March 12, 2007	Monday	Safar 22, 1428

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LAHORE, March 11: While the best teams in the world battle for the cricket World Cup beginning on Tuesday, Pakistani police and bookies will be playing a game of cat and mouse that the bookies look sure to win.

All forms of gambling are illegal in cricket-mad, mostly Muslim Pakistan but fans are expected to wager huge amounts during the six-week World Cup that starts on March 13.

And the bookies are relishing the prospects.

“Everyone's a gambler in Lahore,” said one bookie.

A smartly dressed man in his early 30s, the bookie runs his operation from a small room with a telephone in a bustling city-centre side street.

Lahore police have mounted a crackdown on gambling in recent weeks, raiding 75 gambling dens and arresting 431 people, mostly for playing cards, said city police chief Malik Mohammad Iqbal.

But Iqbal said far more money is bet on cricket than on the card games his men have been breaking up.

“We have to be very watchful during the World Cup. The ongoing campaign will effect their morale and their business.”

The Lahore bookie, who declined to be identified, said he had been laying low during the crackdown but he wasn't worried about his World Cup business.

“The crackdown will be finished by the time the World Cup starts,” he said confidently.

The bookie said he regarded himself as a medium-sized operator among the city's numerous bookmakers. He said he usually made the equivalent of about $1,000 during a regular international cricket match.

During the World Cup, he said expected to get closer to $10,000 a match.

“It's a big event and the matches aren't fixed,” he said.

One man associated with a betting operation said big-time gamblers could put 10 million rupees ($165,000) on a single match. Many millions of dollars would be changing hands over the World Cup, he said.

The Lahore bookie also said he wasn't worried about the police because he paid them off — nearly $700 a month.

“I pay money, why should I be arrested?” he asked. “If the police plan a raid someone in the station will tell me.”

Iqbal acknowledged some police might be tempted by bribes.

“Maybe this is true but I've never received any money,” he told Reuters. “If someone is found indulging in this they'll be taken to task.”

In the teeming city of Karachi, bookies said they had begun taking World Cup bets.

“We're expecting a boom because the timing of the matches is such it will allow us to do our business smoothly,” said a Karachi bookie who also declined to be identified.

The World Cup is being held in the West Indies, with matches starting in the early evening, Pakistani time. Sixteen teams, including Pakistan, are competing.

“Australia is the favourite followed by South Africa,” said the Karachi bookie. “We take all types of bets. The most popular is fancy fixing where a client bets on any ball.”

All bets were made by word of mouth over the telephone, with no paper trail for the police to find, both bookies said.

“A client is identified by a special number and he just calls in and places his bet,” said the Karachi bookie.

Karachi police chief Azhar Ali Farooqi seemed resigned to a wave of World Cup betting.

“We carry out raids and discourage these people when we get reliable information. Cricket is such a big passion it's natural for people who gamble to also bet on it,” he said.

“We've made no advance raids yet but we're keeping watch.”

Cricket fan and gambler Danish Karim can't wait.

“The World Cup is the biggest cricket event for us because all the teams are involved. It is so much more fun,” he said.

He said gambling was particularly popular among brokers at the Karachi Stock Exchange.

“The World Cup will be a big event for them as always.”—Reuters