Exactly what started gambling on sports

To understand what started betting on sports one has to first examine the history of sports gambling in the US. The US has a long history of allowing certain types of legal gambling and even illegal gambling to some extent. Political control and scandals concerning gaming interests have led to selected backlashes that have lead to prohibition or regulating sports gambling. Standards and laws pertaining to sports gambling have kept altering.

Nelson Rose describes these adjustments in law as 3 waves. The first wave was during the colonial era that lasted till the mid 1800s, the 2nd wave started at the end of the Civil War and lasted till the early Twentieth century and the 3rd wave commenced while in the Great Depression and it’s still continuing.

During the Colonial Era, diverse attitudes were enforced towards gambling. Puritan attitudes were adopted towards gambling and possessing dice, cards, gaming tables etc were outlawed. Afterwards it was allowed so long as it wasn’t a calling or trade except for moderate and innocent recreation. Settlers brought along with them views that said gambling was merely a harmless past time. The frontier spirit encouraged the appeal of gambling since it involved high risk, high expectations and opportunism.

Ultimately all colonies used lotteries as being a solution out of economic problems and to benefit the colonies. It became a civic responsibility and profits were utilized to establish a number of the first prestigious universities, build churches and even libraries. Lotteries continued to be popular right to the initial 19th Century. Horse racing had also been preferred and the Long Island built the very first race track in 1665. Casino gaming started to emerge slowly as roadhouses and taverns started to permit card games and dice.

The Lower Mississippi Valley became a structured and legitimate gambling area in 1800s. The mighty river featuring its riverboats was a major trade avenue for both wealthy merchants and farmers. New Orleans quickly gained recognition as being the gambling capital. Through the 1830s southern settlers turned against professional gamblers who had been held responsible for carrying out crimes, debasing morals of society and endangering streets. During 1800s there seemed to be increasing attack of gambling especially lotteries and when operators absconded with all the proceeds lottery scandals finally led to prohibition of gambling.

The Gold Rush in California triggered a huge surge in the types of gambling and San Francisco was crowned the new gambling capital in the USA. During 1849 and 1855 gambling spread widely and also by 1850 California and lots of cities had licensed gambling centers. But soon the Legislature made most types of gambling illegal and certain professional gamblers were lynched. This prohibition drove gambling activities underground and did not eliminate it. Gambling was legal during 1869-1910 in Nevada.

It is possible to now understand what started gambling on sports in the USA. With all the numerous scandals in the lottery gambling segments, 35 states in America including California prohibited lotteries. In 1933 pari-mutuel betting was legalized and new automated systems and laws made horse racing betting more straightforward. In 1978 casino gambling was legalized by New Jersey and Atlantic City was a preferred tourist destination. Regardless of its illegality sports gambling became quite popular and today is a high dollar industry.