History of illegal betting in sports

The United States has a long history of illegal gambling in sports. Gambling scandals and political control have ended in the prohibition and regulation of sports gambling in the USA. Laws that connected with sports gambling and other standards have already been changing and these changes have been named “Waves”. The earliest of these waves was in the Colonial Period that lasted up until the 1800s. The second wave came about following the US Civil war up until the early 20th century. The third of these waves started in the Great Depression till date.

Sports gambling has always been illegal in the US. Puritan attitudes during the Colonial era were adopted towards sports and other gambling, possession of cards, gaming tables, dice etc. Later on it was only allowed if this had not been a trade but only innocent recreation. Early settlers had the view that gambling was just a harmless past time. Gambling was likened to the frontier spirit as both of them involved opportunism, risk taking and high expectations.

Illegal sports gambling has become associated with mobsters and organized crime in the US. Illegal sports gambling was a huge business for gang mobsters in the 1920s and 1930s. Organized bookmaking systems were put in place by organized crime throughout the nation. Horse racing betting became popular during this period.

In 1931 Nevada legalized casino gambling and here too organized crime took control of all the casino betting business. Mobsters controlled illegal nationwide wire services Trans America Wire and Continental Wire Service. Mobsters like the infamous Al Capone set up their own wire services to stop gamblers from getting any benefit from delays by making sure they posted winning wagers before official results were out.

The Federal Government of the usa cracked upon mobsters and organized crime during the 1950s and forced them outside the Nevada Casino gambling industry. But this did not dissuade the organized crime mobsters who took over illegal bookmaking. Law Enforcement authorities do acknowledge that independent bookies are operating within the nation yet it is obvious that organized crime still controls all the big bucks in betting.

Animal fights furthermore have a long history in the US despite the bad reputation it has. Most animal fights involve dog fights and cock fights which are today favored by street gangs and big numbers of weapons and cash are usually present in the course of these fights.

History of illegal gambling in sports reveals that cockfighting was illegal and banned by most states in the US over the 1800s. It is still illegal today in 48 states. Legal issues in Minnesota makes any king of gambling bet Illegal. Thus any type of card game where you’ve got to pay to take part in a game and have chances to win cash is a “bet” and thus also considered to be illegal gambling. It is essential to keep in mind that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 only refers to the funding of internet gambling not the specific act of betting.