Three Charged in Illegal Missouri Gambling Operation
Last Updated: October 31, 2024 12:01 PM EDT • 2 min 2 sec read.
Residents of Missouri don't have access to our best sports betting sites, as legal sports betting is not a reality in the state. That can lead to people seeking out less-than-legal options.
Three people have been charged with running an illegal gambling operation in Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri. Ashish Ashish, 24, Gureet Singh, 23, and Pooja Rani, 22, are set to appear in court on Nov. 6 for these charges. Jasper County authorities confirmed that all three have been released on bonds. Judge Joseph Lee Hensley set the bonds at $2,000 cash each, with all three accused living at the same address, 913 S. St. Louis Ave.
The trio were arrested on Oct. 23 at 11:00, according to court records, and were charged with first-degree promotion gambling through the Spin Hitters business based at 2331 E. Seventh St. After filing probable-cause statements with the Jasper County associate division court, officers went into the company with a search warrant and reportedly found 47 gambling machines. Across the machines and the offices, officers found $4,393.04 relating to the illegal gambling operation.
State statutes for the charge of promoting gambling require more than $100 a day to be collected, and according to the charges, the three operated gambling machines that met this threshold between October 19 and October 23.
Gambling Takes Center Stage in Missouri
The illegal gambling operation shutdown comes as Missouri sports betting and gambling laws may be about to change significantly. The November ballots in Mo. will allow voters to approve or reject legal sports betting in the Show Me State. The initiative was added to the ballot in August after getting more than 340,000 signatures from residents.
However, the measure has faced plenty of opposition. An opposition group backed by Caesars Entertainment has campaigned strongly against the approval of sports betting through Amendment 2. The casino operator contributed $4 million to The Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment (MADOGA).
The initiative even faced a lawsuit from Missouri residents, although a judge dismissed the case in September 2024. Additionally, there has been significant debate over the tax rates included in Amendment 2, at 10% for sports betting revenue. Not only is this lower than the 19% US-wide average, but also due to exclusion on promotional costs, there may be months where Missouri collects no sports betting taxes.
Despite all these challenges, the voters will weigh in on the issue on Nov. 5. If the ballot initiative passes, what counts as illegal gambling in Missouri will significantly change in 2025.
Illegal Gambling an Issue Across the US
The charges for illegal gambling in Missouri are one of many recent cases of illegal gambling operations across the US. The Michigan Gaming Control Board dealt with several unlawful gambling operations in 2024, and the organization had to release a press release addressing its responses after facing scrutiny around the regulations of skill games.
Meanwhile, a recent report from Yield Sec commissioned by The Campaign for Fairer Gambling estimated that 680 illegal sports betting operators generated $40.92 billion in gross gaming revenue in 2023. While the report showed that $9.5 billion in revenue came from New York, New Jersey, and Minnesota, the report covered all US states, so some of that must have come from Missouri.
Ziv Chen
