Olympic Sports Betting in North America

When it comes to Olympics, the laws regarding online sports betting differ among the nations populating the North American continent.

Although the United States is one of the top performing nations at every Olympics for the past several decades, the American punters don't have access to US-based sportsbooks. But at least some states, such as Nevada, are looking to legalize it within the state borders.

Going north, the Canadian gambling laws are a bit more lax. In effect, Canadian punters can bet online without complications.

When it comes to online sportsbooks in Canada, these are based offshore but offer access to Canadians. Some sportsbooks even allow for betting to take place in the Canadian currency.

At 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Canadian athletes won 18 medals (3 gold, 9 silver, and 6 bronze ones). This is quite a good performance for a nation of just over 30 million. Canadian punters surely took notice of that and there is an interest in Olympic sports betting.

The interest in betting on sports grows even more when it comes to the Winter Olympics as the Canada gambling news indicate. In Vancouver, Canada won the most gold medals (14). In addition, Canadians won 7 silver and 5 bronze medals, making them one of the top performing nations.

Going south, Mexico allows for online betting to take place, but the sites based in the country cater to foreign punters. In effect, Mexican residents have been going to offshore sites, some of which offer Spanish language versions.

Speaking of performance, Mexican athletic success is similar to that of most Latin American nations where the athletes gain just a few medals. At 2008 Summer Olympics, Mexicans won 2 golds and 1 bronze medal.

Finally, there are small Caribbean nations where the sports betting market isn't well developed. Some of these nations, such as Jamaica, perform well. Betting on such athletes as Usain Bolt rakes in millions in wagers worldwide.