Illegal betting in sports
It’s estimated that only 1-3% of sports gambling activities are taken into account in the Nevada Sports books and the majority of the betting is definitely the illegal gambling in sports. The FBI estimated in 1998 that this illegal sports gambling was a business worth billions of dollars.
Illegal gambling in sports includes various kinds of activities. Most of these illegal bets on different sporting events are placed with sportsbooks or bookies. Online gambling is an extremely popular means of gambling. Other sporting events are the ones that are illegal and associated with gambling like dog fighting and cockfighting.
Illegal gambling in sports has been associated with organized crime for a long time in America. In the 1920s and 1930s illegal sports gambling was a business for gang mobsters and they also established organized bookmaking across the nation. Emphasis was on horse racing at that time. Nevada legalized casino betting in 1931 and here too organized crime controlled a significant portion of casino gambling business. Continental Wire Service and Trans America Wire were the two illegal wire services that were operated by mobsters.
In the 1950s the federal government came down hard on organized crime and drove the mobsters out of the casino industry in Nevada. These were then taken over by corporations, and the mob took over the illegal bookmaking business. Most illegal books provide bookies that are illegal ways of spreading risks on wagers.
The action of transmitting wagering and gambling information and details across state lines for either taking or placing bets is considered illegal. News details regarding point spreads could be reported just for entertainment and informational purposes but a majority of US newspapers still release betting lines. This practice is defended by the Newspaper Association of America as “free speech” under the First Amendment in the Constitution, proclaiming that readers only want to learn or find out about teams favored to become winners rather than for betting.
Other illegal gambling in sports involves animal fights that take place in the US in spite of the unsavory reputation it’s got. These staged fights involve animals such as dogs that are trained and bred for this specific purpose and male chickens. This sort of animal fighting is normally in the rural areas but city police reports on dog fighting and cockfighting have risen and also this sport is the rage among gangs in the street. This type of illegal sports betting activity is a great problem to the authorities due to the weapons and huge quantities of hard cash present in the fights.
The matter of illegal gambling in sports is a matter of grave concern. Minnesota laws make any type of wager or bet illegal. It is best if the gambler finds out all the laws associated with sports gambling within his state or area before placing bets over a sporting event. Most states declare sports betting as illegal in the US except for Nevada, Montana and one or two other states.