In Reply to: cockfights posted by troy14 on Monday, 24. January 2005 at 16:13 Bali Time:
...it goes on unabated. Betting is a genetic trait in the Balinese character, and cock fighting provides the main outlet for this addiction.
Cockfights are rarely raided by the police, for the good reason that the police gets its share of the takes for looking the other way. Many small cockfights take place all over Bali every day. Many, some of the larger ones, are connected to festivities, such as temple festivals, but many others are just for the sole fun of betting. Due to the economic situation in Bali over the last two - three years, their numbers had diminished, but as the economic conditions are now improving, so are the number of "serious" cockfights.
In any case, if the police were to show up during a cockfight, no one is ever taken in custody. This is totally unheard of. The only damage that will occur is to the purse of the organizers. Once, I attended such a gathering near Ubud when the police from Denpasar showed up to claim its share of the bets: they were promptly shown their way back home by the Ubud police, who did not see any reasons why it had to share its profit with the intruders from Denpasar.
The sizes of the bets vary from few thousand rupiahs to small fortunes. And this is why the Balinese Government is trying, unsuccessfully, to stop the practice. As gambling all over the world, betting can leads to financial ruins and tragedies
So, go ahead, attend a cockfight in all peace of mind. You will discover another aspect of the Balinese character you did not suspect. I realize that some people object to this "sport," but I would ask them the following questions: do these people eat chicken? If the answer is yes, then they are hypocrites, as they conveniently ignore the appalling and cruel conditions in which their chickens are raised and killed. The Balinese roosters are pampered for several years with excellent and special foods, massages, etc, until they are expeditiously sent to their maker...and to the winner owner's pot.