Sports betting

Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports and placing wagers on the outcome. Some suggest bets were placed for the first time in Ancient Greece, while others insist there is evidence of similar betting activities even before that.

The frequency of sports that is bet upon differs with culture. Most of those bets are placed on basketball, baseball, mixed martial arts, boxing and auto racing at both professional and amateur levels.

In many parts of the United States, sports betting is illegal. It is legal in several other states. They include Iowa, New York, Rhode Island, Colorado and Nevada. In countries like Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden sports betting winnings are not taxed. Other jurisdictions, like Germany, impose taxes on wagering profits, but naturally the percentage varies from one country to another.

Sports betting can be done on several Internet websites or in public.

Bookmaker

The bookmaker, also known as “a betting agency” or “sportsbook” is a company or a person that provides the sports betting services at odds, agreed upon in advance.

Related pages

• Organized crime
• Point shaving
• Match fixing