Illegal gambling 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 estimated in 1998 that this illegal sports gambling was an industry worth billions of dollars.

Illegal gambling in sports consists of different types of activities. Many of these illegal bets on various sporting events are put with sportsbooks or bookies. Online gambling is a very popular method of gambling. Other sports activities are the ones that are illegal and associated with gambling such as dog fighting and cockfighting.

Illegal gambling in sports continues to be connected with organized crime for many years in the US. In the 1920s and 1930s illegal sports gambling had been a business for gang mobsters and they set up organized bookmaking around the nation. Emphasis was on horse racing during those times. 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 two illegal wire services that were operated by mobsters. sport betting parlay calculator

In the 1950s the government came down hard on organized crime and drove the mobsters out from the casino industry in Nevada. They were then taken over by corporations, and also the mob took over the illegal bookmaking business. Most 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 recognized as illegal. News details regarding point spreads could be reported just for entertainment and informational purposes but a majority of US newspapers still publish 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 take place in America in spite of the unsavory reputation it has. These staged fights include animals like dogs that are trained and bred for this specific purpose and male chickens. This type of animal fighting is normally in the rural areas but city police reports on dog fighting and cockfighting have increased and also this sport is the craze among gangs on the street. This kind of illegal sports betting activity is a great problem to the authorities because of the weapons and huge 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 sort of wager or bet illegal. It is best if the bettor learns all of the laws relating to sports gambling within his state or area prior to placing bets over a sporting event. Many states declare sports betting as illegal in the United States except for Nevada, Montana and one or two other states.