Snooker World No. 1 John Higgins in betting scandal

will be interesting to see how exactly world snooker keeps him suspended,

I mean a dodgy tabloid video with sensational timing, no confession, claims of acting under duress from fear of the russian mob, all in a foreign country, and all for possible tossed frames on non WPBSA events.....

he'll play again soon enough, for better or worse...
 
smashmouth said:
will be interesting to see how exactly world snooker keeps him suspended,

I mean a dodgy tabloid video with sensational timing, no confession, claims of acting under duress from fear of the russian mob, all in a foreign country, and all for possible tossed frames on non WPBSA events.....

he'll play again soon enough, for better or worse...
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If the full video plays out as bad as the one on YouTube then he should be suspended FOR LIFE! That's exactly what I would do if I was Barry Hearn. That's the only thing that sends the kind of message to the public that they need.

Otherwise every single match you ever watch you'll doubt the result, right? They have to make the penalty so severe that no player would ever dream of rigging a match.
 
Philthepockets said:
Close, but I think Davis re-entering at 15 and Dotty at 10 will upset the math.
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what are you babbling about?

due to the default,

Davis was about to start next season as 22 and now 21

Doherty goes from 30-29

I think you're thinking of Graeme Dott who goes from 13 to 12

none of which has any bearing on my post
 
you know the more I think about the risk/reward ratio, the more I can see how they went for this deal

potentially 300 000 Euro split two ways (probably not 50/50) , 75 000 Euro or approx $100 000 per frame on what are essentially minor league type events

I don't think alot of people here realize how inconsequential a single frame is over the course of a long snooker match, we're talking even less important than a single game of nine ball, maybe even akin to missing just one single shot in a nine ball match

it's so damn easy too to throw snooker matches without raising suspicion given the fact that the world's very best often perform miserably, just the nature of the game

fwiw, the video was comical, John is clearly an amateur at this kind of stuff and I do think he's guilty, but I'm gonna guess this is the first time he's acted this way

I would like to see a full admission of guilt and then reinstatement after an appropriate suspension, if he keeps crying about the russian mob then he can burn for all I care
 
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*sighs

that's a provisional list, outdated, and not the official rankings,

here, this list shows you the official world rankings as of the conclusion of the World Championship, from now up to and entering the 2010-2011 season (minus the Higgins default scenario)

http://www.snooker.org/rnk/0910/prov.asp



as the season concludes, those provisionals become official as they're the culmination of the last 2 years
 
ironman said:
What purpose would it serve? Sensationalism??Why are we so attracted to things like this in pool? Pool has enough problems with out all the nagativity.

No, I opt to leave it in the past. Besides, it happened to a casino...IMO Perfect victim!!
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It isn't just pool. It has been 90 years since shoeless Joe Jackson got banned from baseball and you don't have to explain to anybody who follows sports who he was.

You are right, it doesn't help the image of pool which is why I expect Higgins to suffer a similar fate to Shoeless Joe if this turns out to be true. There is some evidence that Shoeless Joe was innocent but it didn't prevent him from being banned to protect the image of the game.
 
To me,this sentence is offensive,--"Besides, it happened to a casino...IMO Perfect victim!!"The incident in 1991 most certainly needs to be discussed in order for more people to be aware,so it can't happen as easily in the future.A casino is a sponsor just like anybody else that pool can dig up.Not talking about it is absurd.This an open forum.These people created this dirty laundry and history should take note of it.This is one way to create a check and balance for the future.
 
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JMuck said:
To me,this sentence is offensive,--"Besides, it happened to a casino...IMO Perfect victim!!"The incident in 1991 most certainly needs to be discussed in order for more people to be aware,so it can't happen as easily in the future.A casino is a sponsor just like anybody else that pool can dig up.Not talking about it is absurd.This an open forum.These people created this dirty laundry and history should take note of it.This is one way to create a check and balance for the future.
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^ I agree 100%. The statute of limitations has long since past in terms of any criminal liability for what happened, but that doesn't and shouldn't stop the truth from coming forward.


For whomever asked whether there would be legal ramifications of a lifetime ban on Higgins, I would expect that the courts would allow a sport to make its own rules and enforce them as it sees fit. After all, Shoeless Joe was found Not Guilty in court, but he was still suspended from baseball for life. I don't see how this situation could possibly be considered any different.
 
gromulan said:
If the full video plays out as bad as the one on YouTube then he should be suspended FOR LIFE! That's exactly what I would do if I was Barry Hearn. That's the only thing that sends the kind of message to the public that they need.

Otherwise every single match you ever watch you'll doubt the result, right? They have to make the penalty so severe that no player would ever dream of rigging a match.
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Right.



_____
 
JMuck said:
To me,this sentence is offensive,--"Besides, it happened to a casino...IMO Perfect victim!!"The incident in 1991 most certainly needs to be discussed in order for more people to be aware,so it can't happen as easily in the future.A casino is a sponsor just like anybody else that pool can dig up.Not talking about it is absurd.This an open forum.These people created this dirty laundry and history should take note of it.This is one way to create a check and balance for the future.
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well I can see where it would be taken as offensive. It was meant to be taken a little lihter than it was obviously taken. It was more ashot at myself having "gone off" in thim for so many years, but that was my choice and I am certainly no victim.

For those who want to discuss it, that is ther choice as well as I truly believe in freedom of speech. However, it is a very sore subject for many and regretted decision for many as well.

i also agree with Jay here, that this is far in the past and I think muh was learned from it. You see, i see Jay as victime of this, Hopkins as a victim. These too have given their lives to this game and have said vey little about it, which I respect. Ihave no doubt that neither was ever involved in this and never took a dime, but I can only imagine the embarrassment they felt justbeing in the same building with this. the range of emotions were probably more than we can even identify!

I furtherly agree with Jay in that the best place for this is the past. If my statement offended you or anyone else, i apologise, it was not my intent but more a jab at myself. This is my final word on this topic!
 
Well, here's what I think of the Higgin's thing. It's possible that they were afraid and wanted to say anything to get out of there but my question is why not then go directly to Barry Hearn with it once clear of Russia?

Had they done that then they would be in the clear now. Other sports have clear rules about reporting attempted bribery and I am sure that Snooker must have the same.

For me that's the telling part. However who really knows how the conversation went. We have only seen edited excerpts.

Who knows what the context is? Now maybe John and Manager should have gotten up and walked out when the first mention of throwing frames came up. Maybe they did protest and we aren't seeing that part of the video.

But what I still don't get is why they didn't file a report with the governing body? This is the part which they really can't explain away.

As for it being a sad day for Snooker and billiard sports? Why? It's not the only time that this happens in sports and all it does is show how stupid people are for betting on sports. I mean it is a sad day but not unexpected.

Sure it's exciting for us to sweat sports when we have some money on it but this kind of thing only goes to show that we can NEVER know if the outcome isn't fixed.

Now people are going to be wondering with every missed shot.
 
"greed is good"

jay helfert said:
This guy (Higgins) is gone from the Snooker world - FOREVER! So is his manager. What a couple of chumps! It always amazes how easily some people will sell out. It's all about GREED! And these are both wealthy men. For some reason that still escapes me, the wealthiest people are often the greediest.

Look at all the big Wall Street scandals here the last few years. Multi-multi millionaires scheming to enrich themselves even more, at the expense of others. Money is truly the root of all evil! Proven once again here.
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Greed is good. Getting caught is bad.

It is the mantra of lassez faire capitalism.
 
TATE said:
The whole thing was a sting operation conducted by a British tabloid magazine - News of the World. According to the articles there were several preliminary meetings with Higgins' manager in Scotland, Mooney. The reporters pretended to be businessmen organizing a snooker tour of Europe. It all culminated in this videotaped meeting.

I find it interesting and a little disturbing that the magazine conducted this sting involving major corruption on it's own without involvement from law enforcement.

It's possible this was done in the Ukraine because of legalities in the UK.

Chris
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The News of the World, who set up the John Higgins sting, is closed and there will be many, many indictments from their illegal activities. Bumping this old thread to say it couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch.

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/07/16/earlyshow/saturday/main20080023.shtml

It's hard to believe that their executives would authorize illegal actions, mainly the cyber equivalent of breaking and entering, to get dirt on people.

Chris
 
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TATE said:
The News of the World, who set up the John Higgins sting, is closed and there will be many, many indictments from their illegal activities. Bumping this old thread to say it couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch.

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/07/16/earlyshow/saturday/main20080023.shtml

It's hard to believe that their executives would authorize illegal actions, mainly the cyber equivalent of breaking and entering, to get dirt on people.

Chris
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I'm no fan of the News of the Screws, but there's no doubting they've had significant successes with such stings. Their royal family set-ups were particularly amusing. They appealed to the millions of morons we have in this country but muzzling the press usually results in one thing - those in power abusing it for their own ends. It is a difficult balance, however.

As for Higgins, guilty as sin.
 
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