With a fourth Yomiuri Giants pitcher having admitted last week to betting on pro baseball, the question looms as to why gamblers are luring players into betting.
After all, none of the four Giants players who have bet on games were believed to have any connection with fixing games. The most likely answer is the search for inside information.
A forensic examination of pitcher Satoshi Fukuda's smartphone revealed emails from a graduate student acquaintance of his containing spreads for games. In the betting scheme, players would assign "points" to games they wish to bet on, with each point equaling a wager of ¥10,000 (roughly $88). Rather than simply betting on one team to win, a winning bet has to beat "the spread," or the handicap placed on one of the teams.