Internet Gambling Big Business In Denver

[bigboydan]

Sallinger contacted a book in costa rica, and they claim it's legal. athough the Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said different.

Internet Gambling Big Business In Playoff Games

(CBS4) DENVER Internet gambling has become a big business in this year's NFL playoff games, especially in the Broncos vs. Steelers game this Sunday.

Many of the internet betting sites are located offshore.

CBS4's Rick Sallinger contacted a site located in Costa Rica. They told Sallinger it was completely legal to place a bet on the game, but Colorado's Attorney General John Suthers said different.

"No, it's illegal under Colorado law and under federal law," Suthers said.

He said the chances of getting caught are slim, but even if you do win, you may not collect.

"If you do get ripped off you probably won't have a remedy," Suthers said.

The internet sites offer incentives including free bets and payment by credit card. Some say the easy accessibility can be addictive.

There are programs available to help internet gamblers. If they tried to access a gambling site, it would kick them off the internet.

The odds makers predicted the Broncos will win by 3 points and they predicted the Broncos and Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl.

(© MMVI CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

[isetcap]

Personally, I am becoming quite frightened by government officials. I guess I should stop wagering because they all claim internet gambling is illegal. Oh well, time to go back to the old office job. I'm just so scared!

Really, I'm shaking.

[pags11]

seriously, these government officials are probably placing wagers themselves...I heard John McCain takes out big markers when he's in Vegas, but he's so anti-gambling...what's that all about?...

[jumper]

its about personal agendas.denver is a youthful town and i can see heavy wagering from there,but this type story will always pick up steam around super bowl time.maybe the casinos in colorado have addicted all the unfortunate colorado residents to online gaming

[datek23]

How many times do people red lights and stop signs in one day? Millions of people, all illegal right? Less than 1% of getting caught. How many people drunk and drive every day?Millions of people. How are you going to handle 50 millions Americans on these Sportbooks, the government have no control over this same with drugs, everywhere I go it is all over. Don't believe what you read in the media nothing but BS anyways. I remember Gore was president remember that people? I remember all 11 miners were alive last week , now all dead, remember that people? I remember Iraq had weapons remember that people, our media is the worst and dont believe all their BS. Cuba is a communism and terrorist ties, however over 10 million americans have venture into Cuban on Vacation illegally and for some reason all the Cubans love Americans, something that our aweful media fails to mention, how many people went to jail, not a singleperson. Winning the lottery chances are better than our government brothering people about offshore sportbooks.

[slacker00]

Until I start hearing stories about crackdowns on internet gambling, I'm not too worried. If anything, we'll see it legalized and taxed in 4 or 5 years, but that's still up in the air.

[aje]

I was unaware that it was illegal under Colorado law. I was under the impression that only 3 states had a law against online wagering. Those being Nevada, Louisiana, and California.

http://sportsgambling.about.com/od/legalfacts/a/Betting_Laws.htm

[bigboydan]

Cops say social betting OK but, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said different.

Betting on the game? Keep it among friends

CHIEFTAIN PHOTO/BRYAN KELSEN
It is the time of year when football betting boards become popular in many local workplaces.

Cops say social betting OK; The Chieftain's retired ‘Dr. Know’ warns against betting with your heart.
By JAMES AMOS
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
So, is there anything wrong with betting on the Broncos?

Two law-enforcement types say "maybe," depending on how you do it.

Retired sportswriter and all-around knowledgable fellow Dave Socier says "no," unless you actually want them to win.

Sunday's playoff game between the Broncos and Steelers has betting boards filling around town and the guys and gals at the office anxious to prove what they do or don't know about just how good the Denver Broncos are.

The game probably also has a number of people asking friends in Las Vegas to place a bet for them, and the online betting sites are awash in money, but officially we don't know that.

So what do we know about betting on the Broncos? For the legal stuff, we turn to Police Chief Jim Billings and District Attorney Bill Thiebaut.

Billings said betting is OK as long as:

- It doesn't take place in a business with a liquor license.

- There is no one taking a cut of the bets.

- Everyone involved is "socially acquainted."

That doesn't mean everyone has to like each other, according to the police chief.

But that they have to know each other, at least good enough for their insults to have a personal bite.

At least one poker room has tried to meet that requirement by giving participants some time before games to get to know each other. There's no word yet about the on-the-street legality of that, but it's interesting to note.

The district attorney said that, technically, gambling is illegal in Colorado unless specifically authorized by state law. That means even online betting is illegal, although he acknowledged that it's pretty hard to catch an offender.

Social betting is one of the exceptions to state law, Thiebaut said, but again, the people involved have to have an actual social relationship.

Thiebaut said he plans to come up with a policy on sports betting, to better guide his office and police on which operations to shut down and which are OK.

He said the betting grids you see in local bars and offices seem to be OK because of a 2000 Colorado Court of Appeals ruling. The court found that the grids, which work on the score of the game, are considered social betting unless the bar involved tried to attract the larger public to participate.

There are also federal laws about gambling, including provisions against using the phone to place a bet out of state, he said, so it's complicated.

OK, so betting on the Broncos can be legal, but is it a good idea?

For this we turn to Socier, The Pueblo Chieftain's retired sportswriter, Dr. Know and general font of sports knowledge in Pueblo:

"I've done a lot of betting on sports," Socier said in the most believable fashion. "And the one thing that I've always guarded against was betting on the team that I wanted to win.

"If I want to bet this weekend, I would not bet on the Denver game," he said. "I'd bet on the Carolina-Seattle game, because I don't care about either one of those two teams." Socier said he made a lot of money, enough to help get through the University of Colorado, betting on teams he didn't care about. He'd go to the TV room in his dorm and bet with hometown-team fanatics, and slaughter them, he said.

"They were like pigeons," he said.

The lesson here, aside from not watching TV with him?

"Once you get your heart involved . . . heart and money don't mix in gambling," Socier said.

As a side note, Socier said he isn't sure about the game anyway. Pittsburgh beat the Colts, who everyone thought was the best team around. And they did it in a noisy Colt dome, so our hopes that Invesco Field might give the Broncos an edge could be in vain.

"Do I hope the Broncos win? Yes," he said. "Do I think they will? Flip a coin. . . "