A gambling ship was a barge or other large vessel used to house a casino and often other venues of entertainment. Under the old three-mile limit of territorial waters they were anchored usually just over three nautical miles off the United States coastline to avoid governmental interference. Organized crime was frequently involved in their operation.
Some state governments later tried to control the effect of gambling ships through the use of convoluted statutes. When territorial waters were redefined to 12 nm, this made the prospect of maintaining a gambling ship by any means extremely impractical.
Read more about Gambling Ship: Gambling Ships in California
Famous quotes containing the words gambling and/or ship:
“Someone once asked me why women don’t gamble as much as men do, and I gave the common-sensical reply that we don’t have as much money. That was a true but incomplete answer. In fact, women’s total instinct for gambling is satisfied by marriage.”
—Gloria Steinem (b. 1934)
“The world’s a ship on its voyage out, and not a voyage complete; and the pulpit is its prow.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)