By Hindustan Times

Mumbai, April 12 -- Bollywood has emerged as one of the biggest players in the IPL. Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla are the faces of Kolkata Knight Riders, Preity Zinta cheers for Kings XI Punjab while Shilpa Shetty and husband Raj Kundra recently sunk their bucks into Rajasthan Royals.

Other stars that showed interest in purchasing teams included Salman Khan and Saif Ali Khan. There is big money involved here and so the returns too are big. But off the field, the league has given rise to one of the biggest betting rackets in the city.

Most of the betting syndicates are nicknamed by the area they operate from. There are hundreds of smaller players who also operate in a chain, which ends with the main bookie sitting in his den. A small area like Lokhandwala is rumoured to have about 40 wandering small time bookies. Even college students have started betting.

Easy money

Says Anup Saxena, who's been betting on cricket for about 15 years, "It's easy money that attracts these college kids. They place bets for as low as Rs 500." Apparently most of the bigger bookies have bases outside the city. Some of them operate from as far as Valsad in Gujarat. "It's risky to operate within city limits. Dahisar is also a hub these days," asserts bookie Kalpesh Shah (name changed). Some of the biggest bookies are based in countries like England where betting is legal. Yet, many operate below the legal radar to avoid paying taxes.

In India, the diamond trading community of Surat, Gujarat, is one of the hottest betting hubs. Ditto the diamond market situated at Opera House. Bookies reveal that Rajasthan, Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, parts of UP and certain districts of Maharashtra are heavily involved in placing bets.

So how much is the whole betting racket worth? "In Mumbai, the entire IPL betting is worth not less than Rs 100 crore per match. Surat could be about Rs 150 crore. The overall Indian market could be worth more than Rs 1,000 crore per match," divulges Shah. Surprisingly, Rajesh Kadam (name changed), a senior Mumbai police officer, who has been involved in busting numerous betting dens, agrees with everything that Shah alleges, including the figures. Sources reveal that though bookies have been arrested on numerous occasions, there have been no convictions so far. Bookies also record phone conversations of punters (people who bet money) to make sure they don't retract their orders. In spite of this, it's difficult to nail them because most change their mobile numbers every few days, make it difficult to track their operations.

How does betting work?

Bookies take bets only on recommendations. They will never entertain a new caller, no matter how big the bet is. The first bet is usually a small amount. The amount keeps rising only after a punter takes a bookie into confidence.

* Most bookies have people who deliver and pick up winnings or losses. A bookie doesn't accept a bet if the caller's voice sounds different. Every bookie has an upper betting limit. He won't accept bets if it exceeds his paying capabilities.

* Sometimes, if the amount on the bet is on the higher side, the bookie insures against a loss by betting the same amount with a bigger bookie. A difference of one paisa, over every rupee makes a huge difference at the end of the day.

* In cricket, bets are placed on wins, losses, runs per ball, final scores of teams or batsmen, how a batsman will get out, number of overs that each team will bowl, man of the match, third umpire decisions.