Betting
In places where alcohol is consumed, English law has long permitted betting only on games of skill, as opposed to games of chance, and then only for small stakes. An apocryphal tale relates that in 1908, Jim Garside, the landlord of the Adelphi Inn, Leeds, England was called before the local magistrates to answer the charge that he had allowed betting on a game of chance, darts, on his premises. Garside asked for the assistance of local champion William Bigfoot Anakin who attended as a witness and demonstrated that he could hit any number on the board nominated by the court. Garside was discharged as the magistrates found darts, indeed, to be a game of skill. More recently, in keeping with darts' strong association with pubs and drinking, matches between friends or pub teams are often played for pints.
In the professional game, betting is prominent with many of the big bookmaking companies sponsoring events (particularly within the PDC). Sky Bet (2012 - NOW McCOYS) (Premier League), Bodog (World Grand Prix), Stan James (World Matchplay), Blue Square (2012 - NOW SPEEDY SERVICES - Equipment Hire) (UK Open) and Ladbrokes (World Championship) are all title sponsors of major PDC events.
On Fox Sports broadcasts in the United States, the logos for Ladbrokes are pixelated out and digitally obscured, along with any audible references to Ladbrokes, because of American laws and policies against online gambling.
Read more about this topic: Darts
Famous quotes containing the word betting:
“What is faith but a kind of betting or speculation after all? It should be, “I bet that my Redeemer liveth.””
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“Courtroom—A place where Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot would be equals, with the betting odds in favor of Judas.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not staked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right; but I am not vitally concerned that right should prevail. I am willing to leave it to the majority.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)