Why is sports betting illegal?

Answer 1

Unfortunately for society, gambling is NOT illegal. Most states have implemented various forms of gambling that only THEY may control, in an effort to raise additional funds for their elected officials to spend. The best that we can claim, is that many FORMS of gambling are restricted or prohibited, with the ones that potentially seem to offer SOME benefit to society as a whole, (even if that benefit is only theoretical in nature), are openly permitted or even encouraged. Your question then becomes: "Why are most forms of gambling illegal?" The problem is a bit longer and more convoluted than you might imagine. Don't be dismayed if you get bored and wander off before you finish reading all of it. Human behavior is largely dictated by various chemical compounds that circulate naturally in the body. As such, we are all candidates for drug addiction, because we are genetically wired up to be sensitive to chemical compounds called drugs, pheromones, hormones and the like. A very simple example is the chemical compound known as adrenaline. In order to survive, multicellular organisms (known as creatures or animals with bodies) need to be able to take defensive action when they are attacked by predators or other threats. If a chemical can be dumped into the creature's blood stream that allows for a short term boost to their muscular operating capacity, then the creature has been given a boost in its ability to survive a greater number of threatening situations, ranging from outrunning a predator, to climbing up a tree, to ducking into a cave quickly to avoid an avalanche, and so on ad infinitum. This desire for survival gives the creature in question a greater amount of time to learn how to manipulate its environment and to meet and mate with a member of its species of the opposite sex, thus producing more copies of the organism, and thus allowing life to more successfully perpetuate itself in this form. The drawback is, once the creature can start creating similar chemicals through an uderstanding of organic chemistry, or creating artificial situations that stimulate production of this magic elixir (because their body is fooled into believing that it is in immediate danger), then the creature will start spending time and resources simply to enjoy the physical effects on their body of these experiences and not engage in productive activites while doing so. Going to movies (and getting scared out of your wits), bungie jumping (standing too close to the edge of a cliff and falling), hang gliding, skiiing, motorcycle riding (moving too fast), and taking illegal drugs, are all ways that people enjoy stimulating their natural systems into making them feel VERY ALIVE and possibly even giving them pleasurable sensations. Given an ordinary or boring lifestyle, introducing "safe danger" to one's activities can really spice up your experience of life. Unfortunately, some people get addicted to the pleasureable experiences or to the jolt that their bodies feel with that adrenaline rush, and seek out actually destructive experiences in order to repeat the intensity that they once experienced but now have adapted to, once their brains figured out that they weren't really going to die after all. In a society where money is necessary to buy the things that we need to survive, creating an artificial threat to your financial security is a great way to feel exciting sensations. Gambling is designed to appeal to our greed (winning something valuable for doing "nothing", say, throwing a pair of dice, or looking at 5 playing cards, or pulling a handle of a slot machine, which most people could do all day without even breaking a sweat), but is purposefully arranged using statistics to enable the operator to reliably take more money from his marks than he loses, over a long period of time, that is. Since most people had poor math teachers at one point in their lives, they have some weakness in this area. Gambling institutions exploit this weakness (as do bankers, insurance companies, stock brokerages, and most other financial institutions) by offering what are obviously poor deals to people who can't figure out WHY they are bad deals. Since the games are designed to take more money away from people than they temporarily are allowed to win, both greed and fear are present most of the time while people engage in these activities. The greed is operative while the person is hoping to win a big pile of money. The fear is operative while the player sees their stash of cash (which they need to pay the rent and buy groceries) slowly dwindling away, as it is obvious that their financial survival is becoming impaired. Either way, they get their "drug fix", and waste a bunch of time in activities that have absolutely no benefit to anybody other than the perpetrator of the gambling system. The government can't collect taxes on unproductive citizens because they aren't working and making any money, and so, you have the reason why MOST forms of gambling are outlawed. It is doubtful that gambling is ever outlawed because of the proper reason (which everybody talks about instead of the real one) in that gambling addicted individuals are damaging their families, themselves, and the neighborhood that they normally spend their money in. They are spending it with the gambling house instead, and society as a whole, becomes poorer, though the gambling operator might see a large increase in THEIR bank balance, and might even see nothing wrong whatsoever with this setup. The gambler, being a drug addict as surely as a meth user or a crack addict, or a coffee junkie or sugar fix glutton, or a cigarette smoker, probably agrees with the gamblinghouse operator. They WANT their fix, and even though it is bad for them, THEY NO LONGER CARE! So, it is totally up to the rest of the members of society to figure out that a bad deal for one person is really a bad deal for everybody. This is a subtle lesson, and it takes a long time before enough people catch on to it to ostracize those who attempt to engage in either the practice (which is predatory) or the habit, (which is basically suicidal in nature) to the point where it is no longer a commonplace activity. Movies won't go away any time soon, because the cost is so cheap. Nobody is likely to stave to death or fail to pay their rent just because they went to a movie last week. Extreme sports won't go away any time soon because of the actual possibility that the individual might get sufficient exercise to live longer, enough longer even to compensate for the time that they spend on crutches or in the hospital. Banking, taxes, insurance, the Stock Market, commodities, options, futures and all other financial gambling instruments won't go away any time soon because of their mathematical nature and how easy they are to use to exploit ignorant or untutored people. The "rational explanations" of how these activities are actually GOOD for the society that permits them are simply lies, as all benefits that I've ever seen touted could be accomplished using MUCH CHEAPER alternatives to society. The people in power and that run these institutions simply want to remain that way, and there is no movement afoot to threaten their position, so they can expect to enjoy a long practice indeed. It is certainly possible that some of the operators of the various gambling institutions that I've mentioned BELIEVE that they are offering valuable services to their community. Just because someone's livlihood depends on their screwing somebody else, doesn't mean that they are doing a useful service to society. Just because they THINK they are providing a needed service that MANY people OBVIOUSLY want, doesn't mean that they are doing anything besides destroying a segment of the populace. Al Capone, infamous gangster and criminal in particular, is famous for his big lie that he was really a public benefactor in exactly the same way and for exactly the same reason. Someday, our society will be regarded as impossibly corrupt and immoral. Crimes that are perfectly legal and acceptable in today's society will probably have the equivalent of the death penalty attached to them. I would guess a mind wipe and personality reprogramming, if such a thing should ever become possible, will be the reward for engaging in our favorite "useless to society" activities. Generally speaking, any time you have what amounts to a transfer payment, wherein one individual transfers some form of wealth to another, and gets nothing in return, tangible or intangible, that is of lasting value AND benefit to them personally, then that person is getting ripped off. It is up to us to learn how to discern when transfer payments are taking place in our lives, and abstain from using them to the degree that we are conscious. The fact that many people find gambling "fun" in no way makes it a socially beneficial activity. There are plenty of "fun" activities that genuinely make the world a better place. Try answering questions on WikiAnswers (for a short time only, the corp makes money off of your willingness to create interesting web content that you give to them for free, through the Google ads that get placed around your text) as a starter. It is unlikely that you will do any genuine, lasting good, but you might do SOME! When you find a more useful and productive activity to do, switch to it!

Answer 2

It is morally wrong. nothing in The Bible supports or defends the practice- many passages quite the opposite. The money-changers Christ chased out of the temple may have been Gamblers or something akin to (Bookies). a church and a Bank are vastly different institutions! Gambling, theologically, violates the Spirit of the Ninth Article of the decalogue- They shall not covet thy neighbor"s good- even so-called moneyless gambling games such as ( Chinese or Blind) auctions go in this direction - to some degree. How many? can lead to crime. Mind your Own business.

Answer 3

because, it causes loss to the one who gambles and a govt. dosent wants its citizens to cause any harm to themselves or the nation, same as no smoking, no alcohol, not to litter at public areas, etc...

every nations govt. wants there nation and its citizens to stay good.. simple!

Answer 4

well it usually depends on what sport it is really

Answer 5

Gambling is not illegal in Minnesota, it is authorized in specific locations and under specific situations, because the Minnesota State Legislature passed a law that says so.

Answer 6

Politicians that were elected to represent voters created a law that said that.