It is estimated that only 1-3% of sports gambling activities are accounted for from 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 a business worth billions of dollars.
Illegal gambling in sports includes various kinds of activities. Most of these illegal bets on different sporting events are put with sportsbooks or bookies. Internet gambling is a very popular method of gambling. Other sports activities are the ones that happen to be illegal and linked to gambling such as dog fighting and cockfighting.
Illegal gambling in sports has been connected 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 also 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 major portion of casino gambling business. Continental Wire Service and Trans America Wire were the two illegal wire services that were operated by mobsters.
In the 1950s the government came down hard on organized crime and drove the mobsters out from 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 that 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 considered illegal. News details concerning 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 in the Constitution, proclaiming that readers only 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 in spite of the unsavory reputation it’s got. These staged fights involve animals such as dogs that are trained and bred for this purpose and male chickens. This type of animal fighting is usually within the rural areas but city police reports on dog fighting and cockfighting have risen and this sport is 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 huge amounts 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 finds out all the laws associated with sports gambling within his state or area before placing bets on a sporting event. Many states declare sports betting as illegal in the US except for Nevada, Montana and one or two additional states.