Also known as: bookmaker · bookmakers · bookie · bookies · betting · gambling
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A form of gambling that entails the taking and recording of bets on an event such as a horse race. The activity centers on determining odds and accepting wagers from bettors on specified outcomes.
Brianna Burke opens a sports bookmaking operation in State A after the legislature passes a licensing statute. Federal officials threaten penalties against state regulators for issuing the license. The operation cannot proceed because the federal statute targets the state's authorization power directly.
Bruce Baldwin is subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury about his bookmaking records on horse races. He invokes the Fifth Amendment. After receiving immunity from use of his testimony and its fruits, he must answer or face contempt.
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Blake Butler places bookmaking wagers over a public telephone booth and is recorded by government agents without a warrant. The recordings capture his acceptance of bets on sporting events. The evidence is suppressed because the caller had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the conversation.
Brenda Booth operates a bookmaking business and challenges federal regulations that set the scope of prohibited wagering schemes. She argues Congress gave the agency too much discretion to define covered activities. The regulations stand because the statute supplies an intelligible principle guiding the agency's actions.
Beatrice Brown pleads guilty to bookmaking charges after the prosecutor promises a specific sentence recommendation. At sentencing the prosecutor recommends a harsher term. The court allows withdrawal of the plea because the government failed to honor the agreement.
Belinda Baxter runs a bookmaking enterprise at a motel that caters to interstate travelers. Congress enacts a statute prohibiting such gambling facilities that affect commerce. The law is upheld as a valid regulation of activities that substantially affect interstate commerce.
Bookmaking consists of taking and recording bets on events such as horse races after determining the applicable odds. The activity requires both the acceptance of wagers from others and the systematic recording of those wagers.
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A federal statute that directly prohibits states from authorizing or licensing bookmaking schemes violates the anti-commandeering doctrine. Such a law targets state legislative action rather than regulating private conduct independently.
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A witness subpoenaed to testify about bookmaking activities may refuse on Fifth Amendment grounds unless granted immunity from the use of the testimony and any evidence derived from it. Once immunity is provided the witness must testify.
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…could regulate, without more, the "mere possession" of firearms. See id. , at 339, n. 4; see also United States v. Five Gambling Devices , 346 U. S. 441, 448 (1953) (plurality opinion) ("The principle is old and deeply imbedded in our jurisprudence that this Court will construe a statute in a manner that requires…