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Thursday, June 01, 2006
Why Not Legalize Sports Gambling?
Read the story about the boatloads of cash corralled in the apparent bust of a sports-betting ring run by the Mastronardo brothers? One's the late Frank Rizzo's son-in-law, the other a former Eagles draft pick. They were first convicted in 1987, alleged to have a total take of about $50 million a year a few years later, and found with $2.7 million in cash this time.
Earlier this year, authorities announced busting a gambling ring, naming ex-Flyer Rick Tocchet as a principal and Wayne Gretzsky's wife, Janet, as an apparent bettor. A week ago, the two said they plan to sue over the leaking of information from the case. Now, if there's so much demand, and so much money involved, and such easy access to off-shore Internet betting, why not just legalize more sports gambling? One objection: More games will get fixed. Really, isn't illegal betting more likely to be tied to organized crime? (The Mastronardo brothers' lawyer explicitly denies any mob ties or harming of non-payers, by the way.) Besides, one way to sidestep that worry is to require bets to involve multiple games, like playoff pools, or pick so many of this week's NFL games. Restricting the maximum bet, or requiring cash, no credit, are other ways to minimize damage to losers. Why skip this source of tax revenue? What do you think? Post comments here, or vote in our poll.
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