MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT NBA REFEREE FOSTER
Betting patterns in games involving NBA referee Scott Foster are raising questions, according to a betting service Website.
Pregame.com claims that an examination of the 2006-07 period under investigation, seven games refereed by Foster had lopsided enough betting on one team to move the point spread by at least two points. Those seven teams were undefeated against Vegas -- meaning that the big-money gamblers won a 7 of 7 times on Foster's games. The odds of that happening randomly are less than 1%, according to RJ Bell, president of Pregame.com.
Foster has come under suspicion after it was revealed that he was involved in over 130 phone calls with disgraced ref Tim Donaghy.
"Statistics alone cannot convict, but it's certainly noteworthy that seven times in Foster's games one team was bet extremely heavily, and all seven times that team won," said Bell.
He cited oddities involving two of those seven games: On January 19, 2007 the Sacramento Kings opened as a 1.5 favorites at Boston; betting on Sacramento moved the line to -4.5. The Kings won by 5, shooting 25 free throws, versus only 14 free throws for the home team Celtics. On March 20, 2007 the Nuggets opened as 2.5 point underdogs at New Jersey.
Denver was bet so heavily, they closed as 1 point favorites. Denver won by 4, shooting 32 free throws versus only 22 for the home team Nets.
In prior reporting widely carried by the national media, Pregame.com uncovered that big-money bettors won 15 straight lopsidedly bet games refereed by Donaghy during the 2006-2007 season.
Teams bet in a disproportionate fashion typically win only around 50% against the Las Vegas line.
