In the United States of America, it is illegal for a mathematician to sit in his home, fire up his computer and employ his analytical skills in a game of online poker for money. Politicians say it's about protecting him from the ills of gaming or some such nonsense.

Of course, he can go down to the bar, get bombed and blow his life savings on endless games of mindless keno.

The gambling laws of this country have never made sense. They are a confused maze of miscast morality, government money grabs and special-interest favoritism.

In the case of sports wagering, where the majority of profits in the estimated $350 billion industry go to offshore operations and organized crime, the laws are pure, unadulterated stupidity.

Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, on Thursday decided to make the boldest move yet on legalizing sports gambling in his state (and eventually all states who so chose) by daring the federal government, in the run-up to a presidential election no less, to argue otherwise.

Christie plans to enact a state regulation passed in January that will allow wagering on all sports at New Jersey horse tracks and Atlantic City casinos this fall. It’s a move that defies the 1992 federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which allows sports betting in just four states, with Nevada the only one fully embracing it. Even Indian casinos are prohibited by law from operating sports books.

If the feds want to come after him, well, Christie essentially said, “See you in court.” Otherwise, anyone may be able to bet legally on football in a Jersey sports book by October.

“If someone wants to stop us, then let them try to stop us,” Christie said at a press conference in Atlantic City on Thursday.

“Am I expecting there may be legal action taken against us to try to prevent it? Yes,” Christie continued. “But I have every confidence we’re going to be successful.”

[Related: Gov. Chris Christie's proposal not expected to alter NFL's Super Bowl plans]

The court of law is one thing. The court of public opinion is another and Christie may be assuming the Justice Department won’t attempt to fight this one. Let the presidential candidates take it on.

We’ll leave the debates about legalizing marijuana and prostitution to others. When it comes to sports wagering, criminalization is hypocritical, counterproductive and thoroughly unenforceable.

It is profoundly simple to illegally bet on sports. For well over a century the public has been wagering on football and boxing and basketball and every other sport. It used be through a local bookie. Of late, it’s become easier through international online gambling sites, where even basic age limits can be ignored and credit cards provide deep reservoirs of cash for additional bets.

The result is a massive industry, hidden right there in the open with point spreads printed in newspapers, gambling notes sitting out on the bar during NFL Sundays and free discussions in nearly every social circle about parlays, home dogs and prop bets.

Yet outside of Nevada, none of it is taxed, not the winnings of the public or the books. None of it is remotely regulated. None of the money flow can be traced, which increases criminal behavior and the likelihood of compromised competition because it’s generally not a bunch of church ladies who back up bookies.

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