Watch IPL with a Bookie

Did you know ‘live’ commentary from a cricket stadium is actually not ‘live’, but reaches you nine seconds later, via the television? And those nine seconds are key to a bookie making a killing with his bets on a cricket match. Find out how in the second episode of Chase, a collaboration between Scoopwhoop and Newslaundry. It’s titled Man of the Match: Watching IPL With a Bookie, and that’s exactly what it lets you do. Directed by Samar Khan and anchored by Samdish Bhatia, this documentary takes you into the world of betting, which is illegal in India, and shows you the enormous amounts of money that are made with every match that’s played.

Cutting, lagaaana, khaana, bhav — betting on cricket has its own lingo and this documentary decodes it for you. With the international illegal cricket betting market estimated at approximately $1,500 billion, this shadowy world is an insanely lucrative one. Small-timers can make in the range of one lakh rupees in a day and then there are those whose starting bets are one crore rupees. And since it’s all illegal, all this is is happening under the radar. No wonder a bookie suggests the government legalise betting in India. Imagine the income tax collection on these earnings.

So sit back and let Man of the Match show you some real players. It’ll make you wonder whether the matches you see on the cricket field are half as tense as what goes on in the bookies’ den.