History of unlawful gambling in sports

The United States has a long history of illegal gambling in sports. Gambling scandals and political control have led to the prohibition and regulating sports gambling in the USA. Laws that related to sports gambling and other standards have already been changing and these changes have been named “Waves”. The first of these waves was in the Colonial Period that lasted till the 1800s. The second wave came about following the US Civil war till the early Twentieth century. The third of such waves started during the Great Depression till date.

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

Illegal sports betting has always been linked to mobsters and organized crime in the United States. Illegal sports gambling became a huge business for gang mobsters while in the 1920s and 1930s. Organized bookmaking systems were put in place by organized crime all over the nation. Horse racing betting became popular in those times.

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 such as infamous Al Capone set up their own personal wire services to stop gamblers from taking any benefit of delays by making sure they posted winning bets before formal results were out.

The Federal Government of the US cracked down on mobsters and organized crime during the 1950s and forced them outside the Nevada Casino gambling industry. But this would not deter the organized crime mobsters who took over illegal bookmaking. Law Enforcement authorities do acknowledge that independent bookies are functioning in the nation but it is obvious that organized crime still manages all the big bucks in betting.

Animal fights furthermore have a long history in the US in spite of the bad reputation it’s got. Most animal fights involve dog fights and cock fights which are today popular with street gangs and large amounts of weapons and money usually are present in the course of these fights.

History of illegal gambling in sports uncovers that cockfighting was illegal and banned by nearly all states the United States during the 1800s. It remains illegal today in 48 states. The law in Minnesota makes any king of gambling bet Illegal. Thus any sort of card game where you’ve got to spend to take part in a game and have chances to win money is a “bet” and therefore also considered to be illegal gambling. It is important to note that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 only deals with the funding of internet gambling not the specific act of betting.