What if one of America’s biggest black markets is hiding in plain sight?
In this episode of Right About Now, Ryan Alford sits down with Ismail Vali, President of Gaming Compliance International, to break down the scale of illegal online gambling, why regulation has not kept pace with technology, and how billions of dollars are being pulled out of legitimate U.S. markets every year. Ismail argues that the issue is no longer whether people gamble online, but whether states and regulators are willing to confront the reality that the market already exists and is being dominated by offshore operators.
Ryan pushes the conversation beyond policy jargon and into the questions business owners and consumers actually care about: who wins, who loses, what “regulation” really means, and whether America is letting crime profit simply because lawmakers are behind the technology. The result is a sharp, provocative conversation about online gambling, prediction markets, consumer behavior, and why ignoring a market does not make it disappear.
*Topics Covered*
* Ismail Vali on the scale of the illegal online gambling economy
* Why GCI says the global black market reached $5.9 trillion
* How the U.S. market is losing value to offshore operators
* Why legal gambling still is not winning in America
* The tension between freedom, regulation, and consumer protection
* South Carolina as an example of demand without legal supply
* How illegal streaming, prediction markets, and gambling are converging
* Ryan Alford and Ismail Vali on what lawmakers still are not confronting
*Ryan Alford*
Website: https://www.ryanisright.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanalford/
*Ismail Vali / Gaming Compliance International*
Website: https://gamingcompliance.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ismailvali/
GCI Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gaming-compliance-international
