What is Courtsiding?
According to the Wikipedia article on courtsiding, courtsiding is “the practice of transmitting information from sporting events for the purpose of gambling, or of placing bets directly from a sporting event. It has been observed as occurring most prominently, although not exclusively, in tennis”[1].
Is Courtsiding legal?
It is neither legal, nor explicitly illegal in most countries (Australia being one notable exception, for instance), but it is definitely what one would call “immoral”, as it is simply cheating, and it is defnitely a thorn in the eye of both bookies and sports event organizers, around the world.
There have been a few legal cases, occasionally with some hefty fines, but – in comparison to the scale & magnitude at which courtsiding must have been “performed”, the number of court cases is really negligible. “Beating the bookies” (which is the ultimate objective of any punter) is one thing, but it is simply not fair. Courtsiding is like “insider trading”, in a way.
Does Courtsiding still work?
While this may be a logical question, first of all, let’s be clear on something: you should not even think of doing any “courtsiding”, anywhere! Second, if you watch the video below, you may get the idea of how “fresh” a technique courtsiding can possibly be, if there is a BBC mini-documentary on YouTube, watched by millions of people already. (It’s a highly interesting interview, by the way – definitely worth watching!)