Sports Gambling Essay Example
Sports Gambling Essay Example

Sports Gambling Essay Example

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  • Pages: 6 (1377 words)
  • Published: May 8, 2017
  • Type: Essay
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Sports is a very worthwhile pastime.

Students and sport fanatics engage in different sports because of the benefits they can get. However, despite these benefits, gambling is one of the problems inherent with sporting events. People often place their bets in favor of their favorite team or player during games, and as such, countless reports have shown what gambling can do against players and the bettors themselves. Sports gambling have negative effects and can ruin the sports for the player and the bettor; thus it should not be made legal despite some of the advantages and its legality in Las Vegas.

Sports gambling indicate the placing of bets on a certain player or team in sports such as basketball, boxing, football, and virtually all kinds of sports. Sports gambling rooted in the United States, which originated from

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horse racing tracks. Betting used to be just a pastime, but it rose to popularity when it became accessible to the lower and middle classes. It became even more popular with the public when the point spread system for betting was developed and the invention of TV made it possible to broadcast sports events. And as the sports events became more popular, so did gambling (Bettingroom.

eu, 2006).People must have enjoyed sports so much that some found it hard to resist. Popular cases of sports gambling include Pete Rose and Charles Barkley. The seriousness of sports gambling in America can be seen from Pete Rose???s activities. Rose was managing the Cincinnati Reds when allegations that he was betting surfaced in 1989, which he later on denied.

He was investigated and evidences of his betting activities were found. Evidences

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included betting slips which showed that Rose bet on Reds games which he managed from 1985 to 1987. However, he argued that the betting slips were not his and added that he did not bet.It was only after more than 10 years when he finally admitted betting on Reds (CBC Sports Online, 2003).

On the other hand, Charles Barkley was also indicted for not paying the $400,000 gambling debt to a certain casino in Las Vegas. Barkley is a retired NBA star who became a basketball analyst for Turner Network Television. However, on the case of Barkley, he did not keep his betting activities a secret (The Associated Press, 2008). Although betting was declared illegal in many parts of the country, there were still people who bet on sports.

As everything now can be accessed through the Internet, the betting takes online as well.This appears easier as any bettor can place his bet from anywhere without having to deal with bookies, as is the case with the traditional person to person betting. Many online gaming companies emerged to lure bettors into betting through the Internet. The betting is not only about sports but casinos have been available online (Humphrey, 2006). Many officers of online gaming companies have been indicted for charges ranging from violations to money laundering. David Carruthers, the chief executive of BetonSports.

com was charged with countless violations, including the Illegal Gambling Business Act, money laundering and tax evasion.This was not the only case in the United States. Many other operators of online gambling websites were charged for sports betting charges. In response to this, former President Bush has signed

a legislation banning any activities related to Internet gambling.

The legislation includes banning the use of credit cards, electronic fund transfers and checks for betting purposes online. This was in response to the growing number of people who were attracted to online poker but also includes sports wagering. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) opposed any form of college sports wagering, whether legal or illegal.NCAA believed that the legislation was in accordance with preventing the negative effects of sports gambling. Furthermore, the legislation would protect the student-athletes. In a study that NCAA conducted in 2003 about sports gambling, NCAA found out that male student-athletes (35%) and female student-athletes (10%) have resorted to sports gambling (National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2006).

Because of the prevalence of sports gambling in the United States, especially in college sports, many organizations were concerned about the effects that it can have on the sports.Sports gambling should not be made legal. This is to ascertain that sports gambling do not undermine the integrity of the game. When sports gambling is ignored, it is possible for athletes to feel pressured to win the game due to the many bookies who encourage them to shave points. In most cases shaving is hard to detect. In fact, a scam can take years before it comes to light.

It could have serious repercussions for the athletes and for the athletic staffs as well. In addition, sports gambling encourage college players to shave points to make money as most of the time, they do not have money.It tarnishes the integrity of the game as cheating becomes the rule through which athletes should submit

to (Guide to Gambling, 2007). If the government does not implement plans to resolve this problem, there could be more instances of point shaving and fixing schemes (Sheridan, 2001). Aside from this, making sports gambling not legal will further cause bettors to be addicted to gambling.

Not putting any restrictions regarding gambling will make bettors think that they have chances for winning and getting back their money. It goes on and on until they become addicted.If the government would legalize sports gambling, it will encourage people to spend more than they can afford. Plus, they have higher chances of losing money as gambling involves wagering of money on an uncertain event.

In some cases, a bettor might borrow money to sustain his bets, as what happened with Charles Barkley (Brown, 2009). On the other hand, many argue that betting makes a sport more exciting. And, whether people like it or not, sports gambling have fueled jobs for some people such as the bookies (Brown, 2009). Furthermore, sports gambling offered bettors a form of recreation (Sheridan, 2001).

Although the legality of sports gambling is not yet fully implemented in the United States, it is legal in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is home to countless casinos, entertainment, and betting activities. In fact, Las Vegas is considered the place to go when looking for gambling activities and hedonism. The state is the host of many major sports events such as Arena Football, boxing, tennis, basketball, and NASCAR (Ferringo, 2006).

Even if sports gambling become recognized legally, it would still have negative effects on sports for the player and for the bettor.The NCAA believes

that sports gambling can pose menace to the welfare of the student-athletes and college sports. Student-athletes are not just the ones affected, but everyone from all walks of life (National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2006). Sports gambling can be the source for loss of resources. Many concerned organizations were worried about the gambling activities of students and student-athletes.

More often, the temptation to bet to be able to acquire more money is irresistible. The sad reality is that they will tend to lose money each year faster than winning.This loss will be bad for the students and for local economies (Guide to Gambling, 2007). Also, sports gambling spoils the enjoyment that one can have from watching the game.

In some cases, games are fixed. It would not be as exciting to watch some players who deliberately miss the shots while others pretend that they are great players. Additionally, point shaving schemes and scams send the wrong message. People will tend to believe that there is no fairness in sports, and players and their superiors only care about the money they can get.

Furthermore, the gambling of parents can affect their children. For instance, a son wins a large sum of money from sports gambling. As a result, his parents encourage him to keep on betting to win more money. This indicates how the distorted values of some parents can negatively affect how teenagers view sports gambling.

There is also a high probability of being incarcerated for being involved in scams. There is also evidence showing that the bookmaking business involves organized crime. All of these can lead students into mistakes that can ruin their lives

(Guide to Gambling, 2007).Referenceshttp://www.docsports.com/pro-sports-team-in-las-vegas.htmlhttp://www.guidetogambling.co.uk/sports-gambling/negative-effects-of-gambling-on-college-sports2.htmlhttp://www.dannysheridan.com/testimony/danny_on_sports_gambling.php

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