Las Vegas math supports game-fixing allegations.
Las Vegas, Nevada (April 24,2009) - According to court documents, former Toledo reserve running back Adam Cuomo has admitted to being a key figure in an alleged point-shaving scheme. Last year, Sammy Villegas, a former Toledo basketball player, was charged with fixing games between 2004 - 2006, and is scheduled to be sentenced this summer. Previously, former Toledo running back Harvey "Scooter" McDougle was charged on a similar offense, although that charge was dropped due to a "procedural matter."
Las Vegas math supports the football allegations. Movements in the betting line are responses to lopsided amounts of money bet one team over another. As previously reported by RJ Bell of Pregame.com in April 2007, during the 2005 Toledo football regular season, point spreads on Toledo's games moved significantly (two points or more) on 7 occasions - and ALL 7 TIMES the big money gamblers won against the opening point spread.
The odds of that happening randomly are 128 to 1 . . . meaning that it can be stated, with greater than 99% mathematical certainty, that the outcomes of those games were affected by OUTSIDE factors!
The basketball numbers are less clear cut. During the two seasons in question, Toledo basketball had a winning record (30 winners; 26 losers) against the Las Vegas point spread - which would be surprising if rampant game-fixing had occurred; by definition, a fixed game is when a player purposely plays poorly so his team loses against the betting spread.
If the allegations are true, these are a few incidents of many. RJ Bell of Pregame.com said: "Academic studies indicate that over 5% of college basketball teams favored by double digits engage in some form of corrupt game manipulation."
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RJ Bell of Pregame.com is the only sports bettor on Forbes' recent list of Gambling Gurus and has been called "a true insider" by ESPN, "incredibly astute" by AOL and a "point-spread maven" by USA Today. Mr. Bell has been featured on CBS News with Katie Couric, ABC News with Charles Gibson, Nightline, Sportscenter, Outside the Lines (ESPN), First Take (ESPN2), Mike & Mike, Colin Cowherd, Jim Rome, Dan Patrick, ESPN.com, FoxSports.com , Yahoo, CNN.com and in the Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, LA Times, Newsweek.com, Bloomberg, Maxim, and Sports Illustrated. Pregame.com is the largest sports betting news website compliant with US Law.
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