24 April 2019 — 0758 mdt
Sports betting should be prosecuted in Montana — not legalized
But that’s not likely to happen. Two bills — SB-330 and HB-725 — legalizing sports betting have passed the legislature by wide margins and are headed for Gov. Bullock’s desk. He should veto them, but I expect he’ll let them become law.
Both bills take advantage of the fact that a drunk and his money are soon parted.
Here’s what will happen if SB-330, sponsored by Sen. Mark Blasdel (R-Kalispell, SD-4), becomes law:
Blasdel said under his bill, private operators would set up shop at bars or other licensed locales, offering all types of sports bets.
“You can bet on anything from season-long championships, to daily sports, to actual in-game betting, based on plays, and so forth,” he said. “And this is across the board, from every sport, from football to tennis to NASCAR.” [Source.]
Butte Democrat Ryan Lynch’s bill creates another way for the state lottery to rip off people:
Under Lynch’s HB725, the state Lottery would arrange with its current contractor to offer sports betting at locations that already allow gambling.
Lynch said bettors would go to an establishment that has machines selling Lottery tickets that offer various types of sports betting. Commissions would be paid to the owners of the establishments — usually a tavern or bar. [Source.]
Sports betting will not attract the most wholesome people to Montana. It will attract trimmers and dice throwing trash, the kind of people who bet they can make money by corrupting high school and college coaches and athletes. And it will entice the down and out to try to reverse their fortunes by getting lucky instead of by being smart and working hard.
The black market legalization fallacy
In his 10 April story on sports betting, Mike Dennison reported:
Both Blasdel and Lynch said sports betting occurs already in Montana, on the black market, and that if it’s legal, Montana should regulate it and get some revenue from it.
By definition, black markets are illegal. Therefore, by asserting that the best way to regulate a black market activity is to legalize it they are arguing that the best way to control an illegal activity is to legalize it. That proposition can be tested:
- Murder is an illegal activity. Therefore, the best way to control murder is to legalize it.
- Rape is an illegal actifity. Therefore, the best way to control rape is to legalize it.
- Theft is an illegal activity. Therefore, the best way to control theft is to legalize it.
Is Montana ready to gamble that the best way to reduce crimes is to legalize criminal activity? I doubt it.
Instead of legislation that helps saloons pry money loose from drunken gamblers, we need legislation that rids Montana of legalized gambling, and that establishes an Elliot Ness style operation to drive gambling operations out of the state and/or into the penitentiary. You want to make a killing betting on sports? Drive your Cadillac to Las Vegas, lay your money down, and ride the bus back home.