Saturday, April 01, 2006

The Next American Idol: Wanna Bet?

The Boston Globe reports on the latest craze in online betting: reality TV show outcomes:

"Online casinos began noticing people betting with one another on who they thought would survive another week or go all the way, and they've been offering entertainment betting on their websites for the past couple of years.

"Though online gambling is against US law, casinos can set up websites anywhere in the world, and Americans are placing wagers on them regardless of legal issues. The casinos say the business is growing steadily.

"The US Justice Department considers it illegal for Americans to place bets on websites, even if they're sites based in other countries. Federal officials rarely go after individual bettors but focus on the sites themselves."

1 comment:

Prof Kelly said...

One has to wonder how many gamblers are scrambling to get their phone votes into Idol to tip the stats their way.