In organized sports, point shaving is a type of match fixing where the perpetrators try to prevent a team from covering a published point spread. Unlike other forms of match fixing, sports betting invariably motivates point shaving. A point shaving scheme generally involves a sports gambler and one or more players of the sports team favored to win the game. In exchange for a bribe, the player or players agree to ensure that their team will not cover the point spread. The gambler then wagers against that team.

Basketball

Basketball is a particularly easy medium for shaving points because of the scoring tempo of the game and the ease by which one player can influence key events. By deliberately missing shots or committing well-timed turnovers or fouls, a corrupt player can covertly ensure that his team fails to cover the point spread, without causing them to lose the game or to lose so badly that suspicions are aroused. Although the NCAA has adopted a zero tolerance policy with respect to gambling activity by its players, some critics believe it unwittingly encourages point shaving due to its strict rules regarding amateurism, combined with the large amount of money wagered on its games. The NCAA has produced posters warning of this, the most notable being an athlete sitting alone on a bench with his face buried in his hands although this may also look like the athlete suffered a tremendous defeat with the caption DO NOT BET ON IT with warnings as to what could happen if they are involved in such a plan as well as an athlete being caught gambling himself .

Famous examples of this are the CCNY Point Shaving Scandal of the 1950-51 and the Boston College basketball point shaving scandal of 1978-79, which was perpetrated by gangsters Henry Hill and Jimmy Burke.

Sports Point Shaving

The technique has been used by both amateur and professional athletes in many other sports. The intention is to manipulate scoring so that the final score results in a predetermined outcome. A typical sports game should always tend to behave in a nondeterministic manner. In other words, the exact final score of a game exists in a set, which can contain more than a thousand possible combinations. Furthermore, nondeterminism suggests that the final score of a sports game is practically unpredictable.

Many variables can influence the outcome. Such variables include weather, fatigue, and human error. However, amateur and professional athletes who are very skilled in the technique of point shaving can consistently create unlikely outcomes in bad weather and other challenging conditions. These unlikely outcomes tend to create huge financial gains/losses in prediction markets.

The deviation from the mean, otherwise known as the expected value, is what makes these outcomes so unlikely. In most sports, the expected value is a mathematical prediction that can be expressed as a scoring differential. This scoring differential is also calculated by casinos; and, gamblers generally refer to it as a point spread. In many cases of point shaving, the final outcome deviates substantially from the expected value, or the point spread. Additionally, the deviation from the expected value can be quite large. Many times, the deviation is so large that athletes on opposing teams must cooperate in order to achieve the desired result. In this particular case, the final outcome is commonly referred to as a thrown game.

Poker Kansas City Low Ball

Kansas City Low Ball

Kansas City Lowball Poker is played with a standard 52-card deck and one Joker. The Joker is considered to be the lowest card not present in a hand. Straights and flushes do not count against the poker player.

Players are dealt five cards face down, in turn, in rotation. A round of betting occurs. Players are required to bet or fold. The players who remain in the pot have the option to improve their hand by replacing cards in their hands with new ones. A player may draw up to five consecutive cards. After all poker players have drawn players a round of betting occurs. The best possible low hand is 2-3-4-5-7, not of the same suit. The lowest five card poker hand wins the pot. In the event of a tie the pot is split equally among winning hands.

Responsible Gambling

Seeking to reduce problems from pathological gambling, the Bureau of Gambling Control is working with cardrooms and others to encourage Responsible Gambling Programs.

California also operates a state Office of Problem Gambling to promote public awareness and assist victims and their families. The Bureau of Gambling Control is coordinating with the Office of Problem Gambling to ensure that state programs take into account, as much as practicable, problem and pathological gamblers as required by state law Welfare and Institutions Code section 4369 et. seq.

If identified, pathological gambling is a treatable mental disorder. By fostering responsible gambling policies and programs within gambling establishments/facilities and developing government-industry initiatives, the impact of problem gambling could be greatly reduced in California.