Eli5: Why are professional athletes typically banned from placing bets that are in favor of their own team/themselves?

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I understand why you would not want athletes to throw games on purpose if they place a large bet for the opposing team to win, however let’s say I am a pitcher in baseball, and I place a bet for my own team to win, wouldn’t that only motivate me to play better because I stand to win more money by doing so?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

There’s another reason not mentioned (although maybe this reason is changing). But gambling at all incurs the risk of becoming indebted to bookies. When gambling was almost strictly illegal this could often lead to you being indebted to unsavory characters who could then force you to throw games so you could pay back the debt. That’s why it has such a bad reputation in sports

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