FreedomAtStake's Blog

The New Realities for American Sports Bettors, Part I

By FreedomAtStake | View all Posts
Posted Monday, May 30, 2011 01:34 PM   0 comments
This is a message for all Americans out there who like to wager on sports.

First of all, let me apologize. We at Covers have been doing this for 16 years now, and we often forget what it’s like to be relatively new to this activity. We tend to assume that everybody knows the “basic” information regarding customary practices and legalities and whatnot, when it really isn’t so. 

This lack of common knowledge hasn’t been a huge problem for the last few years, because the industry has evolved to serve newbies in a way that they didn’t need a lot of information to participate. Not to mention a few dirty secrets that were easier to sweep under the carpet.

But now that there has been a huge industry disruption, players are realizing that they don’t necessarily know what they have gotten themselves into and what the repercussions could be. They want to know the realities.

Well, one reality is that a lot of people are putting their heads in the sand right now. Not to mention a lot of misinformation and disinformation put out by people with personal and commercial agendas.

Because there are still a few US-facing sportsbooks out there, people assume this means it is business as usual. It isn't. There has been a sea-change in the industry and to ignore it is stupid.  The fact is more than half of the US-facing companies have left the market, one way or another, over the past couple of months. Maybe these changes are not affecting you directly, but you have to admit the landscape has changed. 

Therefore, there are several other realities that you, as an American sports bettor, are going to have to face.

1 - Whether you like it or not, the American government thinks you are a criminal.

Relax, you are NOT going to get arrested. 

The key word is that the government "thinks" you are a criminal, but you aren’t.  They tried to make a law going after the online bettor about 10 years ago, and it never passed. Since then, it has not been illegal for Americans to place wagers online, only to accept wagers from Americans. So you are not breaking any American laws.

That being said, there are a few individual states that have passed vague and ambiguous laws outlawing online gambling, but those laws are usually pretty unenforceable and generally ignored even by their own state law enforcement. Either way, though, it’s a good idea to consults a local attorney to find out for sure if your state has any specific laws against online gambling. You might even take this opportunity to quiz your state representative about his knowledge of the industry and let them know your opinion.

Regardless, this is all really splitting hairs. Yes, as a bettor you might not be technically breaking any laws, but that's simply because the government can't find a way to make a law against you that will pass. Rest assured, in their hearts they believe you are a criminal, and they want to stop you.

What this means is that you really have nowhere to go when you have a problem. If you get screwed over by a dodgy online operation, or the American government has seized your funds at an offshore sportsbook, politicians generally do not have much sympathy for you because they think you are getting your just deserves.

You can complain to your Congressman about the situation - and you definitely should, if only so that they might realize that online sports bettors are a lot more common and ordinary than they currently believe. But in the end, don't expect them to go to bat for you. Even if they were one of the enlightened few that realizes that sports betting is a pretty harmless hobby, they will likely not bring this matter up with their colleagues for fear of committing political suicide.

Maybe if you happened to be an online poker player... you might get some sympathy. Poker for some reason is viewed differently than other forms of gambling, and it is alright for a politician to approve of poker.

But sports gambling? Forget it. Ain't going to happen.

Continue reading Part II here...
Report Abuse
 
0 comments
comment Post A Comment
Add your response:
Please note that the blogger has the option of reviewing all comments before they are displayed to the public. Your comment may not be published immediately.
 

Profile

User: Freedom@Stake
Joined: July 1995
Location: Ireland
Team: Florida State Seminoles
Occupation: Media

Recent Posts

Archive

open2011
open2009
open2008

Categories

Advertisement