Betting

 

Luck Be A Lady Tonight

Luck, let a gentleman see
How nice a dame you can be
I know the way you've treated other guys you've been with
Luck, be a lady with me

Betting on WWE matches? Really? Really?

World Wrestling Entertainment , “WWE is in talks with state gambling regulators to legalize betting on high-profile matches, according to people familiar with the matter.

WWE is working with the accounting firm EY to secure scripted match results in hopes it will convince regulators there’s no chance of results leaking to the public, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Accounting firms PwC and EY, also known as Ernst & Young, have historically worked with award shows, including the Academy Awards and the Emmys, to keep results a secret.”https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/08/wwe-betting-scripted-match-results.html

Betting is on random events.  The outcome of random events is…doh….random, in other  words the outcome is not known to anyone but the Absolute in advance.  In the case of sporting contests, the outcome of the event can be influenced.  That those outcomes can be influenced has been demonstrated numerous times,  e.g. the 1919 baseball World Series Black Sox scandal or the numerous point shaving scandals in basketball such as

the CCNY point-shaving scandal in 1950–51; the Dixie Classic scandal of 1961; the Boston College basketball point-shaving scandal of 1978–79, which was perpetrated by gangsters Henry Hill and Jimmy Burke; and the Tulane men's basketball point-shaving scandal of 1984–85, which led the university to disband its program for four seasons.

On 15 August 2007, NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to two felonies related to wagering on games that he officiated in a scheme somewhat related to point shaving. The difference in this case was that Donaghy sought to affect the outcome of over-under bets by changing calls so that both teams would score more than predicted, thus seeking to give the impression that at worst that he was merely strictly calling fouls as opposed to being outright biased. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_shaving

And for those of you who are not sports fans, see Funny Girl which documents Fanny Brice’s romance with Nicky Arnstein.  

“Nicky" was short for nickel plate, a sobriquet bestowed in the 1890s when, as a boy, Arnstein rode a gleaming nickel-plated bicycle in the then-popular bike racing craze. However, he spent more time throwing races than winning them. He graduated to gambling on transatlantic liners and in European casinos, and eventually fell in with Arnold Rothstein, a loan shark, bookmaker, fence, Wall Street swindler, real estate speculator, and labor racketeer, who was best known for fixing the 1919 World Series.

In 1915, Arnstein was convicted of swindling, and the following year he entered Sing Sing to serve out his term. Fanny Brice visited him every week while he was there, and in 1918 Arnstein's wife Carrie sued her for alienation of his affection. She subsequently divorced him, leaving him free to marry Brice in October of that year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicky_Arnstein. 

The outcome of the Academy Awards and Emmys are votes that are announced at a ceremony. It may be fancier than the ceremony on the Federal Election Day and there is also  controversy about the candidates, the voters, and the votes, but the accounting firm only tabulates and ensures the secrecy of the ballots.  By contrast, the winner of a WWE match is known, maybe not by the wrestlers until 30 minutes before the event, but by someone.  If betting is allowed on WWE matches, why not let betting before the staging of every scripted event.  I’ve got five bucks that says in the play Peter Pan, Tinker Bell lives, any takers? 😉 Spoilers are so passé anyway.  I guess there is no such thing as luck, if your name is Vince McMahon, Mark Burnett, or Donald Trump.  I guess then there is no such thing as insider trading either!