is being a bookie illegal in the u s 
no not necessarily in 2018 the u s supreme court opened the door for sports betting throughout the country if states decide in favor of it 2 some 33 states have since moved to legalize sports betting effectively ending the need for bookies to operate illegally in those states it is still fully illegal in 17 states 5however that isn t to say that all bookmakers are law abiding betting is still illegal in some states and some bookies may prefer to conduct business under the table to avoid facing obstacles and paying taxes 5