US sports Betting

Americans have been betting on sporting events for generations and gambling was a popular past time in the USA. Gambling grew in popularity throughout the 19th and 20th centuries in the USA. Today bettors that want to place a bet on a sporting event need to place their bet in the state of Nevada or online using a sportsbook that accepts US bettors.

Technology has transformed the sports betting industry and made it possible for the average sports fan to place bets. We’re going to take a look at the history of sports betting in the United States briefly and teach you how to bet online. Despite being a billion dollar industry, online sports betting in the USA is unregulated.

US Sports Betting History
Horse racing used to be the most popular sport to bet on in the United States throughout the 19th and early part of the 20th century. In the past several decades we’ve seen horse racing overtaken by other sports in terms of popularity. The 1st legal sportsbooks in the United States opened in the 1950’s and were called Turf Clubs.

Turf Clubs operated in Las Vegas and the rest of the state of Nevada from the 1950’s – 1970’s. Turf Clubs had a deal with hotels in Nevada that they’d pay a tax to have exclusive access to the sportsbook market in Nevada. Turf Clubs held a monopoly on the legal sportsbook industry in Nevada until legislation was passed 1975 to allow casinos to set-up their own sportsbooks.

Once casinos could open their own sportsbooks in Nevada most of them did. It didn’t take long for Turf Clubs to become extinct, but this was a good thing for bettors since Turf Clubs charged a much higher vig. Nowadays there are about 150 sportsbooks that are licensed in the state of Nevada, but Nevada still remains the only state in the US where it’s legal to run a sportsbook.

US Online Sports Betting History
It wasn’t long ago that nobody knew what the internet was, but we’ve came an incredibly long way in the past 15 years. The very 1st online sportsbook to ever accept a real money wager was the Intertops Sportsbook. After Intertops opened it didn’t take very long for numerous other online sportsbooks to start launching websites.

The online sports betting market in the USA grew faster than anyone could imagine and today the online sports betting market alone is a billion dollar industry. Online sports betting in the USA isn’t regulated and it won’t be for the foreseeable future. Betting on sports online in the USA isn’t illegal, but operating a sportsbook in the country is illegal.

Americans can wager with online sportsbooks that operate offshore although the number of online bookmakers that accept bettors from the USA is shrinking every year. The USA has made it difficult to run a sportsbook that accepts US bettors by passing various laws including the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

In 2006 the USA passed the UIGEA and it instantly changed the online sportsbook landscape. The high street bookmakers that are licensed and regulated in the UK had to stop accepting bets from US bettors and it hurt the industry. Thankfully, there are still a few trusted names where Americans can wager on sports online safely including the very reputable Bookmaker Sportsbook.

How Can I Bet Using A US Online Sportsbook?
Jumping into the online sports betting industry may seem intimidating initially. The market is unregulated and it’s hard to put your trust into a company that you don’t know. We’ve been through countless headaches in over 10+ years dealing with online bookies in the USA. Over the years it has become apparent that there are only a handful of A+ rated sportsbooks in the USA.

Stick with the bookmakers that we recommend here are we can ensure your funds and personal details will be secure. Betting on a sporting event online is easier than you think once you have a funded sportsbook account. US bettors will find that there aren’t that many ways to deposit into a US sportsbook due to the US DoJ making it difficult to process online gambling transactions.

If you live in the USA you should be able to use your Visa credit card at most US sportsbooks. If your Visa credit card doesn’t work you can try using a Visa Debit or Visa Gift Card. Most of the e-wallets don’t accept US bettors anymore, but a couple options that will work currently for US bettors include Rapid Transfer and MyPayLinQ.

US Sports Betting Market
The sports betting market is massive in the USA and there is still a lot of untapped potential. Billions of dollars are wagered each year in the USA with sportsbooks in Nevada and offshore online sportsbooks. Studies have said that roughly 1 in 4 adults bet on at least one sporting event every year whether it’s online or with a friend while watching the game on a Saturday night.