Sports betting is arguably the most lucrative business venture in Kenya now. The betting craze has taken over Kenyans like a storm, it is like everyone from school going kids, mama mboga, matatu touts to civil employees and even employers is betting.
Perhaps that is the reason why we have betting firms sprouting up almost every day.
The problem with Kenyans is that we are so gullible, and it is easy for a clever person to take advantage of that. Most of the people betting are losing huge junks of money.
The big loses have been a window of opportunity for a certain group of Kenyans. These guys have decided to come up with something called ‘fixed matches.’
Match fixing is when the outcome of a match has been manipulated for gambling reasons. They will tell you that they have a certain number of odds let’s say 20 and are selling it for between Sh3000 to Sh5000 or even ten Sh10,000.
These guys are very clever, they will show you screenshots of their previous winnings which are usually high enough to increase your heartbeat.
Some Kenyan fixed match sellers are so creative that they have fake profiles on Facebook, they adopt names of Albanians, Turks and other countries notorious for match fixing. This way, they can lure ignorant Kenyans into buying their matches.
But do fixed matches really exist? The answer will be yes or no depending on the person you ask. Most Kenyans who buy these fixed matches have ended up losing a lot of money to these online cons who purport to sale fixed matches.
Unknown to the victims, the person who sales these matches could be your next-door neighbor masquerading as an Albanian.
There are a few people who will claim to have won some money after purchasing the odds. I can’t disagree on that, in fact it is possible because I also won a bet I had been given by someone.
But that is not necessarily a fixed match, these cons are so good. They will give different outcomes to different people. Then they will tell you not to show your ticket to anyone.
This way, some of their clients will win while most will lose. They will go back to the clients who won and do the same again. The winning clients would advertise this ‘source’ to their friends who will come to buy the next odds at a slightly higher price than the previous odds, again there will be losers and a few winners.
This is the reason why you will never hear of a person who has won twice from the same source.
Online fixed match peddlers have mastered the art of scamming people, they will delete their accounts and create new ones once their conniving ways are exposed.
There is also a possibility of one person operating many Facebook accounts. This way, he will comment on the credibility of the ‘main source’ claiming to have won a lot from the previous ticket.
Back to our question, do fixed matches really exist? There is no question that matches get fixed. FIFA has been trying for a long time to crack the whip on this worldwide problem but there are no signs of it ending anytime soon. But these matches are not found on Facebook or any other social media platform.
And if they were, they would be unaffordable to the average Kenyan gambler.
So next time if someone tells you, they have fixed odds, run for your dear life brother.