Thousands of football fans have more to lose than just pride this Super Bowl. Billions of dollars are expected to change hands after the Panthers/Patriots game thanks to sports betting, which is now made easy online.
A national gambling study shows that Americans illegally wager between $80 billion and $380 billion each year. Experts say the next two weeks before the Super Bowl are the busiest for those who bet on sports.
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill economics professor Koleman Strumpf has studied sports gambling for years and is awaiting publication of a 60-page paper he authored on the subject.
"I can't think of anything else where there's so much demand for it (gambling)," Strumpf said. "And the law enforcement give a blind eye to this."
Except in Nevada, sports betting, whether through a bookie or over the Internet is illegal in the United States. But Web sites place bets offshore -- typically in the Caribbean -- and Strumpf says vice cops rarely go after bookies except in New York.
Strumpf studied a case there where six bookies were arrested. He gathered bookie client books from the Brooklyn district attorney.
"Talking to law enforcement guys in New York, they say it's impossible to try these guys (bookies) because three of the jurors are gamblers themselves and others think it's not a bad crime. So it's useless to take them to court and nobody bothers," Strumpf said.
Strumpf's conclusion for online sports betting -- demand wins in the end.
"When there's tremendous demand for activity, markets arrive to supply the demand," he said.
Federal legislation is pending to make it more difficult to transfer money offshore but it hasn't yet passed.
Strumpf adds the next two weeks will be difficult for those with gambling addictions, especially with the media coverage of the Super Bowl.
A national gambling study shows that Americans illegally wager between $80 billion and $380 billion each year. Experts say the next two weeks before the Super Bowl are the busiest for those who bet on sports.
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill economics professor Koleman Strumpf has studied sports gambling for years and is awaiting publication of a 60-page paper he authored on the subject.
"I can't think of anything else where there's so much demand for it (gambling)," Strumpf said. "And the law enforcement give a blind eye to this."
Except in Nevada, sports betting, whether through a bookie or over the Internet is illegal in the United States. But Web sites place bets offshore -- typically in the Caribbean -- and Strumpf says vice cops rarely go after bookies except in New York.
Strumpf studied a case there where six bookies were arrested. He gathered bookie client books from the Brooklyn district attorney.
"Talking to law enforcement guys in New York, they say it's impossible to try these guys (bookies) because three of the jurors are gamblers themselves and others think it's not a bad crime. So it's useless to take them to court and nobody bothers," Strumpf said.
Strumpf's conclusion for online sports betting -- demand wins in the end.
"When there's tremendous demand for activity, markets arrive to supply the demand," he said.
Federal legislation is pending to make it more difficult to transfer money offshore but it hasn't yet passed.
Strumpf adds the next two weeks will be difficult for those with gambling addictions, especially with the media coverage of the Super Bowl.
