If you are a sports fan, odds are pretty good that at one point or another you've got engaged in certain type of sports betting. You may are already involved in a fantasy pool, you might have bet a beer with a buddy, you might even have placed a few of bets on the outcome of the Super Bowl or March Madness.

Although sports gambling is so common it's almost natural (the truth is, it has been a part of human culture for as long as sport itself), the truth is that many forms of sports gambling we engage in are in reality illegal. This really is particularly true if you live in Canada or the United States Of America.

The big argument against gambling on most sports in these countries is a belief that betting on sports has the possibility to undermine the integrity of the game. Although in the past this tended to hold true with all sports, today it is more a problem with minor sports and collegiate level athletics than the professional leagues.

The reasoning because of this, as always, is fairly simple. Athletes who are receiving minimum money for playing their sport will be more susceptible to bribes from individuals with a vested monetary interest within the game they're playing. When you are playing for nothing although the joy of it, the offer of a number of thousand dollars to throw the game may be very tempting. Sports history is rife with examples of athletes both minor and pro that have succumbed to this temptation.

Legalities aside, it's fairly obvious that sports betting is still a serious part of our culture. Actually, it really is quite rare to hear of circumstances in which anyone beyond those directly linked to the game even get in trouble for engaging in sports betting. Those involved would include coaches, officials, and players, rarely those betting on the game itself.

Actually, you could state that sports gambling is just about an "open crime" these days. Odds and money lines are posted on all the major sports channels, and bookmakers operate excellent online football [recommended] with relative impunity. You will discover little if any efforts to stop mass betting on sports, which appears to indicate that at some point the laws prohibiting the activity will be done away with for good.

Within the meantime, although, if you would like to get a piece of betting action on a sport but want to stay well in the law, you will discover a few of ways to do it. Let's take a quick look.

Pari-mutuel betting: There are actually certain sports through which the federal government actually endorses betting. This type of betting is known as pari-mutuel, or revenue shared, gambling. Strictly regulated, it applies only to dog and horse racing, and jai alai. All of these events are quite short, and as a consequence harder to rig in regards to results. And, the federal government gets a cut of all bets!

Go to Vegas! Nevada is the one state in which sports betting is legal and practiced as well. Again, who knows the real reasons, but you'll find Nevada bookies ready to take bets from people nationwide.

Go on-line: In the majority of of the rest of the world, sports betting is regulated and not seen as a problem. That suggests that thanks to the net, people from North America can place their bets with well-known bookies throughout the world. Bookmakers out of Vegas, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and any number of other countries have a presence online. Just make sure that they are going to take your hard earned money; some are leery of American bettors do to the government's ambiguity on the issue of sports gambling.