Notorious moments in sports gambling

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Sports fans can be very forgiving. Just look at the Chicago Cubs, who fill Wrigley Field every year despite last winning the World Series 106 years ago.

When athletes bet on sporting events, however, all of that changes. Otherwise compassionate fans who would be willing to look the other way in most cases have been known to permanently turn their backs on athletes who bet, or who get in on gambling schemes that can affect the outcome of a game.

Why is this? Michael Vick operated an illegal dogfighting ring, but that didn't stop him from signing a one-year contract with the New York Jets for $5 million in March. And in January 2013, Allen Barra wrote a feature for Salon called "Bonds, Clemens must be forgiven," in which he advocated a "forgive-and-forget" policy toward athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs. But for athletes who bet, clemency seems to be a rare commodity.

Robert Carter, a sports gambling consultant known as Incarcerated Bob despite not actually being incarcerated, gave his opinion of why sports fans are less forgiving of athletes who bet on games than those who commit other infractions.

"Fans don't want to watch a game thinking an athlete has money on it," the popular Twitter personality said. "Especially with basketball and football, because of how a point spread can be manipulated. If an athlete is betting, you feel like 'I'm watching this game that could be fixed.' ... Fans are outraged by that."

CNBC.com takes a look at some notorious moments in sports betting. Some of those involved bounced back to success, others were never forgiven.

—By CNBC's Daniel Bukszpan
Posted 2 April 2014

"Money Talks" takes viewers inside the world of Steve Stevens, a sports handicapper who runs VIP Sports out of Las Vegas. Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CNBC.

The Black Sox Scandal

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The Chicago White Sox lost the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, but not because they were the weaker team. Several Chicago players conspired to throw the series, reputedly in exchange for money from gangster Arnold Rothstein.

The scheme was arranged by first baseman Arnold "Chick" Gandil, who recruited seven others. When it was discovered, they faced charges of conspiring to defraud the public, but even though all of them were acquitted, they were banned for life from major league baseball.

In 1956, Gandil wrote an article for Sports Illustrated in which he admitted his guilt and implicated that of his teammates. "To this day I feel that we got what we had coming," he wrote.

CCNY Point Shaving Scandal

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When a player prevents his or her team from winning a game by a certain point spread, it's known as "point shaving." The City College of New York (CCNY) point shaving scandal came to light in 1951, and it involved athletes at seven schools across the country, including Henry Poppe of the 1950 Manhattan College team.

Poppe was being bribed for point shaving and tried to enlist fellow teammate Junius Kellogg, who told their coach. Poppe was arrested and further schemes uncovered, until 32 athletes went before a judge. Poppe was given three years' probation for his role, and perhaps coincidentally, the New York City tristate area didn't host another NCAA championship game for 45 years.

Boston College Basketball Point Shaving Scandal

Gasson Tower on the campus of Boston College
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Rick Kuhn played basketball for Boston College, and during the 1978-1979 season, he teamed up with gangster Henry Hill , who movie fans may remember from Ray Liotta's portrayal in the 1990 movie "Goodfellas." Kuhn and other teammates shaved points in nine of that season's games, in exchange thousands of dollars.

In 1980, Hill was arrested on drug trafficking charges and became an informant. Among the many crime figures he implicated was Kuhn, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the longest sentence ever given to a college athlete for point shaving. It was later reduced to 28 months.

Alex Karras

Alex Karras
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Alex Karras played for the NFL's Detroit Lions from 1958 until 1970, with the exception of 1963. He sat out that year when he was suspended for betting on NFL games. When he returned in 1964, he did so with good humor, refusing to participate in the pregame coin toss on the grounds that he was "not permitted to gamble."

After his football career ended, he embarked upon a successful second career as an actor. He starred as Mongo in the 1974 comedy classic "Blazing Saddles," and went on to greater success on the ABC television comedy "Webster."

Pete Rose

Pete Rose
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Pete Rose played for the Cincinnati Reds from 1963 to 1986 and is considered one of the greatest players in baseball history. However, in 1989, he was banned for life because he bet on games, including those played by his own team, which he also managed.

For years, he insisted that he was innocent. But in 2004, he finally admitted on the Dan Patrick radio show that he had, in fact, bet on his own team, and not just a couple of times.

"I bet on my team every night," he said. "I didn't bet on my team four nights a week. I bet on my team to win every night because I loved my team, I believed in my team. I did everything in my power every night to win that game."

Arthur Schlichter

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Art Schlicther (10) is rundown and sacked by Pittsburgh Steelers Gary Dunn in the second quarter of their football game in this Sept. 8, 1985 file photo in Pittsburgh.
AP

Arthur Schlichter joined the roster of the Baltimore Colts in 1982. According to The New York Times, he was already in the grips of a gambling habit that had started when he was just a teenager, and according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, he bet most frequently on "horse tracks and on sporting events through bookies."

Before his rookie season was over, he had already gambled away his entire $350,000 signing bonus, and in 1983 National Football League Commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended him for placing ''sizable bets on at least 10 NFL games during the 1982 season and postseason."

Despite many attempts, Schlichter has been unable to reform. He is currently serving a prison sentence of 10 years and seven months for fraudulently promising tickets to sporting events to over 50 people, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

John "Hot Rod" Williams

John "Hot Rod" Williams
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John "Hot Rod" Williams began his college basketball career at Tulane University. His playing career almost ended right there, as he was arrested on suspicion of point shaving, in what ESPN called "the most notable scandal of the 1980s." He was accused of manipulating point spreads in exchange for $8,550, and faced two counts of sports bribery and three counts of conspiracy.

Ultimately, his first trial for these charges ended in a mistrial, and in the second trial he was acquitted by a jury of all five charges. With all that unpleasantness behind him, he went on to a successful 13-year career, in which he played for such teams as the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks.

Money Talks

"Money Talks" takes viewers inside the world of Steve Stevens, a sports handicapper who runs VIP Sports in Las Vegas. The one-hour docu-soap follows Stevens and his stable of agents who sell their picks to gamblers looking for any kind of edge. From small-time bettors who will lay out a few hundred to the whales who put six figures on the line, this is a world built on high risk, high reward and high emotions. In a city of distractions and every imaginable vice, Stevens needs to keep his agents focused on building new business while entertaining big time bettors who come to Vegas with big bankrolls and even bigger expectations.