In the world of sports betting, it’s important to understand how to bet the best line. In addition to standard point spreads, moneylines, and totals, you can also bet on proposition bets, which are non-standard wagers. Props often come with a price attached to them. For example, Scherzer’s strikeout total against the Reds is set at 7.5. If you bet on the under, you’ll have a better chance of winning than betting on the over.
Gambling-related scandals plague the world of sports betting
While many players do not believe that sports betting is an illegal activity, there are plenty of stories of people who have cheated and lost money on sports games. Pro sports commissioners are particularly concerned about the increasing number of attention given to collegiate and junior hockey games. They also don’t want their athletes to bet on games to get rich. The gambling-related scandals also hit the sports book industry hard.
One of the worst scandals has to do with college basketball. In the post-World War II era, the sport nearly died. Several scandals involving point-shaving occurred. In one, City College of New York, a dual NCAA and NIT champion, was implicated in a scandal that rivaled the Chicago Black Sox fixing scandal in the 1919 World Series. The incident was even referenced in the movie GoodFellas and documented in a 2014 30 for 30 documentary.
Legalization of sports betting is safer than rampant sports gambling
Some argue that legalizing sports betting is safer than rampant gambling. However, this argument is not entirely accurate. The fact remains that illegal operators will always have an advantage over legalized operators in some ways. According to a study by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, 32 states would pass sports betting legislation by 2023. Meanwhile, American sports bettors spend billions of dollars every year on illegal betting. Those dollars are funneled away from the economy. One study even puts that number at $380 billion. Sports betting has been around for a very long time. In Europe, it dates back to the late 12th century.
The 1992 federal ban on sports betting, known as PASPA, was ruled unconstitutional on Tenth Amendment grounds. In the lame-duck season, former Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch introduced the Sports Wagering Market Integrity Act of 2018. This bill would have created a clearinghouse for state sports betting markets and set federal standards for those markets. Unfortunately, this bill did not gain any traction. It merely served as a symbolic gesture. In recent years, however, more U.S. sports league commissioners have taken a more positive stance on legalizing sports betting.
Tips to get the best of a line in sports betting
In the online world of sports betting, research is an integral part of betting. Doing your homework on betting lines can help you spot value in the lines. While it may seem logical to bet on your hunches, doing the research will help you make a smart decision when you place a bet. This is especially true when betting on sports, where margins are thin and any edge is a significant benefit.
State laws governing sports betting
A number of states have passed legislation legalizing sports betting. Some of these states have passed sports betting legislation while others have not. Kansas has a successful sports betting law, while Oklahoma has been slow to legalize the activity. Kansas’s state legislature has a history of blocking attempts to legalize gambling, though lawmakers may still try in future sessions. Missouri’s sports betting bill, which would have authorized up to 39 sportsbooks, failed to pass in the Senate after last-minute pressure.
Although many states are moving forward on legalizing sports betting, the biggest holdout is Utah. In 2022, the state legislature plans to pass a sports betting bill, but lawmakers failed to make any progress in 2019. A similar attempt in 2019 was shot down, and Governor Henry McMaster opposed it. Although Texas seems unlikely to legalize sports betting anytime soon, the state’s demographics and outside gaming interests may change the situation in the future.
