Fixed matches?

[Andy]

Can you tell a match is fixed by the odds before an event? I have sort of watched this before, a team crashing in price before kick off, but the thing is half the time even when this happens the team still dont win, so it is not conclusive, its just a gamble that fails.

Tomorrow there is a match in the Italian Seria A, between Siena and Genoa, and the odds on the Draw are 2.18 at Betfair! This is incredible, I have never seen it below 3 before really, the odds on a Draw are almost always 3.25 or there abouts, only freak games have it under 3 or over 4. This is 2.18!

If it is a Draw tomorrow then its a case of, well obviously it was fixed, why didnt I lump my bankroll on it. If it is not a Draw then with hindsight it was just the best value lay you have ever seen, why didnt you lay it fool! Given that, im not touching it either way. But there is something not right there.

[frosty85]

Yeah I've never seen the draw so low. French games from what I have seen are quite often just below 3. Also in the champs league I have seen an Arsenal game pretty low (not as low as 2.18 though) when they and their opponents both needed a point to go through to the next round. That is obscenely low for the draw. I don't know too much about Italian football, could be huge rivals I suppose.

[craig.gibson]

Yeah this happens in both Italy and Spain towards the end of the season, if a team has
nothing to play for and are playing someone in a relegation scrap then the safe team
doesn`t always try too hard...they don`t consider it cheating....just the way they do things.

Trouble is...like you said...the result doesn`t always go as the odds suggest.

It also happens occasionally in the champions league when both teams are
guaranteed to progress if they draw....Arsenal a couple of years ago springs
to mind.

[frosty85]

Genoa won 1-0 in the end. It was quite strange, I looked at the match odds a few times and the draw didn't go over 3 until about five minutes from the end. They did have a player sent off after they had scored and were underdogs, so that would have kept it lower I imagine. Bad result for me. I ended up winning into Bet4E and so have the choice of leaving funds tied up or trying to bust out/increase my locked cash. It isnt the first time its happened to men either. If anybody else is concerned about doing this, I think the best strategy would be to sign up and get the bonus and leave it for a couple of weeks. Then if you do end up transferring alot into one of the skandinavian companies you wont be tied up for so long.

[Andy]

We should have all layed it, 2.18 for a Draw, madness.

I remember one match in a International Cup, it might have been Euro 2004, and Holland and Denmark (I think it was those two) could both get promoted from the group if the match ended 2-2 exactly. Suprise suprise it did! The odds on 2-2 were 7s or something on Betfair which is again ridiculously low under normal circumstances, some guys layed it for thosands, ouch.

[Idefiks]

It was Denmark-Sweden Andy. the coolest thing was watching last minutes of this game. no pressing, only passing the ball between defenders. they were not even trying to imitate that someone is interested in winning the game...

I also remember 2 matches in Serie B with odds on draw at around 2.1-2.2. One ended home and the other away win if I remember correctly. I would never bet on a "fixed" game where my only info would be very low odds. Some confirmation is needed...

[LessThanFlake]

(First post)

This is actually more common than you'd expect, especially in competitions with a league structure - CL, Euros, World Cup etc...

It's amazing how often the result that suits both teams (even in 2-2, 3-3 cases) actually comes up - it's not match fixing per se, but it's pretty dodgy!

[wooller187]

Sounds interesting, will need more info before placing any bets though. What's the best odds to look for in football?

[Andy]

What's the best odds to look for in football?

In what way? I dont understand the question?

This thread was discussing "unusual" odds and if you could use it to your advantage or not. You probably can in the long run, but "unusual" does not mean "best", it could mean quite the opposite, a team which you would expect to be at odds of 4, but are now 7s, is better odds so one line of thought is "back it because its value" but the other theory is, "thats not right, they have rigged it, lay it it is 7s for a reason".