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Originally Posted by Dakota
What part of what I stated?
That illegal bookie operations are run by criminals? Seems self-evident to me.
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That isn't what you said. Your comment
The real problem is that gambling in this country is run by organized crime, especially in areas where the gambler is dealing with a bookie.
While I have no doubt that there are areas where OC is involved in illegal gambling, your insinuation is that they run gambling nationwide. IOW, if you gamble with a bookie, you are dealing with OC and that just is not true.
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I'm not talking about legal bookmaking. If fact, one helpful action might be to legalize the sports books in all states. It wouldn't help those with a gambling problem, but it would help to remove Uncle Guido from the equation.
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That is a misconception. Many states run numbers, but the neighborhood runners are still there.
Congress took care of that. I still don't believe they had the right to forbid states from running sports books, but the constitution has never stopped those idiots from doing whatever they want. Only a limited number of states are permitted to run sports books. However, even the legal books would not stop the illegal gambling, just cut their profit margin a bit. Reason: you can call a bookie from your living room and people are lazy. There is also the IRS issues.
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And, if you think organized illegal gambling operations are NOT continuing to attempt to influence players, coaches, and officials of all sports of interest (college and professional) in order to get an edge on the odds, you are not facing reality.
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By the time that happens, the individual has already administered the
self-inflicted damage. When it does happen, it is usually a local, isolated case, not some large-scale conspiracy. The folks you mention are given more warning and instruction on how to deal with this issue than you work ball games.