It’s estimated that only 1-3% of sports betting activities are accounted for from 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 a very popular means of gambling. Other sports activities are the ones that are illegal and linked to 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 established organized bookmaking across the nation. Emphasis was on horse racing during those times. Nevada legalized casino betting in 1931 and here too organized crime controlled a major portion 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 drove the mobsters out of the casino industry in Nevada. These were then taken over 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 act 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 may 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 just want to learn or find out about teams favored to be winners rather than for betting.
Other illegal gambling in sports involves animal fights that take place in the US in spite of the unsavory reputation it has. These staged fights involve animals like dogs that are trained and bred for this purpose and male chickens. This sort of animal fighting is normally within the rural areas but city police reports on dog fighting and cockfighting have increased and also this sport has become the craze 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 quantities of hard cash present in the fights.
The matter of illegal gambling in sports is really a question of grave concern. Minnesota laws make any sort of wager or bet illegal. It is best if the gambler learns all of the laws associated with sports gambling in his state or area before placing bets over a sporting event. Many states declare sports betting as illegal in the United States excluding Nevada, Montana and one or two additional states.