Danny Kramer truly is an expert on this subject as he led a group of professional gamblers known as “the Kosher Boys.” Again, Kramer’s syndicate didn’t take bets, they were gamblers. The group was known to bet as much as $400,000 a day through a vast network of illegal bookmakers from across the country. You would assume that this group of professional gamblers encountered all kinds of impropriety, but he’d be the first to tell you that there is a surprising level of honor in this illegal trade. “In my dealings in the world, the people I tend to have trouble with are the suits and ties to whom a handshake doesn’t mean a thing,” Kramer told The New York Times. “It’s not that way with gamblers.”
For all intents and purposes, the police will …show more content…
First of all, the expansion of any kind of legalized gambling often elicits a knee-jerk reaction with concerns about exploitative practices. Games of chance, in particular the lottery, are considered to be a “regressive tax” on the poor and minorities. On the other hand, sports gamblers, as opposed to other forms of gambling, are rarely the victims of a “regressive tax.” The amount of research into the demographics of sports gamblers is somewhat limited, but the conclusions universally find that sport gamblers are rarely sociologically or economically disadvantaged. In fact, a poll by Gallup in 1999 found that only 6% of sports gamblers had below average incomes. Furthermore, the Fund for New York City commissioned some thorough studies on sports gambling in 1972 when the city was considering changing policies. They found that sports gamblers were disproportionately white and earned above average …show more content…
Various studies certainly show that sports gamblers bet at very reasonable levels. For instance, GfK Custom Research North America found that $29 is the average cost Americans pay to buy a bracket for March Madness. Likewise, the Harvard Medical School Division on Addiction conducted a study in conjunction with Bwin, a popular online gambling company in the U.K., which backs up that claim. The results from roughly 40,000 sports bettors showed that the median activity was 2.5 bets of $5.50 placed every four days. Only 1-5% of the clients bet at rates much higher than the mean. This kind of data also shatters the blanket generalizations about Internet gambling. There is an unspoken ego-based pressure with gambling to place larger bets. However, as was the case with online poker, the Internet offers anonymity to recreational gamblers to bet very small amounts of money without losing
For all intents and purposes, the police will …show more content…
First of all, the expansion of any kind of legalized gambling often elicits a knee-jerk reaction with concerns about exploitative practices. Games of chance, in particular the lottery, are considered to be a “regressive tax” on the poor and minorities. On the other hand, sports gamblers, as opposed to other forms of gambling, are rarely the victims of a “regressive tax.” The amount of research into the demographics of sports gamblers is somewhat limited, but the conclusions universally find that sport gamblers are rarely sociologically or economically disadvantaged. In fact, a poll by Gallup in 1999 found that only 6% of sports gamblers had below average incomes. Furthermore, the Fund for New York City commissioned some thorough studies on sports gambling in 1972 when the city was considering changing policies. They found that sports gamblers were disproportionately white and earned above average …show more content…
Various studies certainly show that sports gamblers bet at very reasonable levels. For instance, GfK Custom Research North America found that $29 is the average cost Americans pay to buy a bracket for March Madness. Likewise, the Harvard Medical School Division on Addiction conducted a study in conjunction with Bwin, a popular online gambling company in the U.K., which backs up that claim. The results from roughly 40,000 sports bettors showed that the median activity was 2.5 bets of $5.50 placed every four days. Only 1-5% of the clients bet at rates much higher than the mean. This kind of data also shatters the blanket generalizations about Internet gambling. There is an unspoken ego-based pressure with gambling to place larger bets. However, as was the case with online poker, the Internet offers anonymity to recreational gamblers to bet very small amounts of money without losing