History of unlawful 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 regulating sports gambling in the US. Laws that connected with sports gambling along with other standards have been changing and the changes have been described as “Waves”. The first of these waves was in the Colonial Period that lasted up until the 1800s. The next wave took place at the end of the US Civil war till the early Twentieth century. The 3rd of these waves started during the Great Depression till date.
Sports gambling has long been illegal in America. Puritan attitudes while in the Colonial era were adopted towards sports and other gambling, possession of cards, gaming tables, dice etc. Down the line it was only allowed if this was not a trade but only innocent recreation. Early settlers had the view that gambling was only a harmless hobby. Gambling was likened to the frontier spirit as each 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 while in the 1920s and 1930s. Organized bookmaking systems were put in place by organized crime throughout the nation. Horse racing betting became popular in those times.
In 1931 Nevada legalized casino gambling and here too organized crime took control over all of the casino betting business. Mobsters operated illegal nationwide wire services Trans America Wire and Continental Wire Service. Mobsters such as infamous Al Capone put in place their own wire services to stop gamblers from taking any benefit of delays by making sure they posted winning wagers before official results were out.
The Federal Government of the US cracked down on mobsters and organized crime over the 1950s and drove them out of 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 functioning in the nation yet it is evident that organized crime still manages all of the big money in betting.
Animal fights also have a long history the United States in spite of the not so good reputation it has. Most animal fights involve dog fights and cock fights that have become popular with street gangs and large amounts of weapons and money are usually present at the time of these fights.
History of illegal gambling in sports uncovers that cockfighting was illegal and banned by nearly all states in the US during the 1800s. It is still illegal currently in 48 states. The law in Minnesota makes any king of gambling bet Illegal. Thus any type of card game where one has to spend to participate in a game and possess possibilities to win cash is a “bet” and thus also considered to be illegal gambling. It is important to keep in mind that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 only refers to the funding of internet gambling not the actual act of betting.
