Legalized sports betting in the United States is on its way, and the only real discussions left revolve around the “when” and the “how,” not the “if.”

State Rep. Bart Korman understood that when he introduced his sports gambling bill earlier this year, saying he wanted Missouri to be on the forefront of this venture.

And while Missouri won’t be the first state to pass full-on sports betting (Delaware began taking bets Tuesday afternoon, and New Jersey is expected to join the party within the week), the Show-Me State could be in the first group of states to offer the service in 2019.

Politicians in Jefferson City would be smart to pass Korman’s bill — or some variation that allows sports gambling — as soon as possible, because this topic won’t be controversial in 10 years. 

It will be as common as buying a scratch-off lottery ticket while you’re filling up your gas tank, and states that ignore sports betting will regret it when potential revenue streams are lost to neighboring states.

As Korman said multiple times last week, there will be blowback to legalized sports betting, just like there was blowback to casinos and the lottery system.

And if you’re against sports betting because you’re against any kind of gambling, I understand that completely.

But I can’t wrap my head around being OK with going to the casino, buying lottery tickets or playing bingo while also being against sports betting.

If sports betting has the same regulations as other casino games, there won’t be a problem.

And as a former employee at a Las Vegas sportsbook, I can tell you the sports betting regulations in places like Las Vegas are the toughest in the casino.

You couldn’t make a wager over a certain amount without showing your players card, and you couldn’t cash out a certain amount (around $5,000) without getting an IRS form.

Simply put, If you were playing with over $1,000, the casino probably had your full name, address and Social Security number.

Compare that to online gambling, where revenues are routinely estimated to be in the hundreds of millions each year.

All it takes on most popular sites is an address and credit or debit card.

Winnings are paid via a check from someplace like Singapore.

The customer and merchant know nothing about each other, and the government can’t track payouts for tax purposes or fraud.

Sports gambling has become so popular and so mainstream that ignoring it — and the revenues that come with it — is a silly bet in 2018.

Korman was right when he said gambling is already welcomed in our society.

Fantasy football is played by tens of millions of people each year, and they sure as heck aren’t playing for the thrill of the competition.

At least nobody I know is.

Betting squares have made Super Bowl parties more popular for decades, and fans can buy 50/50 raffle tickets at Blues games all season.

So now that we’ve agreed sports betting is here to stay, each state needs to figure out how to run the operation.

When I spoke with Jay Kornegay, the vice president of the Westgate sportsbook in Las Vegas, about this topic four years ago, he envisioned himself traveling the country and helping casinos open their own sportsbooks.

Kornegay and the rest of the major sportsbook operators in Las Vegas are used to taking tens of thousands of dollars worth of bets and managing a market that includes dozens of games across the globe each day.

Places like casinos and horse tracks would be wise to hire established sportsbooks to run the show.

Dover Downs Casino and Racetrack in Delaware, for example, struck a deal with William Hill Race and Sports Book, which is based in London but has locations all across Nevada.

MGM, which is famous for its MGM Grand casino on the Las Vegas strip but also owns resorts across the country, recently announced plans to open a sportsbook at one of its Atlantic City resorts.

Or, entities could hire consultants and open their own books.

There are plenty of possibilities here.

And the sooner states like Missouri bring sports wagering out of the darkness and admit reality, the better.