Breakthrough For Online Gambling Action?
Added: Aug. 8, 2016
Perhaps; that is most definitely one way to view what looks to be a complete turnaround, albeit a bit limited in scope. Here is what this is all about: the Rio Olympics. Yes, that Rio Olympics, the topic of the day, the week and truth be told for the past few months. But what does the Rio Olympics have to do with a breakthrough in online gambling, especially in the United States?
Start with what is new. Maybe you saw this ground breaking news story or then again perhaps you did not. Get this: for the first time in sixteen years you have the option to place a wager on the Rio Olympics games. For the record, the last time that sports books in the United States took legal wagers on Olympic games was way back in the year 2000. You may recall that was the year that the Olympics were hosted in Sydney, Australia.
However, what you may not recall is that the very next year, in 2001, none other than Senator John McCain was pushing to enact a Bill that he labeled the Amateur Sports Integrity Act which would in effect have completely banned wagering on so-called amateur athletic events. However, the long established sports books in Las Vegas looked at the dollars flowing in each years or sports wagers and offered the good Senator a compromise.
At that time, the sports books proposed maintaining college sports event wagering, but prohibiting wagers on what were labeled as amateur sports events as well as the Olympics. Oops, that last one ended up costing a small fortune over the past decade and a half.
However, just last year some smart folks in the Nevada sports betting world woke up to this fact and took their case to the Nevada Gaming Commission. In the case presented to the Commission, the sports books took the time to point out that Olympics Sports betting takes place in most other countries around the world. They also presented the case in such a way that reversing the ban on Olympics wagering ensures that Las Vegas maintains a leadership position in the global hierarchy of sports betting.
Keep in mind that the fact that you can now place a sports bet on the various Olympic games does not in any way diminish the ideal of Olympic events. After all, remember that sports bets on Olympic matches will be placed all over the world.