March Madness pool online: Feds look into Facebook illegal gambling

Investigating the March Madness pools on the social network website Facebook for possible illegal gambling is the latest action FBI is considering taking to combat illegal sports betting. According to an article by the Chicago Tribune, people who host March Madness online pools and collect fees could face criminal charges and jail, if found guilty of operating an illegal online gambling operation. "It is fair to say this raises questions. There could be a violation if there's a payout and if the operators take a cut," FBI spokesman Ross Rice was quoted by the paper.

Those so-called "gambling operators" are folks who have created small March Madness pools for their friends with an entry fee around $20, but to the FBI those people run illegal gambling operations and brake the interstate gambling laws. Whether the FBI would investigate the online March Madness pools for illegal gambling remains under question, although the agency says that are considering if the Facebook pools are something worth allocating the resources.

Published on 03/15/2008