Illegal Gambling

The operation of, or participation in, a betting or wagering scheme that a jurisdiction's law does not license or otherwise permit, including unlicensed bookmaking, illegal casino operations, and, increasingly, unlicensed online betting sites that accept wagers from a jurisdiction where such betting is restricted. What counts as illegal varies substantially between jurisdictions and has shifted considerably over recent decades as many countries and, in the United States, individual states have legalized and regulated forms of gambling that were previously prohibited outright, narrowing the scope of the offense to unlicensed operations that continue to evade the resulting regulatory and tax framework. It has historically been closely associated with organized crime, which operated illegal gambling as a major revenue source before widespread legalization reduced that role.