament, but that is just a few players each tournament. The majority don’t stand a chance on Sunday.

I can see your concern. I agree at the top of the board it's probably unlikely. Prop bets are also limited in how much money can be wagered just to prevent this sort of thing. 

At the bottom or near the bottom of the board will still be challenging. The players nearer the cut line tee off first, there are a lot of moving parts to consider in order to convincingly point shave in golf. I'm not saying it can't be done, but the mathematics of it will be challenging. 

 

On 4/30/2021 at 9:38 AM, David in FL said:

You’ve been able to bet on virtually every aspect of a PGA tour event for as long as I can remember.  Granted, the Internet has made it a bit easier and more visible, but make no mistake it’s always been available. Just walk into any sports book in any casino…

So no. DraftKings, the latest form of the same old thing, isn’t going to change anything. It’s certainly not going to cause a tour pro to take a dive.

I was making prop bets on line ten years ago. But the difference is now the "live" betting aspect. 

I really think the biggest concern comes not from the guys in the tournament trying to rig numbers or intentionally miss putts or fairways. I think the biggest concern is Joe Idiot in the gallery making an instantaneous prop bet that Dustin Johnson misses the next fairway and then screaming at him in his backswing. (By the way, I believe trying to influence a prop bet is a criminal offense.) But I could see where some drunk idiot will try it. Once one or two idiots try it and land their dumb asses in jail I think the problem will go away.