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 along with other standards have been changing and the changes are actually described as “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 20th century. The third of these waves started during the Great Depression till date.

Sports gambling has always 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 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 betting has always been associated with mobsters and organized crime in the US. Illegal sports gambling became a huge business for gang mobsters in the 1920s and 1930s. Organized bookmaking systems were put in place by organized crime all over 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 of 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 personal wire services to prevent gamblers from taking any benefit of delays by making sure they posted winning wagers 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 within the nation but it is obvious that organized crime still controls all of the big money 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 that have become popular with street gangs and big amounts of weapons and money 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 remains illegal currently in 48 states. Legal issues in Minnesota makes any king of gambling bet Illegal. Thus any sort of card game where one has to pay to participate in a game and have 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 specific act of betting.