Federal Gambling Regulation

GAMBLING, in one form or another, has been around since the dawn of mankind. Gambling is an agreement between two or more individuals; it involves a game of chance where the winner becomes the owner of the loser's property. The U.S. government derives its power to enforce gambling regulations by Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution. The Commerce Clause grants “Congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states.”

This broad power has been used by Congress to abolish slavery, combat racketeering and organized crime, and desegregate the South. The U.S. Supreme Court has typically upheld these landmark decisions. In the early American Colonies, gambling was seen as an evil sin. This is understandable since many of the colonists were strict ...