Illegal betting in sports activities
It’s estimated that only 1-3% of sports gambling activities are accounted for in the Nevada Sports books and the majority of the gambling is the illegal gambling in sports. The FBI believed in 1998 that this illegal sports gambling was a business worth billions of dollars.
Illegal gambling in sports consists of various kinds of activities. Many of these illegal bets on different sporting events are put with sportsbooks or bookies. Internet 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 many years in America. In the 1920s and 1930s illegal sports gambling had been a business for gang mobsters and they also established organized bookmaking around the nation. Focus was on horse racing during those times. 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 which were operated by mobsters.
In the 1950s the government came down hard on organized crime and forced the mobsters out from the casino industry in Nevada. These were then taken over by corporations, and also the mob took over the illegal bookmaking business. Most illegal books provide bookies that are illegal methods for spreading risks on wagers.
The action of transmitting wagering and gambling information and details across state lines for either taking or placing bets is recognized as illegal. News details concerning point spreads could be reported just for entertainment and informational purposes but many US newspapers still release betting lines. This practice is defended by the Newspaper Association of America as “free speech” under the First Amendment of the Constitution, proclaiming that readers only want to learn or find out about teams favored to be winners rather than for betting.
Some other illegal gambling in sports involves animal fights that occur in the US regardless 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 type of animal fighting is normally within the rural areas but city police reports on dog fighting and cockfighting have risen and this sport has become the craze among gangs on the street. This type of illegal sports betting activity is a great problem to the authorities because of the weapons and large amounts of hard cash present at the fights.
The matter of illegal gambling in sports is really a matter of grave concern. Minnesota laws make any sort of wager or bet illegal. It’s advisable if the bettor learns all the laws associated with sports gambling within his state or area prior to placing bets on a sporting event. Many states declare sports betting as illegal in the US except for Nevada, Montana and one or two additional states.