The Legality of Gambling on Races

The legality of gambling on races has come under question in recent years. In May of 2015 Ironman event organizer the World Triathalon Company gave up $2.76 million worth of funds that athletes were forced to pay in order to gain the opportunity to compete at the Ironman World Championship. They gave up the money as the result of a court case in which the Florida U.S. Attorney’s office sued the World Triathalon Company for having charged athletes for the chance to compete since 2012.

Every year 2,000 qualifying athletes participate in the Ironman World Championship while an additional 100 spots are made available to the athletes that each pay for their chance to compete. Athletes have had to pay a fee to play the lottery drawing that gets them the privilege of competing dating back to 1989. Those who pay money for the opportunity to compete but don’t get the chance to are refused a refund of the fee they paid.

In 2014, 12,292 athletes paid $50 to enter the lottery while in 2015 14,254 athletes paid the fee. The court case against the company revolves around the legalities of forcing athletes to pay for an opportunity to compete. Lawmakers feel that this constitutes illegal gambling due to the fact that illegal gambling lasting a minimum of 30 days, involves at least five people and results in a gross daily revenue of $2,000. The Ironman World Championship includes each of these aspects.

If forcing athletes to pay a fee does count as illegal gambling it could mean trouble for other well known yearly races such as the Chicago and New York City marathons as well as the Mount Washington Road Race and the Marine Corps Marathon, as each of them charge athletes an entry fee. Those who participate in the Mount Washington Road Race as well as the Beach to Beacon 10K pay a lottery fee of $5, which is nonrefundable as well. Those athletes participating in the New York City Marathon pay a nonrefundable fee of $11. Since well over five athletes pay to compete in each race, United States code defines this as illegal. The exception is that athletes are not required to pay a fee to compete in the Marine Corps Marathon.

The only race that is truly under the microscope from a legal standpoint is the Ironman World Championship as the New York City and Chicago Marathon both last for longer than 30 days. Both the Mount Washington Road Race and the Beach to Beacon last fewer than 30 days but both have the potential to earn over $2,000 in revenues per day.

Though laws vary from state to state, private lotteries are not legal in any of the 50 states. The lottery run for the Chicago Marathon does not break any laws because they conduct free random drawings to determine who can participate in the event.

The controversy of the legality of gambling on races is an ongoing issue in the United States.

Social Media and Gambling

Due to the popularity of social media, gambling has taken on a whole new life. Gambling regulators face more challenges now than they ever did in the past as a result. Britain’s Responsible Gambling Trust released a report which stated that any Twitter member that chooses to follow a trio of the site’s most active gambling related accounts could get hundreds of promotional tweets every day.

Research conducted in order to complete this report determined that 877 Twitter accounts are somehow related to gambling. Speaking to Britain’s love of gambling, more than 900,000 members of Twitter follow some gambling related account.

The Chief Executive of the Responsible Gaming Trust thinks that gambling and social media activities go hand in hand. He is committed to ensuring that the gambling industry’s use of social media does not tempt those who have a problem with gambling. His hope is that as a result of the report gambling operators and regulators will be able to manage the negative aspects of gambling and social media on vulnerable parties.

One issue concerning social media and gambling in the U.K is that it is putting a strain on many marriages throughout the country. A growing number of divorcing couples are blaming the demise of their relationship on the link between Facebook and gambling, as well as other social media sites. The trend in the U.K. is that those married couples who are divorcing due to social media gambling are most members of the middle class, working class or poor.

A study of 6,500 divorcees was conducted which determined that so far in 2016 as many as 40% of the divorce petitions filed in the U.K. note that social media and/or gambling contributed to their divorce. This number is up 20% since 2009.

Despite the fact that social media and gambling has led to an increase in divorces among U.K. residents, the U.S. is embracing it; especially land based casinos that are desperate to compete with today’s online casinos.

The Morongo Casino Resort and Spa, located near Palm Springs, California has overhauled the theme of their casino floor bar to make it more social media friendly. The casino set the MEBar’s new theme “Sit down, log in, drink up and start trending.” Throughout the bar there are HD monitors linked to social media sites such as Twitter that allow people to take selfies and share them on the monitors.

According to the casino’s Executive Director of Marketing, the MEBar’s social media linked monitors are meant to help people show others in the bar, as well as those on social media, that they are enjoying themselves. He said that the goal of the newly themed bar is to give their guests a unique experience by integrating social media with gambling activities.

This is likely only the beginning of both land based and online casinos using social media to enhance the gambling experience and help get more people excited about the possibilities when combining the two.

Gambling Rules Everyone Should Follow

There are certain rules that every successful gambler has embraced. These rules ensure smart choices are made and that certain pitfalls are avoided. They have been tested by many gamblers over the years and all have been proven accurate.

One important rule for gambling is to maintain discipline. Those who lack the proper discipline to gamble smartly are urged to avoid it at all costs. Gambling transactions in which an individual has no discipline often lead to financial and personal problems.

Creating and maintaining a bankroll is the best way to successfully gamble. The more control one has over their bankroll the less likely they are to notice the inevitable small losses. A single transaction should never be higher than 2.5% of a gambler’s total budget for that session. A structured strategy for placing bets includes the goals of being specific, measure, achievable, realistic and time-based.

Smart gamblers choose one particular game and become specialized at it. The more thought and research one puts into the game they play the more likely they are to gamble successfully. A gambler who is trying to determine what their specialization should be needs to look at all of the games they play and examine their betting patterns in each one. Choosing the game in which they see the strongest betting patterns is a recipe for winning. When choosing a market to gamble in it helps to learn as much about that market in advance as possible. Gamblers who follow the rules know that it is necessary to keep track of their gambling statistics and records. This makes for better investments which makes it easier to continue gambling.

Any game a gambler chooses to specialize in can be tested for fee. Online casinos that allow players to access games for free provide excellent training grounds for them. Ideally a gambler should choose to specialize in, and therefore, bet real money on, a game if they can win it 75% to 80% of the time. Anything less than 75% is not worth the investment for savvy gamblers.

Regardless of the market a gambler invests in one golden rule is to avoid combining odds for various events they can gamble on. Doing so forces gamblers to face lower odds of winning. When odds are combined it is called an accumulator bet, and professionals in the gambling field advise those joining the field to avoid this type of bet. A gambler’s best shot at winnings comes when they focus on making it less likely that they will lose money. Gamblers are urged to strive to make a profit without becoming greedy in the process.

Finally, one last rule is that depending on an individual’s country they may have to pay taxes on their gambling. This makes it important to keep records that allow individuals to properly claim their wins/losses on their taxes. Those gamblers who are based in the U.K. will find that they do not need to pay taxes on their winnings.

Online vs Offline Gambling

Though gambling is possible both online and offline many prefer one over the other while some choose to engage in both. There are advantages and disadvantages to gambling online vs offline.

When it comes to the convenience of being able to play, online casinos trump offline casinos since the online version can be accessed from any Internet connected computer. Traveling to a casino takes up valuable time that many gamblers can’t or don’t want to spare. Online casinos are also more convenient for gamblers who wish to have a wider variety of games to choose from. They add new games a lot more often than offline casinos do because they don’t need physical space to hold the games. While most offline casinos don’t offer games such as Bingo, many online casinos do, making them more convenient for those who wish to play.

Many people prefer online gambling for the simple reason that it is safer to engage in than offline gambling. It is virtually impossible for winnings to be stolen from online casino players, yet those who gamble at offline casinos are often victims of robbery. Legitimate online casinos take measures to ensure that their members can gamble safely.

Online casinos offer many different options to players for withdrawing their winnings. However, this is one of the few areas where offline casinos have the upper hand as and chips won on table games can be cashed in immediately. When it comes to online casinos the most popular way to pay gamblers their winnings is to send it to their credit card. Yet it can take one or more business days for the transaction to be completed. This is a big part of the reason why many older gamblers who are set in their ways prefer gambling offline to gambling online.

One of the biggest ways in which online casinos trump offline casinos is that those operating online offer frequent bonuses to eligible players. This is something offline casinos are not in the habit of doing, but younger gamblers have become accustomed to being offered bonuses. Online casinos also enjoy an advantage over their offline counterparts because those who are new to gambling can often practice their game of choice at an online casino for free, something they could never do at an offline casino.

People have long seen going to the casino as a social outing. This would give offline the casinos the advantage if online casinos did not allow their players to communicate, which many of them do through the use of game rooms, especially in the case of Bingo. However, some people still prefer the face to face interaction they can get at an offline casino. In online casinos the only way to get face to face interaction is to take advantage of a casino’s live section in which players can see and interact with their game dealer.

Both online and offline casinos are excellent at providing gamblers with a variety of entertainment options.

Common Online Gambling Mistakes

Everyone makes mistake but making them during an online gambling session can be costly. There are a few mistakes that are commonly made by players who may or may not be experienced.

One of the biggest and most common mistakes gamblers make is joining an online casino because it promises a higher bonus than any of its competitors. Players join these casinos under the mistaken impression that they will have an increased amount of money to gamble with. However, the terms and conditions of casino bonuses for new players are often something gamblers fail to read. The higher a casino bonus is the more rules there are surrounding the use of it. Inexperienced players fail to realize that they have to wager any bonus they are given a certain amount of times before they can withdraw anything they won from it. The best online casinos will make this information readily available to players but many other casinos bury this information to the point where gamblers don’t think to look for it.

Many inexperienced players make a deposit into their online casino account and then withdraw the deposit a short time later. What they fail to realize is that any winnings they accumulated are automatically forfeited if they cancel the deposit that they used. As is the case with most online casinos, players have 24 hours to cancel a requested withdrawal of their winnings. This is so that the casinos can ensure that a withdrawal request is legitimate and the player has the amount in their casino account that they wish to withdraw.

Another common mistake made during online gambling is to plunge right into a game without first fully understanding all of its rules. Even slot machine games require players to be familiar with the specifics of it. No matter what game one is playing they will have a better chance of playing it successfully if they read the rules first. Many online casinos will even list strategies for their table games on their website. Players should read through the strategies and understand them before trying the game, especially when real money is being wagered.

Every gambler experiences a losing streak eventually. Yet a very common mistake many make is choosing to continue playing after they have already lost a significant amount of money. Chasing a win often ensures that players walk away as losers. It also turns gambling from a fun activity into one that can breed resentment, defeating the whole purpose of engaging in it.

Lastly, since online gambling can be done in the privacy of one’s home at any hour of the day or night, a common mistake is to start gambling after having had one too many alcoholic drinks. More often than not this leads to gamblers spending more money than they can comfortably afford to. The chances one takes when under the influence of alcohol can have disastrous consequences even in the case of online gambling as it is likely no one will stop them.

An Overview of Social Media Gambling

Social media gambling has soared in popularity thanks to sites such as Facebook, which offers many games to its users in which they can pay money for in game purchases and extra features. The first gambling app was released on Facebook in 2014 and was meant for players in the U.K.

Zynga is among the largest game companies to turn to social media to reach its audience. With the release of Zynga’s real money poker game, Facebook users were able to enjoy an interactive online gambling experience. This led to a significant rise in the number of social media gamblers active on the site.

Social media gambling is also possible through Bebo and Google Plus, though the majority of those who participate in this type of gambling do so, on Facebook. The reason that this type of gambling has only been available to Facebook’s U.K. based members is because of the online gambling laws throughout the rest of the world.

As a result of U.K. residents having access to social gambling the country’s gambling commission has been concerned about the line between commercial gambling and social gaming. They feel that the line between the two has become blurry because social media has become such a popular way for people to gamble. The commission has kept a particularly close eye on social games that involve aspects of gambling games like dice and playing cards.

Of all the players who engage in social media gambling, 54% of them are men and 46% of them are women. Social media gamblers are generally 39 years of age and a small percentage of them participate in this activity during the day while at work.

Even some social media users who play non gambling games have been found to be more likely to transition into gambling as a result. The concern has been that this has the potential to lead to social media casino gamers developing a gambling problem. One reason for this is because social gaming and gambling are merging more and more every day.

Studies have been conducted to further explore the relationship gambling and social casino gaming share. The study was conducted online and involved 521 adults who had played social media casino games over the course of the past year. Of the 521 adults surveyed, 71% of them said that social media casino games did not change the amount of time and money they spent gambling. Only 19% of those surveyed said they were gambling more as a result of playing the social media casino games. It was found that men are more likely to make the transition from playing social media casino games to gambling than women are. It was also found that younger players were more likely to make the transition than older players. Those that did make the transition most often did so to give themselves a chance of winning real money.

Facebook and other social media sites will likely continue to offer gaming/gambling opportunities.

When Student Athletes Gamble

Though many college students are not old enough to gamble legally, this often does not stop student athletes from doing so. The majority of them that gamble do so, on sporting events as opposed to playing table and slot machine games.

It is not unusual for student athletes who gamble to become anti-social, let their grades slip and experience legal troubles. They also often see a drop in the quality of their performance on the playing field of whatever sport they participate in.

In 2012 the NCAA commissioned a study in which 39% of female athletes and 57% of male athletes admitted that within the last year they had participated in some form of gambling. Division 1 students were found to gamble less than others.

While few student athletes actually practice pathological gambling, .2% of females and 1.9% of males were found to be exhibiting clinical signs seen in those who have a problem with gambling. Those male and female athletes are said to be at a higher risk for becoming pathological gamblers than others.

Studies have shown that student athletes are more likely to participate in high stakes sports betting than non-athlete students who are more likely to engage in other types of gambling.

To protect student athletes the NCAA has ruled that they are not allowed to place real money bets on any professional, amateur or college sports event if the NCAA conducts it. Any athlete found to be in violation of this rule is no longer allowed to participate in any of their school’s sports teams. When one athlete loses the right to participate the entire team is often negatively affected.

However, 26% of student athletes who are male continue to engage in sports betting anyway. Of those 26%, 8% or more of them admit to participating in sports betting once a month or more.

In most cases when student athletes make bets on sports games the bets are made between teammates. However, others are getting around the NCAA rules by participating in online sports betting as opposed to offline sports betting.

Of Division 1 athletes, a study conducted in 2012 determined that for every 20 male student basketball players, one of them was approached in order to gain insider information on an upcoming game.

Surveys conducted on student athletes have determined that 2/3 of them operate on the belief that their teammates or aware of when they are participating in gambling. Most college sports team coaches encourage their players to let them know if they know of a teammate who is engaged in gambling. They will often refer any of their players that are gambling, to a resource where they can seek help for it. Coaches are trained to detect when one of their players may be gambling, just by listening to the conversations they have with their teammates at any given time. Team members and coaches both play an important role in ensuring that no student athlete is gambling at all.

The Benefits Of Legalized Gambling

The legalization of gambling has created many benefits for people all over the world. Virtually every state and country where gambling is legal has seen at least somewhat of an improvement in their economy.

One benefit of legalized gambling is that the tourist industry is growing and thriving as a result. Large cities where gambling is legal have seen rises in the number of tourists that visit them every year. Those who support gambling in big cities do so because it brings more revenue to the state, not only in the form of casino revenue, but also revenue for nearby businesses such as hotels and restaurants.

Another benefit that legalizing gambling led to was the creation of more jobs. It takes hundreds if not thousands of employees to run a large casino. With so many positions available in casinos it has proven helpful to those struggling to find gainful employment. In turn, those who work in a casino have more money to help support other local businesses with.

Many U.S. Government activities have been funded through gambling. These activities often serve to strengthen communities and allow them to take care of their citizens in a way they would not be able to otherwise. One of the best examples of this is state lotteries. Residents often can’t resist purchasing their lottery tickets and increases each state’s revenue. The most common way that gambling revenue was spent in the past was on educational purposes.

One benefit that gambling has brought to the modern world is that casinos have tight enough security to ensure that everyone can safely and responsibly enjoy their favorite game or games. This is an improvement over the days when gambling was illegal and, therefore, took place in backroom gambling parlors which were not always safe to play in.

Along the lines of this benefit is another one in the fact that gambling is essentially playing a game, which can be an important aspect of an individual’s life. It brings people together in ways they may not otherwise interact. This often leads to communities where everyone is open and supportive of each other. Since playing games is said to enhance one’s life the argument could be made that legalized gambling is making life better for everyone who participates in it in a healthy manner.

Legalized gambling has also helped the Internet become a place where people can safely play their favorite casino games in comfort and privacy. States in which gambling is legal, such as New Jersey, now boast several online versions of their offline casinos, increasing the revenue of those casinos. Those who are particularly passionate about a specific online casino often become affiliates and earn money each time they get someone to visit the casino’s website.
These are just a few of the benefits of legalized gambling. It is likely that these benefits will continue to change the world and provide opportunities for gaming that did not always exist in the past.

Gambling As Stress Release

Throughout the world, many people gamble in order to relieve stress. The phenomenon is slightly different in e very country. For example, the Australian Psychology Society conducted the Stress and Well Being in Australia Survey in 2015. The survey targeted those who admit to gambling as a form of stress relief.

The survey found that the rate of Australians gambling to relieve stress rose 6% between 2011 and 2015. In many cases, survey participants admitted that they were gambling in order to deal with their financial struggles. However, according to the Executive Director of the Australian Psychology Society, people gamble in order to distract themselves from their financial and other problems, as opposed to solving them.

Other results of the survey conducted shows that the anxiety many Australians feel is the highest it has been since 2011. It also determined that the well- being of those who participated in the survey has remained the same.

Not everyone who gambles to relieve stress makes their problems worse. In 2009 a study was conducted at Montreal, Quebec’s McGill that proved online gambling can have health benefits. Playing online casino games has proven to drop the levels of cortisol in people by 17%.

Online casinos have done their own research into gambling as stress relief. In one survey, 75% of participants admitted that playing Blackjack online helps to relieve stress. The other 25% participants sited that the reason they didn’t find it to be effective stress relief is that they were playing high stakes games. Roulette players were also surveyed by an online casino and the survey determined that 77% of them played Roulette online to relieve their stress.

Research conducted by those who work in the field of Psychiatrics has determined that men who are stressed out are more likely to turn to gambling as stress relief than women. An experiment conducted with both men and women tested how they responded in a situation where they are taking a financial risk.

Participants were instructed to play the Balloon Analog Risk Task. In this risky game participants were divided into a control group and a stress group and had to blow up a balloon using a pump. They won five cents for every time they used the pump without popping the balloon. However, each participant was faced with the dilemma of when to stop pumping. Participants were permitted to cash out their winnings whenever they chose to during the course of the game. If they popped the balloon they would have to give up the money they won.

At the end of the task it was determined that both male and female participants in the control group pumped air into their balloons roughly 40 times, meaning that the men and women took approximately the same risk. However, in the stressed group, the women inflated the balloons 30% less than the men.

These studies and surveys are helping industry professionals learn more about the effects of gambling on relieving stress.

Gambling Movies

As such a popular pastime, gambling has been the subject of many movies. Most of them are dramas that are set in a casino.

One of the oldest gambling movies is 1965’s The Cincinnati Kid. The movie stars Steve McQueen as Eric “The Kid” Stoner, a prodigy at Poker. One iconic scene from the film depicts the last hand of a Poker game. The movie is set in the 1930s and follows “The Kid” as he works his way through a series of important games to finally play against a legendary Poker champion.

Another older gambling movie is 1974’s The Gambler. The movie stars James Caan as an English professor that turns to gambling when he finds himself $44,000 in debt. His bookie is a psychopath who’s pressuring him to pay up. He’s also pressured to pay back money he borrowed from his mother. Throughout the movie Caan’s character makes some desperate attempts to right his wrongs and pay off his debts. James Caan later said that this was his favorite role because he was proud he could make people like such an unlikeable character.

1988’s Rain Man is perhaps one of the most well- loved movies that deal with the subject of gambling. Dustin Hoffman’s autistic character, Raymond, has an uncanny talent for counting cards. His brother Charlie takes advantage of this talent when he finds out that their late father left Raymond a $3 million inheritance, but Charlie wasn’t left with anything. Charlie’s solution to the problem is to kidnap Raymond and threaten him if he doesn’t give up the inheritance.

1996’s Hard Eight was a drama about Sydney, a professional gambler that teaches everything he knows to a man named John who lost all of his money. The two have a chance meeting outside of a diner in which Sydney buys John a cup of coffee. The two men then travel to Reno together and Sydney instructs John on the best way to get a room in a hotel casino for free. Thanks to the lessons he learns from Sydney, John goes on to find success as a professional gambler.

Croupier was a 1998 movie starring Clive Owen as a struggling writer named Jack who accepts a job working as a croupier in a casino. As a result he becomes involved in a murder and robbery when he meets a woman at the casino who talks him into participating in a heist.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was also a 1998 movie about gambling. The two main characters, Duke and Dr. Gonzo, travel to Vegas to follow the American Dream. Their journey is fueled by drugs and alcohol as they struggle to live the life everyone wants for themselves.

Also a 1998 movie, Rounders is about a man who quit gambling only to find himself back in the lifestyle in an attempt to help a friend who is being pursued by loan sharks. This is perhaps one of the darkest gambling movies to date.