Legal Issues in Sports Gambling - Essay Example

? Legal Issues in Gambling Insert Insert Insert Insert Introduction Gambling refers to the act of betting one’s money on an event whose outcome is uncertain with the aim of winning more money (Boyd, 1981). The decision to gamble a given sum of money gets based on three factors, namely the amount the individuals have agreed on betting, the predictability, of the sport or event they are betting on, and conditions the gamblers have agreed upon among themselves (Finley, 2008). With the advent of increased online gambling activities, there had been confusion because a majority of laws applied to gambling in sports and other forms of bet taking were in use long before the internet came into widespread use and were at the discretion of states. Further, laws relating to cyberspace have been hard to craft while older laws are open to broad interpretations in this context. Bills’ seeking to create laws to regulate online gambling has mostly ended in failure. However, Illinois passed legislation which strictly bars advertising of online casinos in the state (Illinois Gambling Laws, 2012). In reference to the Gambling and Related Offences 2012 (US), section 28(1) one is said to commit gambling offence when, he or she makes a wager upon the result of a game. Brief history of sports gambling. Ever since, sporting activities started, people have had the urge to bet on the outcome. Nowhere else is gambling as widespread as in the United States. Thompson (2001), in his research identified the founding fathers of the United States as natural risk takers; therefore the attraction to take part in all forms of gambling was rather inherent. Humphrey (2012), in his research, stated that, in the initial days of United States, the colonists used to gamble on anything ranging from bare-knuckle brawls to cockfights and makeshift horse races. Majority of these colonists were from England and, therefore, had gambling instincts in their bloodstream because their forbears had been doing it for generations as a form of entertainment and leisure (Boyd, 1981). Whenever a game was in the offing, somebody was always ready to bet on its outcome. This, in a way, shows that sports bet taking among the early Americans was a main part of their sporting culture. Thompson (2001) confirmed many colorful characters and factors have played a role in the growth of sports gambling, but what is obvious is that sports gambling are here to stay despite efforts by various governments’ attempts to curtail its growth. Sometime back, a sport betting was just a negligible part in human, social life, but nowadays it runs from the professional bettor, the middle class family to the common man on the street (Ziming and Shaffer, 2009). The effect of this has been that professional bookmakers and gamblers have resulted to bribery of participants and other uncouth activities. Horse racing was the first sport which recorded widespread bet activity due to its increased popularity especially in the United Sates. During the initial years, this was a game for the upper class, but after the end of civil war, horse tracks appeared and dotted eastern landscapes attracting bettors from every economic sector in United States (Thompson, 2001). The peak of horse racing was in 1920s and decline began in 1930s. Currently, Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act 2006 (US) has section 5363 and 5366 which has criminalized taking of money from bettors by online gaming website operators but excludes online betting on horse racing activities from its list of illegal gambling activities. However, these bets must be legal at the two ends of online connection (Humphrey, 2012). Formation of professional leagues, they diverted attention of gamblers and made a majority of them abandon horse race betting for other areas such as professional baseball. Use of pool cards’ became common especially in the urban areas of the East. These pool cards were similar to the present day parlay cards, and they gave baseball bettors several betting options while making it possible for one to wager even ten cents. Unfortunately, due to lack of any legal frameworks on how to carry out these betting activities, favoritism of houses while gamblers thought all was alright as they get cheated out of their money. Betting in sports -Black sox scandal. In 1919, a match fixing incident during the 1919 World series (it came to be known as ‘Black sox Scandal), captured the imagination of the state. Players from highly favored Chicago get compromised by gamblers and made to fix the games leading to a loss to Cincinnati (5-3) considered the underdogs (Finley, 2008). This led to a negative impression that sports bettors were criminal elements out to ruin the adored game for their own interest. Although even then gambling was illegal, before this scandal majority of people considered it as a victimless sport. Despite this scandal, betting has continued with acceptance of legal gambling and societal tolerance changing in a rapid manner. Political control and scandals by various gaming interests result in backlashes which result in prohibition /regulation but only for a short time. Even in states like California, where gambling was illegal over the years, the first slot machine invention occurred before it premiered in San Francisco in 1895. It only came to be outlawed in 1911. For Nevada, it shifted between banning and legalizing it. It was legal from 1869 to 1910 hence making many gaming businesses to move from other states to Nevada. Rodefer (2011), in his study, confirmed betting on outcomes of sporting events is a sizeable business in Nevada. For instance, in 1999, $2.5 billion dollars got bet in Nevada alone. However, due to a federal law banning betting on sporting events, cash starved states in the United states lose out of the $380 billion illegally events relating to sporting. However, in Oregon, a state run lottery called Sports Action game has been running since 1989, bringing in substantial amounts to state coffers. Some of the money from this lottery gets put into various state athletic scholarships hence benefiting athletes. The main difficulty to licensing of betting on sports is due to the high possibility of financially induced participants, avoiding results in favor of bookmakers, which results in lack of honesty for these games while putting off true fans. Types of betting in sports Apart from ordinary wagers like betting a friend that a person’s favorite basketball, soccer or baseball team will win in its group or a given game most organized betting in sports occurs by either use of internet outlets or bookmakers. There are several types of bets which include preposition bets, Parlays, Progressive Parlays, Teasers and If be. Preposition bets refer to making wagers on a match by having a highly specific possible match outcome. This may involve guessing the number of goals each team is likely to score.  Parlays on the other end consist of several bets, which can go, up to twelve, and the lucky bettor, gets a whopping payout. Progressive parlays also involve many bets going up to twelve and those bettors who are successful get a larger payout. However, in this case, a lower payout gets paid even when some of the bets end up losing. Teasers allow bettors to combine their bets on more than one game. The bets comprise of at least two straight bets joined by a clause which states the greatest determinant of the betting process. Once a player’s first bet has complied with the clause (condition), then this results in the second selection having action and vice versa. Participants in gambling sports Gambling has over the years become well-established as part of adult culture especially in sports. However, gambling has no restriction to adults, and it has found its way in high schools and colleges. Darden and Rockey (2006) in their study identified that gambling on sports has become risky behavior, which merits a, lot of attention from law enforcement agencies, administrative and coaching officials. With several states legalizing several forms of gambling, increased online betting opportunities and commercialization of sports gambling by the media players such as ESPN, and mixed signals from the accepted betting practices, coupled with emphasis on competition at a younger age have resulted in gambling problems among young people and even respectable sporting personalities. With young people as young as seventeen taking part in sports gambling, there is a cause for everyone to be worried. A recent research reported that approximately two out of three college students gamble. Thirty percent and ten percent of male and female athletes respectively gambled on the outcome of college sports in 2010. The report further stated that college students in division three are more likely to struggle with gambling tendencies increasing significantly from the ages sixteen and eighteen. In addition, the research found out that adolescents get addicted to gambling at a faster rate compared to adults with the majority of adults hooked to gambling having acquired their gambling habits during their adolescence (Thompson, 2001)). Detecting it is harder compared to other addictions such as drugs and alcohol, Due to discreet nature of gambling. Darden, and Rockey (2006) in their research identified that an athlete who is performing inadequately due to drugs or alcohol was easier to identify than an addicted gambler. When young people gamble on sports undertaken at their level, they can intentionally perform badly to ensure their bets succeed and may be so intent on winning so as not to lose money. When athletes start gambling on sport outcomes, the honesty of sporting activities diminishes. While various high profile cases like in Arizona State and that of Pete Rose may attract media attention, silent prevalence of gambling in institutions of learning ends up threatening the purpose and role of these sporting events (Keller, 1999). Honesty in sports at lower levels of education is paramount because once this rot has started in the school setting; in the end, it permeates professional cadres (Darden, and Rockey, 2006). Once young athletes get hooked to recreational gambling, a time reaches when this form cannot satisfy their gambling desires and the result are a desire to take higher risks. Effects of gambling sports. Gambling on various recreational activities may result in mental dissatisfaction once the activity has finished at the disadvantage of a gambler. Thompson, 2001 identified that the thrill of watching various sporting activities is no longer based on the sport for what it is but the financial implications to the gambler. However, Nevada moved to curb gambling problems in professional and amateur sports when it enacted the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (1992) US with Delaware, Montana and Oregon following suit and introducing their descriptions of PASPA later. This legislation illegalizes a government agency or a private individual taking any role in gambling activities based on outcomes of performance by either amateur or professional athletes (Rodefer,2011). When a person becomes a gambler, he/she will continue with gambling activities no matter whether the individual wins or loses. Thompson, 2001 in his study showed gambling has led to thoughtless splurge of one’s valuables and money resulting in individuals becoming bankrupt at exceptionally young ages. Sportsmen convicted for match fixing suffer from life prohibitions from sporting activities and the get labeled as selfish money angry people. This results when they accept payments by bookmakers and independent gamblers. Moreover, addicted gamblers can result to criminal acts so as to feed their addictions. Nowadays it is not a surprise to hear hopeless young people strangling themselves to death because of losing money in the gambling activities. These individuals may also turn violent once a team they had placed their money on loses in a given game. An addict may neglect the needs of his family while wasting his money on harmful gambling practices, due to financial suggestions of gambling. Further, when addicts have to be cured of this addiction, it results in enormous weight passed to the society due to expenses involved in these treatment therapies. Many people have also committed suicide in the consequences of massive losses in gambling activities. Others have lost their jobs due to consistent interruption from their workplace activities. This is as a result of always thinking about how their bets will turn out. With online sports gambling activities, the legal stand is not clearly cut out. In spite of many different stances by states pertaining to internet gambling, legislation between states and countries are inconsistent hence resulting in problems for various online providers. However, what is clear is that there exists no legislation anywhere across the globe where the act of online gambling is illegal (Branscomb, 1995). These laws target the operators of online gambling but not the players. As a result, talented players continue to suffer as their dishonest colleagues make money from fixing matches after compromise by bookmakers and other gamblers. Law or a legal issue in gambling sports Laws restricting gambling is in place not only in sports but also its other forms, due to problems like the ones I have enumerated above. This law affects those who intentionally accept to take part in these gambling activities, those who engage in this form of wagering or betting, those who accept money resulting from gambling activities through electronic transfers, checks and credit cards, and those who sponsor illegal internet gambling activities. Moreover, under Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (US) section 5365 (c), internet service providers are subject to various civil enforcement proceedings. When these are by a state or federal attorney general forcing it to disable any access to online gambling websites and other independent websites which may have hypertexts linking them to various online sites (Friedrich, 2003). For relief to be sought against an ISP, it must be the actual host of the offensive website. Unfortunately, because, all the current online gambling websites have their ISPS outside of the United States and, therefore, beyond the United States court’s jurisdiction, this provision can only be applied to those affiliated to the online betting sites (Goldstein, 1997). In some states internet gambling is legal, in others it still remains illegal. In the case of Home Gambling Network, Inc. v. Betinternet.com.PLC, [2006] U.S the plaintiff Molnick claimed that Betinternet.com had infringed internet betting patent and that jurisdiction existed in Nevada given the fact that he assessed Betinternet.com from his home. The court ruled in favor of Betinternet.com as the website held a remote presence in Nevada. In the case United States v Cohen, (2001) 260 F.3D68, 76 an operator of an offshore betting website was convicted. The court held that both internet and telephone are forms of wire facilities and could therefore be used in transmitting bets. Finally, these ISP's are not a law requirement to track down any activity which might violate these legal provisions. Perfect example of what gambling can do to sports is the Pakistan cricket fixing scandal. This scandal involved members of Pakistan Cricket team who took bribes from a bookmaker called Mazhar Majeed. This ensured that they intentionally under-performed at certain times during the fourth test match held at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London during the year two thousand and ten. Undercover news of the world reporters videotaped Mazhar Majeed. Mazhar was taking money and telling them that fast bowlers Amir and Asif were deliberately going bowling no balls during points of an over. Gamblers could bet while in possession of inside information, referred to a dialect spot fixing in sports. Scotland Yard arrested Majeed as a response to claims of match fixing. It should be noted that, poker bets are not covered by the law (Full Tilt Poker, poker Stars, Absolute Poker [2011], ET). Further, the International Cricket Council (ICC) meted out bans to Mohamed Amir, Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif which ranged from five to ten years. A London court for criminal charges found Asif and Butt to be guilty in November two thousand and eleven due to spot fixing. Majeed and Amir had already entered guilty pleas for the charges. The four reserved administrative sentences, which ranged from, six to Thirty two months in prison. After appeals, the three players, Asif, Amir and Butt got a five year suspension period each from international cricket but on condition that they did not violate the cricket code again. This led to investigation of over eighty matches due to concerns that spot fixing might have occurred (Brenkley, 2011). The incident stirred the world of sports, tempting various sport federations to impose strict regulations to prevent re-occurrence of similar tragedy. Conclusion In conclusion, therefore, legal sports gambling may have some positive impact on the state of application. Some of the benefits of allowing legal gambling are that the country will benefit in terms of Tax collection (Donaldson, 2007). In the case of Commissioner v. Groetzinger [1987] 480.U.S. 23, the court tried to differentiate on the timing that gambling can be termed as a trade, and when it could be classified as a business. The court concluded that this could only be possible after careful analysis of all factors. On the other hand, when sports gambling are illegal resulting to instances of match fixing, there are several negative consequences, the most salient of which is making sporting activities lose their honesty among fans, competitors and other stakeholders. Game fixing not only endangers the welfare of the individual clubs but also discourages their fans. In addition, to those who to sports gambling addicts, the game itself loses the meaning with their sights set on positive or negative outcome. This ultimately leads to sporting events losing value to these people as entertainment avenues.   References Articles Boyd, K. (1981). Gambling Technology. Washington, DC: FBI Laboratory Branscomb, D. (1995). Anonymity, Autonomy, and Accountability: Challenges to the First Amendment in Cyberspaces, 104 Yale Law Journals 1639. Brenkley, S. (2011). "ICC lay down the law in bid to fix the fixers". The Independent (London). Darden, G. & Rockey, D. (2006). Student-athlete gambling: the invisible problem. Gambling and Law. Scholastic, Inc. Donaldson, A. (2007).Federal Income Taxation of Individuals: Cases, Problems and Materials. St Paul: Thomson/West Finley, P. (2008). Sports Scandals Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press Friedrich, P. (2003). Internet Casino Gambling: The Nightmare of Lawmaking, Jurisdiction, Enforcement & the Dangers of Prohibition, 11 Common law Conspectus 369 Goldstein, H. (1997). On-Line Gambling: Down to the Wire? 8 Marquette Sports Law Journal. Humphrey, C. (2012). Illinois Gambling Laws. (720 ILCS 5/282) (Ch. 38, par. 282). Gambling- law-us.com  Keller, W. (1999). The Game’s the same: Why Gambling in Cyberspace Violates Federal Law, 108 Yale Law Journal 1569. Rodefer, J. (2011). Internet Gambling in Nevada: Overview of Federal Law Affecting           Assembly Bill 466, Liebert Publishing, Gambling Law Review. Thompson, W. (2001). Gambling in America--An Encyclopedia of History, Issues, and       Society Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO Ziming, X. and Shaffer, H. (2009). An Analysis of Internet Gambling and its Policy    Implications. National Council on Problem Gambling and Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming. Journal of gambling studies   Cases  Commissioner v. Groetzinger [1987] 480.U.S. 23. Home Gambling Network, Inc. v. Betinternet.com.PLC, [2006] U.S. United States v Cohen, (2001) 260 F.3D68, 76. Full Tilt Poker, poker Stars, Absolute Poker [2011], ET) Legislation Gambling and Related Offences 2012 (US), section 28(1). Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (US) section 5365 (c). Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act 1992 (US). Read More