good article

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/us/pinnacle-sports-online-sports-betting.html?_r=2

I wish they were back in the US market

 

Thanks for posting...

It certainly is interesting that the government continues to keep sports betting illegal everywhere but NV. You can bet on horses anywhere, but not sports. I understand moreso the ban on casino gaming, given how easy it would be to rig online slots/cards/VP etc. However, sports betting is going to happen regardless of whether it's legal or not. They might as well make it legal, allow legitimate shops to set up, and tax the profits being generated, rather than spending 10x as much to try to chase and close down the numerous bookies and online sites that ultimately find new ways around it anyways. Quite frankly from a bettor's perspective, I think there's more risk of running into a shady bookmaker who is running a fraudulent operation than there is of having financial ruin due to the availability of sports betting online. It seems the "protection from ourselves" that the government uses as its reasoning for the ban simply allows for more opportunities for shady operators and organized crime to stuff their pockets further. It'd be much better for both the government and sports bettors if they could simply log into a site ran by Cantor on the up and up to place their bets rather than relying on a crappy online book operating in some third world country or "Vinny" from down the block....

 

Stackinchips that is a pretty good summary, I would tend to agree with you. but to me this is a non story as I've been betting online for the better part of a decade now with no problems.. bovada, 5dimes, sportsbook.. there are many reputable places to play online. i can even get my blackjack fix or play some roulette. The only issue I have run into is the hoops to jump through while trying to get paid. (which i am sure would be solved if they were legal to operate n the US)

 

The article is a little misleading. Sports betting online is legal under Federal Law. There are some states that have made it illegal, but it is legal under Federal Law.

The article was remiss in discussing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which simply makes it illegal for a US financial institution to transfer funds to an Internet gambling site.

Though, again, that's a Federal law and some states specifically have laws against Internet gambling.

So, if Pinnacle is doing anything wrong, they could be violating state laws prohibiting online gambling or allowing transactions with US banks.

 

While I understand it's readily available, you still don't know what's really going on at these shops. Do you have any idea how solvent they are? If they decided to just not pay you, what is your recourse? I know that Bovada for example does some shady things such as delaying the processing of withdrawals, and if you happen to dip below your withdrawal amount (for instance if you withdrawal 1000, and have a balance of 1200 but then buy in to a poker game or something that would drop you below 1000) they have a program running that will catch that and cancel your withdrawal request immediately. Basically it's just a way to catch degenerates to get them to donk off their winnings so they don't have to pay it out.

The biggest thing with all online books is going to be the question of, if you get screwed over somehow, what's your recourse? They're operating in a third world country in the shadows.

 

Not that you're wrong, but it's sort of semantics. It's like saying that doing drugs isn't illegal, but buying/selling them, producing/growing them, and possession of them are illegal.

If you can't get money into or out of a sports book legally, then for all intents and purposes sports betting is illegal. The only difference is (albeit an important difference) is that for the bettor, they aren't doing anything illegal even if they make the deposit/withdrawal.

 

One book I would not want to have a five figure balance at is Bovada and to a lesser extent 5Dimes

 

From what I understand, and believe me, I'm not a lawyer or a legal expert... but I've talked to many on this subject...

Conducting the transaction through a US financial institution is illegal. There are plenty of other ways to legally get your money to a gambling website.

Think about it like this... Bovada selling prepaid cards at the super market for your deposit and then sending you a check from a Canadian bank to cash you out.

As long as you're not in a state where it's illegal to gamble online, there's nothing illegal there under Federal law.