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 gambling is definitely 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 different types of activities. Many of these illegal bets on different sporting events are put with sportsbooks or bookies. Online gambling is an extremely popular method of gambling. Other sporting events are those 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 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 managed a significant portion 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. They were then bought out by corporations, and 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 considered illegal. News details regarding 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 in the Constitution, proclaiming that readers only want to learn or read about teams favored to become winners instead of for betting.
Some 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 include animals such as dogs that are trained and bred for this 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 risen and also this sport is the rage among gangs in the street. This type of illegal sports betting activity is a great concern for the authorities due to the weapons and large amounts of hard cash present in the fights.
The issue of illegal gambling in sports is really a matter of grave concern. Minnesota laws make any type of wager or bet illegal. It is best if the bettor learns all of the laws relating to sports gambling in his state or area prior to placing bets on a sporting event. Most states declare sports gambling as illegal in the United States except for Nevada, Montana and one or two additional states.