You’ve probably read books or watched movies that dealt with organized crime based around illegal gambling businesses. This is because it was a major problem during the 1960s and earlier. There was serious danger in participating in these gambling businesses and you would be held responsible for any debt you incurred, even if the penalty for nonpayment was death or serious injury. The government saw this as a problem because law enforcement was unable to do their job in areas where these organized crime efforts were happening, and people were having their constitutional rights violated.

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Congress passed the Illegal Gambling Business Act in 1970 in an effort to control crime related to debt collection from gambling businesses and other types of organized crime. It was part of the Organized Crime Control Act and made it illegal to run gambling operations outside of casinos. Gambling operations were defined as any business that held poker tournaments, black jack tables, or hosted other casino games without a legal permit to do so.

The government also established rules to determine which activity was deemed illegal. The following are the major violations.

• State and local laws were not followed or permits were never received.
• More than five people are involved in the management of the operation.
• Profits are more than $2,000 in any given day.
• Has been a continuous operation for 30 days or more.

This means that only limited proof is required in order to demonstrate that a person or group of people are violating the Illegal Gambling Business Act. This makes organized crime more difficult to pull off and keeps everyone safer.