On Satta - By Siddharth Srivastava

Although satta is banned, it remains one of the most organized gaming forums in India, with millions (some say billions) of dollars changing hands every year.

According to police assessments, illegal betting on sport alone amounts to well over US$5 billion annually. Some police officials say the yearly volume could be as high as $20 billion, depending on the state of the economy, especially the stock exchange and real-estate prices, which can generate massive windfall gains for potential punters.

Usually, satta is at its busiest during cricket matches, when bets are placed on every aspect of the game and betting volumes during key one-day international matches (as opposed to the five-day ones), and which involve traditional rivals India and Pakistan, sometimes exceed US$500 million