It’s estimated that only 1-3% of sports betting 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 an industry worth billions of dollars.
Illegal gambling in sports includes different types of activities. Most of these illegal bets on various competitive sports are placed with sportsbooks or bookies. Internet gambling is an extremely popular method of gambling. Other sporting events are the ones that happen to be illegal and associated with gambling such as dog fighting and cockfighting.
Illegal gambling in sports continues to be connected with organized crime for a long time in the US. In the 1920s and 1930s illegal sports gambling was a business for gang mobsters and they also set up organized bookmaking around the nation. Focus was on horse racing during those times. Nevada legalized casino betting in 1931 and here too organized crime managed a major percentage of casino gambling business. Continental Wire Service and Trans America Wire were the 2 main illegal wire services that were operated by mobsters.
In the 1950s the federal government came down hard on organized crime and forced the mobsters out of the casino industry in Nevada. These were then bought out by corporations, and the mob took over the illegal bookmaking business. The majority of illegal books provide bookies which 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 considered illegal. News details concerning point spreads may be reported only 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 just want to learn or find out about teams favored to become winners instead of for betting.
Some other illegal gambling in sports involves animal fights that take place in America regardless of the unsavory reputation it’s got. These staged fights involve animals such as dogs that happen to be trained and bred for this specific purpose and male chickens. This sort of animal fighting is usually in the rural areas but city police reports on dog fighting and cockfighting have increased and this sport has become the rage among gangs in the street. This type of illegal sports betting activity is a great problem for the authorities because of the weapons and large quantities of hard cash present at 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’s advisable if the bettor finds out all of the laws relating to sports gambling in his state or area before placing bets on a sporting event. Most states declare sports betting as illegal in the US except for Nevada, Montana and one or two additional states.
