Questions about the legality of offshore betting

[azrob]

Hi, everyone. I recently found this forum and have been spending some time reading it. There are so many knowledgeable people on here, I feel like I stumbled on a gold mine!

I've been using offshore sportsbooks for a while now, but I still have a few questions that I'm sure you pros can answer.

1. Offshore gambling is illegal in the United States. If you make a wire transfer (i.e. MoneyGram) payment to an offshore book, would that also be illegal? It seems like the government goes after the books moreso than the individual gamblers, but I'm curious as to whether or not sending money might be a red flag to the powers that be.

2. If you build a sizeable bankroll at one or more books (like $100K+), how do you get your money out without raising more red flags? While I'm sure all of you pay taxes on your winnings (*cough, cough*), how would you justify where the money came from? Or do you just send the checks off to a Swiss account or something?

3. If you transfer money from one book (such as Matchbook, which has a cap on daily withdrawals) to another, such as Bookmaker (which has unlimited withdrawals via Wire Transfer), do you have to play some or all of your money with the second book before you can cash out? Transfer-and-cashout might smack of money laundering or something.

Those are the questions that have been puzzling me for awhile. I'm sure many of you guys know the answers off the top of your head, so any advice you can offer up would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[diamond]

Welcome to the forum..I will let the US people answer your questions, but its always nice to see someone from the government coming in asking for questions

[flyingillini]

Welcome to the forum..I will let the US people answer your questions, but its always nice to see someone from the government coming in asking for questions

Ha classic!

[durito]

1. Offshore gambling is not illegal in the United States.
2. Pay your taxes and the IRS does not care where your money comes from.
3. Most books will require a 1x rollover after a transfer.

[remmy358]

1. offshore gambling is illegal at the state level depending on what state you live in. legality at the federal level is a highly disputed area, but most tend to think it's not illegal for the player, but illegal for banks to process the transactions. i don't know of any players being prosecuted by the feds for gambling online (i mean betting, not taking bets). if they were going to get you, they'd go for tax evasion

2. a lot of that depends on what normal activity in your checking account is. any unusually large amounts may draw a red flag. any single transaction over 10k is reported to the IRS, and the banks may fill out paperwork for any "unusual" activity that's over 5k. if there's similar amounts that equal the 5k or 10k, they can be treated in the aggregate and still reported to "catch" people splitting the amounts to be under the limits

3. to my knowledge, most books have at least a 1x rollover requirement when transferring funds in.

[diamond]

Ha classic!

Too classic..Im tired..should obviously be asking for answers..but the point is, Im not surprised if the government is watching..

[remmy358]

Too classic..Im tired..should obviously be asking for answers..but the point is, Im not surprised if the government is watching..

lol the govt would get nothing from asking these questions.

[twtb19]

Here is a question I have wondered since being here....so gambling is legal or illegal at the state level, is there anywhere to find a list of what states have what laws regarding this, and if not why don't we start a master list we keep updated with this information.

[Marigold HD]

LOL
Tax this

[azrob]

Thank you for your straightforward answers, remmy and durito. I was thinking along the same lines, but wanted to get it from those in the know.

As for working for the government, you're way off base there... I'm no narc. Remmy was right... the gov would know the answers to all of these questions anyway.

[diamond]

Thank you for your straightforward answers, remmy and durito. I was thinking along the same lines, but wanted to get it from those in the know.

As for working for the government, you're way off base there... I'm no narc. Remmy was right... the gov would know the answers to all of these questions anyway.

The US government with all their resources can not even find a caveman (binny boy)..I suspect you for thinking way too highly about your own government..

[azrob]

I don't think the government wants to find Bin Laden. And I don't think highly of them at all, but the IRS knows the answers to simple questions like this. It's not rocket science.

[diamond]

No wait, you sound way too polite tot be a politician. I withdraw my statement.

[chano]

Welcome to the forum..I will let the US people answer your questions, but its always nice to see someone from the government coming in asking for questions

My thoughts exact. Go F* C* yourself AZROB..........

[diamond]

"There are so many knowledgeable people on here, I feel like I stumbled on a gold mine!"

Some gov officials would think so..

[azrob]

Right back at ya, chano. Some of you people are paranoid.

[BeatTheJerk]

azrob i wouldnt worry about it until u got 100 k combined in your books ........... and that is probably a very hypothetical situation for you im assuming ............. now sending money back n forth offshore through ** is almost undectiable becasue its person to person they only allow you so much money coming in and out to not throw up and red flags ........... and yes it is illegal to wager online or over the phone ........... there was a wagering act put in place in oct 2006 .............. but i wouldnt worry about it like u said the gov is after the bookies not the players thats their priority .............

[twtb19]

azrob i wouldnt worry about it until u got 100 k combined in your books ........... and that is probably a very hypothetical situation for you im assuming ............. now sending money back n forth offshore through ** is almost undectiable becasue its person to person they only allow you so much money coming in and out to not throw up and red flags ........... and yes it is illegal to wager online or over the phone ........... there was a wagering act put in place in oct 2006 .............. but i wouldnt worry about it like u said the gov is after the bookies not the players thats their priority .............

....waiting for the screen shot of your parlay

[pat venditto]

the government needs to worry about cracking down on criminals and terrorists and let gamblers be. we aren't harming anyone.

[BeatTheJerk]

....waiting for the screen shot of your parlay

yeah right i think i played that out alil to much here .................