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Sabong cannot be called sabong without the heavy betting that accompanies these fights. A typical wager for the rich cocker usually goes along the thousand to hundred thousand pesos range, while those on a budget can scrape by on a few hundred pesos. These amounts, however, are mere chickenfeed compared to the grand 7-cock international derbies held annually, where each contestant enters a total of 7 cocks and shells out an initial amount of xx to xxx thousand pesos. Prize money reaches up to the millions, and people from all over fly in to witness this big event. Class distinctions do not apply to sabong. This sport, in fact, belongs up there with religion and fiesta as one of the great equalizers of Philippine society. By midday the cockpit has filled with people, all shouting and signalling with their hands their stakes to the kristos - bet placers for the match. Like most other sports, the Filipino brand of cockfighting has its own set of actions and terminologies. Take the kristo, for example. He moves around the audience with his arms extended. His five fingers are outstretched, with the last two moving back and forth in a peculiar manner. No, he is not shooing away flies. What he is doing is calling out odds of 2:3, or logro tres for this particular match. The cock which is llamado gets the higher odds, while the underdog is termed dejado. The gamblers respond by signalling their bets to the kristo. Five fingers pointing up signals 50 pesos, sidewards 500, and downwards it becomes 5,000. Pump your palm twice and you have wagered ten thousand. Pump it a few more times and you could reach a million.  |
