More transcripts of the telephone conversations and sms exchanges between the members of the Greek match-fixing group leaked earlier in the day and one of them involved Frankfurt Skyliners-Bamberg game.
In no way does the following dialogue proves that the German BBL, and Frankfurt-Bamberg game (on Ferbruary 5, 2011) in particularly is rigged (on the contrary as Bamberg dominated their domestic competitions this season), but it is still interesting, as it involved basketball, even outside Greece. {jathumbnail off}
The dialogue is as follows – under the title: “Makis calling Andreas Karakoulias” (a bookie and one of the initial dozen persons arrested for their involvement in the group) in the official case report drafted by the General Prosecutor.
V: Hey Makis.
M: Vasilako I want to bet 10.000 on 25 [obviously the code for Skyliners-Bamberg game in the bookie’s coupon]
V: 10.000 on 25, alright.
M: Make sure it’s a single one.
V: Yes.
After hanging up, Vasilis Karakoulias calls an unknown person (A) and the following dialogue occurs:
A: Hey Vasilis.
V: Uncle.
A: Yes.
V: Put 10.000 on 25
A: OK
Vasilis Karakoulias proceeds to send the same person a text message with the details of the game: “767* 2** BASKETBALL”
* = the official code for the game at the OPAP (Greek betting company) coupon as seen in the screenshot below
** = away win
As seen from the official OPAP coupon this game is only offered with at least another two games in the same bet, while in the dialogue the bookie accepts a single game bet, so it is rather safe to assume it was an illegal bet. For the record the official OPAP odd for a single game is 1.75
At the time of the game Bamberg was topping the league table while Frankfurt was second. Before the game, Frankfurt was unbeaten at home (ended up with two home defeats). Although it was expected to be a close game (handicap was -3.5 in Greece and -4.5 abroad) Bamberg practically won the game after the first quarter, leading 13-29, with a great performance during the entire game.
The game was obviously crystal clear. So it is pretty much a case of a well read betting player who made a good pick. The reason why he ended up in the case report was that he chose to bet illegally because OPAP did not allow single game betting for the particular match.
