Cricket fight fans bet $140,000 on illegal bug boxing matches

[freemexy]

Upon hearing the term “cricket fighting,” it’s easy to imagine a team of cricket players having at it on a pitch in the UK or South Africa or India.To get more cricket fight, you can visit shine news official website.

More difficult to wrap one’s head around is literal cricket fighting: insects mixing it up — and gamblers wagering on the outcomes. But, according to the Chinese website Shine, this is fairly commonplace among Sino gamblers and dates back to the Tang Dynasty.

However, longevity does not make it legal.

Earlier this week, “three men accused of organizing cricket fighting in an underground casino” were busted by authorities (only two were actually arrested).

Over the course of a week, 300 cricket fanciers arrived and bet some $140,000 on which of the well-fed male bug boxers would leave the oval-shaped ring alive — or simply give up.

Reuters reports that one lover of cricket-fights, Man Zhiguo, maintains a stable of 70 aggressive insects, referred to as “little gladiators.”

They reside in their own room, where a framed photo of a cricket named Hongyaqing (it translates to ”a black cricket with two red teeth”) enjoys pride of place. And deservedly so: He won the 2004 National Cricket Fighting Championship. Trying to find another champ, Zhiguo judges future contenders by their color, singing skills and movements.

Though the blood sport was banned during the cultural revolution, it seems to be enjoying something of a 21st century comeback, complete with special water and food, specific weight classes, uniformed refs and even little beds for the pampered battlers to rest up in.

Involved as it all is, don’t expect to land in China and just stumble into one of the cricket casinos.

It appears some things are universal: The first rule of this fight club is, you guessed it, you do not talk about fight club.

As put by a buggy owner, who’s won as much as $20,000 in a single illegal gambling match, “There’s a lot of betting. But it’s against the law. You don’t know the place [where the betting matches go on]. Only the guys who know the place know the place.