Legalized Gambling: An Overview.

Gambling is the act of engaging in a game of chance for money or other objects of value; it is also a form of interactive entertainment in which people have the potential to earn money by participating in games of chance, or by trying to predict the outcome of a future event. There is a worldwide industry dedicated to gambling in its many forms. Not all forms of gambling are legal, however, and people have different perspectives on gambling, its impact and legalization that effects gambling.

There are many different types of gambling. Gamblers may bet on races, sporting events, non-sporting events such as the behavior of the stock market, card games, or anything where there is more than one possible likely outcome. A great amount of gambling activity takes place in casinos; in the United States, casinos may be found in New Jersey, Connecticut, and, perhaps most famously, Nevada. Casinos are large complexes that typically include a hotel and a gambling center, and feature many types of games, including blackjack, roulette, poker and slot machines.

Gambling is legal in the United States, but each state is permitted to create its own laws restricting the practice. In states such as Nevada and New Jersey, commercial casinos, lotteries and other forms of gambling are legal. In other states, such as Massachusetts, some forms of gambling, such as lotteries, are legal, while gaming activities, such as those found in casinos, are prohibited. In South Carolina, Alabama and Utah, gambling is almost entirely prohibited by law.

Understanding the Discussion

Bet: An agreement in which two parties place value on the outcome of an event, and the person who predicts the outcome incorrectly will have to forfeit something, such as money. This is also known as a wager.

Casino: A large entertainment complex that usually includes a hotel and a gambling center. As of 2007, casinos were legal in forty states.

Dice: Six-sided cubes used in gambling or in games of chance, where each side has an equal chance of rolled.

Lottery: A method of gambling used to make money by selling tickets and drawing those tickets for certain prizes, or by selling instant win tickets, where the purchaser scratches a concealed surface, instantly revealing whether he or she has won a prize.

Stakes: Something that is wagered in a game, race or contest.

History

Gambling is as old as human history. Instruments believed to have been used for gambling purposes have been found at sites in China that date to 2300 BCE. A tablet in one of the pyramids of Giza in Egypt bears etchings that refer to gambling.

While settlers brought games of chance to the American colonies with them, gambling was outlawed in Puritan states such as Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. As settlers moved westward, however, gambling became the preferred way to spend spare time, and money. In an effort to fund new settlements, the colonists developed lotteries. These lotteries were controlled by the British, but were eventually ceded to American control. In fact, in early American history, Ben Franklin, John Hancock, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson operated lotteries to finance various projects, such as to finance the purchase of cannons in Philadelphia.

By the beginning of the nineteenth century, casinos and racetracks had popped up all over the United States. By the middle of the century, states began to prohibit all forms of gambling, including lotteries. Historians suggest that the movement to outlaw gambling across the United States may have been motivated by other social reform movements that were prevalent at the time. With the criminalization of gambling, however, games of chance simply moved underground.

Gambling fell in and out of favor over the course of the next century; eventually, states developed individual laws regarding the legal status of gambling within their borders.

People have been, and continue to be, attracted to gambling because of the potential to earn great rewards, as well as for the excitement and pleasure gained from playing. Many gamblers, however, find that they are no longer in control of their gambling habits. Some people are compulsive, or pathological, gamblers; for compulsive gamblers, games of chance represent an addiction. The addiction grows progressively until the person spends an overwhelming amount of time and money gambling; they wager money they do not have, and borrow from their family and friends. Consequentially, some compulsive gamblers turn to crime to support their gambling habit, and suffer emotional, social and financial trials.

According to Dr. Robert L. Custer, there are three phases of gambling addiction: the winning phase, in which the gambler experiences one or more wins and expects to continue winning; the losing phase, when the gambler begins to hide their gambling, gambles alone or gambles away more money or items than they possess; and the desperation phase, in which the gambler spends a great amount of time gambling and feels great remorse about it, but does not take personal responsibility for changing their behavior. In this final phase, the gambler's addiction causes emotional and psychological trauma and destructive behavior. The Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery (IIAR) website explains that teenagers and adolescents are three times more likely than adults to become problem gamblers. Those looking to recover from gambling addiction have the options of treatment and therapy.

Legalized Gambling Today

Legalized gambling faces opposition due to the risk and prevalence of addiction among gamers. In the twenty-first century, online gambling poses additional problems. Because online gamblers have the comfort and convenience of gambling from their home or anywhere where there is internet access, and the inability to see their money physically leave their hands, they are less conscious of the time and money they are spending than a gambler in a traditional venue might be. Additionally, with the ease of anonymously gambling on the internet come the inherent risks of minors being exposed to gambling at an early age.

The U.S. government considers much, though not all, online gambling illegal under the 1961 Federal Wire Act, which prohibits a person from knowingly making a wager by means of wire communication. In 2006, Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The act banned banks, credit card companies and online payment systems from handling transactions in which online gambling companies profit. Online gambling sites, such as SportingBet, rely on U.S. gamblers for the majority of their income; as a result of the act, the stock values of several such companies plummeted. The online gambling company PartyGaming refused to take bets from U.S. participants.

The National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling (NCALG) is opposed to the legalization of gambling. The NCALG believes that by providing opportunities for people to gamble, gambling venues are increasing the access compulsive gamblers have to destructive activities. They believe that the closer a person is to a casino, the greater the chance they will become a problem gambler. Beyond that, opposition groups also believe that casinos draw business away from other entertainment venues by attracting and being physically able to accommodate such large numbers of patrons.

Those opposed to the legalization of gambling cite issues of addiction, economic hardship for gamblers who lose large sums of money, and increased crime in or around casinos. For those in favor of legalized gambling, increased revenue for governments and Native American tribes, and the creation of thousands of jobs are the most apparent benefits.

Native American tribes are exempt from laws governing the legality of gambling on their reservations. In Connecticut, the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes both operate casinos (Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, respectively). In nearby Massachusetts, the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe gained federal recognition in 2007, providing them with the ability to operate businesses on tribal lands. Although casinos and the games of chance that they support were not sanctioned in Massachusetts as of 2007, Governor Deval Patrick presented the state legislature with a proposal to legalize casino gambling. As of 2008, the prospects for a casino in Massachusetts are still very much undetermined. The tribe is currently seeking a compact with the state which would allow it to offer full gaming, such as slot machines. Without the compact, the tribe would be limited, instead, to scaled-back games such as bingo and certain card games.

Casino operation often provides much-needed revenue for Native American nations. In 2004, Native Americans operated over 400 casinos across the United States and generated profits of over $18 billion. Private casino operations are also being approved across the country. As of 2007, forty states permitted casino complexes. In Pennsylvania, two new casinos are being developed in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. In 2006, Pennsylvania legalized the use of slot machines at race tracks, commonly referred to as "racinos," which had previously been illegal.

After a federal law limiting some kinds of sports betting to Nevada was ruled unconstitutional in 2018, a number of states legalized sports betting in some form. Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi, West Virginia, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island all began allowing sports-based gambling that year; Montana, Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, and Washington, DC, did so the following year.

However, shortly after this advancement of legalized gambling in the United States came a setback. In January 2019, the Justice Department expanded the application of the US Wire Act of 1961 to ban all online gambling that involved interstate transactions, rather than only sports betting, as the department had previously interpreted the law.

The trend throughout the United States is toward the legalization of gambling, and, in particular, casino gambling. However, opposition - moral, economic or political - still exists. Whether gambling will continue to be a legal national pastime is still up for debate.

These essays and any opinions, information or representations contained therein are the creation of the particular author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of EBSCO Information Services.

Bibliography

Periodicals

Ackerman, William V., and Rick L. Bunch. "A Comparative Analysis of Indian Gaming in The United States." American Indian Quarterly 36.1 (2012): 50-74. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

Blaszczynski, Alex. "Influencing International Foundations for Legalization, Policy and Commercial Gambling: A Tribute to William Eadington's International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking." UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal 16.2 (2012): 27-32. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

Cooper, Michael. “As States Weigh Online Gambling, Profit May Be Small.” New York Times. New York Times, 17 Jan. 2012. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

Ferraiolo, Kathleen. "Is State Gambling Policy 'Morality Policy'? Framing Debates Over State Lotteries." Policy Studies Journal 41.2 (2013): 217-42. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

Friedenberger, Amy. “States, Casinos Adopt Various Methods to Help Problem Gamblers.” Reading Eagle. Reading Eagle, 15 Mar. 2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.

Glanz, James, Agustin Armendariz, and Walt Bogdanich. “The Offshore Game of Online Sports Betting.” New York Times. New York Times, 25 Oct. 2015. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

Griffin, Jonathan. "Big Bets on Internet Gaming." State Legislatures 39.10 (2013): 7. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

Hession, Gregory. "The Government Gambling Racket." New American 30.2 (2014): 23-28. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

Laferrara, Michael A. “Feds Gamble with Americans’ Rights.” Objective Standard: A Journal of Culture and Politics 9.2 (2014): 76–77. Print.

Matthews, Christopher, Nate Rawlings, and Adam Sorensen. "Split Decisions." Time 182.21 (2013): 14. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

Nathanson, Jon. “Gambling Is the Next Wave in Mobile Gaming.” Slate. Slate Group, 3 Mar. 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

Petry, Nancy M., and Carlos Blanco. "National Gambling Experiences in the United States: Will History Repeat Itself?." Addiction 108.6 (2013): 1032-37. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=87517243.

Petterson, Edvard. "US Online Gambling Reversal Puts 'Chill' on Industry." Bloomberg, 14 Jan. 2019, www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-15/u-s-now-says-all-online-gambling-illegal-not-just-sports-bets. Accessed 30 May. 2019.

“Poker Face.” Newsweek Global 22 Aug. 2014: 6–23. Print.

Rodenberg, Ryan. "United States of Sports Betting: An Updated Map of Where Every State Stands." ESPN, 25 May 2019, www.espn.com/chalk/story/‗/id/19740480/the-united-states-sports-betting-where-all-50-states-stand-legalization. Accessed 30 May. 2019.

Surowiecki, James. "A Call to Action." New Yorker 89.1 (2013): 1. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

Von Drehle, David. "Twilight at the Track." Time 181.18 (2013): 34. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.