Betting on Your Team

Sports gambling may be against the law in most states, but most people really don't see it that way. For example, did anyone participating in an NCAA office pool or betting on the Super Bowl feel they were doing something illegal? And should it be?

In 2011, the vast majority of New Jersey voters approved an amendment to the state constitution that would make sports betting legal. However, in 1992, Congress passed a law banning sports betting everywhere in the U.S. other than Nevada, Delaware, Oregon, and Montana. What does that mean for New Jersey? We'll have to wait for the verdict as to whether the 1992 law is an unconstitutional infringement on states' rights to find out.

In the meantime there are plenty of legal outlets including online bookkeepers where sports bets can be placed, whether they are straight bets, proposition bets (far more specific than straight bets), parlays (which involve multiple bets), teasers (combining bets on multiple games), future wagers (longer-term outcome betting, like betting a certain team will win the Super Bowl for the next season that hasn't started yet), totalizators (also called flexible-rate bets), or in-play betting, a feature offered by some online sports books that enables players to place new bets while a sporting event is in progress.

Historically, the U.S. has oscillated between periods of permissiveness toward gambling and periods of crackdown. Currently, besides the legal gambling of those four states, 43 states and D.C. have lotteries, 48 states have some form of commercial gambling, and more than 40 have racetrack betting; however, sports betting is still being singled out for crackdown.

Not only is sports betting more fair in a lot of ways than more widely legal betting opportunities, it is also widely practiced "under the table" - and by average Joes who participate in local NCAA pools for example, or hold a friendly wager with a buddy over the Super Bowl. Any fears that legalizing sports betting would cause players to have a conflict of interest and "throw games" or similar, should be assuaged by the fact that billions are already legally bet on sports in Vegas, for example, without such detrimental effects coming to fruition.

Best Betting Options

While waiting for the bigger constitutional issue to pan out, we highly recommend getting in on the action at two of the best online outlets for sports betting:

At Bet365 you'll enjoy a 100% Initial Deposit Bonus. Just open an account and claim it! To qualify, all you have to do is open an account, make a deposit of at least $20, and receive a 100% bonus up to a maximum of $200. Once you open your account you will receive a 10 digit Offer Code via email. To claim your bonus, just make a qualifying deposit, visit the Enter Offer Code page in Members and enter the code.

Also be sure to check out William Hill - they really have everything, from Horse Racing to Football to Darts, Cricket to Tennis to Greyhounds, and so much more!