Illegal gambling in sports activities
It is 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 estimated in 1998 this illegal sports gambling was an industry worth billions of dollars.
Illegal gambling in sports consists of various kinds of activities. Many of these illegal bets on different sporting events are placed with sportsbooks or bookies. Online gambling is a very 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 was a business for gang mobsters and they set up organized bookmaking around the nation. Focus was on horse racing at that time. Nevada legalized casino betting in 1931 and here too organized crime controlled a significant percentage of casino gambling business. Continental Wire Service and Trans America Wire were the 2 main illegal wire services which were operated by mobsters.
In the 1950s the 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 also the mob took over the illegal bookmaking business. Most illegal books provide bookies which are illegal ways of spreading risks on wagers.
The act 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 only for entertainment and informational purposes but many US newspapers still publish betting lines. This practice is defended by the Newspaper Association of America as “free speech” under the First Amendment in the Constitution, claiming that readers only want to learn or find out about teams favored to become winners instead of for betting.
Other illegal gambling in sports involves animal fights that take place in America in spite of the unsavory reputation it has. 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 within the rural areas but city police reports on dog fighting and cockfighting have risen and this sport has become the rage among gangs in the street. This type of illegal sports betting activity is a great concern to the authorities because of the weapons and huge amounts of hard cash present in the fights.
The matter of illegal gambling in sports is a matter of grave concern. Minnesota laws make any sort of wager or bet illegal. It is best 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 gambling as illegal in the US except for Nevada, Montana and one or two additional states.