Warning about betting in grassroots sports

(Baonghean) -In recent years, in sports such as football, volleyball, badminton, table tennis, billiards... the system of facilities and playgrounds has been increasingly improved, attracting a large number of people of all ages to participate in training, contributing to creating a healthy environment for exchange, entertainment and improving health. However, there are also many negative aspects, typically the situation of betting for money is distorting the good meaning of these sports.

In the last ten years, billiards has been a sport that has developed quite strongly in our province, attracting people of all ages to participate. In Vinh City alone, there are currently dozens of billiards shops and 5-6 billiards clubs. For billiards lovers in Vinh City, Nguyen Van Cu Street is a quite famous address. Just a short distance from the intersection of Ho Chi Minh Square to the intersection with Le Hong Phong Street, there are nearly 10 billiards shops considered "quality" with air-conditioned rooms, high-quality tables and many accompanying services such as coffee, drinks...

Cartoon: Internet

A waiter named P who works part-time at N said: The shop is always crowded with customers, and the line between entertainment and gambling on the billiard table is very fragile. People usually play in two ways: even-odd and playing cards. In the even-odd way, each side hits an even (or odd) ball into the pocket, whoever runs out of balls first wins. Some people only bet on table money, medicine, and water, but there are others who bet on money, from a few tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand dong per game. However, the most popular is still playing cards, because besides technique, this way of playing also involves luck. In this way of playing, each player has 6-13 Western cards, each card corresponding to a ball on the table, whoever runs out of balls according to their hand first wins, and the loser has to pay the winner an amount of money corresponding to the number of cards left in hand, each card can be a few tens of thousands to a few hundred thousand dong... depending on the agreement. Not to mention the penalties if you make a mistake while playing, such as not getting any ball or "burning" (hitting the cue ball into the pocket)...

Through research, it is known that many billiard parlors do not only serve the needs of players simply by renting timed tables and retailing drugs and drinks, but some shop owners also "double" as cueists, or keep a few good cueists ready to receive any customers who want to interact. And these interactions also require betting, at least a few hundred thousand, at most a few million VND/game.

In recent years, Vinh City residents have gradually become accustomed to the coffee-chess entertainment, which is coffee shops with chess tables to serve customers who come to drink coffee, quench their thirst, and compete with each other through moves on the chess board. These types of coffee shops are concentrated on Ngu Hai Street, Tran Huy Lieu Street, or scattered on some other streets. And in addition to playing according to the simple chess rules, chess players also have a new way of playing, which is upside-down chess. According to connoisseurs in the coffee-chess world, this is a new way of playing chess that has appeared and become popular in Vinh City in the past year or so. With this way of playing, except for the 2 generals, the remaining 30 chess pieces are placed face down on the table, then shuffled around before being placed in the initial positions of the regular chess board. When moved, the chess piece is "turned over", and begins to move in the correct way on the chess board.

Because of the unexpected nature of chess, the early appearance of large pieces such as chariots and cannons will greatly affect the outcome of the game. Mr. N, a person who often plays chess at coffee shops on Tran Huy Lieu Street, said: "Chess attracts players because in addition to the high and low of the moves, there is also luck. If you are lucky, sometimes with just one move you can capture the opponent's big piece (chariot, cannon, horse), or even checkmate." And because of that luck, like billiards, this game can easily be transformed into gambling. For those who are passionate and love chess, they only play for fun with a cup of coffee or a few cigarettes, but there are also many people who play for money, from a few tens of thousands to a few million dong. “The majority of people who play blind chess in Vinh City today play for money,” Mr. N affirmed. “Therefore, just like playing cards, people also come up with ways to cheat in this game such as marking the flag, swapping the flag… to get each other’s money.”

Not only in billiards and chess, the situation of betting in sports also exists in volleyball - a very popular sport today, when most communes, wards and towns have at least one volleyball court for cadres, workers and people to practice and compete. To make the matches more exciting, the participants have "posted" their own prizes for each match, initially just bottles of soft drinks, a few mugs of beer and gradually "upgraded" to money. Starting from a few isolated cases, until now betting on each other in a volleyball match has become quite popular. According to Mr. H - an amateur volleyball player of Vinh City, a few years ago, at the volleyball court of the Provincial Labor Culture House, a "street" volleyball team specializing in "betting" was formed. Every afternoon, the team often gathers here to practice and spreads out to volleyball courts in Vinh City and neighboring districts to exchange but in fact, they make money from betting.

It can be seen that the "prize-giving" in sports to make the matches more exciting is also acceptable. However, the excessive abuse of that "exciting atmosphere" and the transformation into gambling, leading to bitterness and loss, is something that needs to be prevented because it can lead to negative things such as fights and disorder. It is time to have regulations and measures to prevent negative transformations of grassroots sports so that they can develop healthily, truly have the meaning of physical training and health improvement.

Minh Quan