Since I'm not an English speaker, there are still some synonyms or similar words where I don't exactly understand the subtle differences. So could somebody tell me if "racketeering" and "extortion" mean the same thing or not? I mean, I sometimes saw the term "rackets" being applied to very different activities, even things like selling illegal lottery tickets, but at the same time I am not sure if petty crooks are ever called "racketeers" in the full sense of the word.
So is racketeer the same thing as extortionist if both words are used in a context of organized crime?

Kinda the same in certain situations , you can extort money or other through rackets.Now just plain extortion is me coming in you place and extorting money or other from you.(like if you do not pay me 10,000 your place may catch fire)
Rackets are just what it sounds ,some sort of flim flam racket or even a card game or other witch in hand still is extorts money or other from you.

That was my best...

The extortion, in law, is a crime committed by those who, by force or threat, forcing one or more persons to do or not to do some act in order to gain an unjust profit.

A racket is a service that is fraudulently offered to solve a problem, such as for a problem that does not actually exist, that will not be put into effect, or that would not otherwise exist if the racket did not exist. Conducting a racket is racketeering.Particularly, the potential problem may be caused by the same party that offers to solve it, although that fact may be concealed, with the specific intent to engender continual patronage for this party. An archetype is the protection racket, wherein a person or group indicates that they could protect a store from potential damage, damage that the same person or group would otherwise inflict, while the correlation of threat and protection may be more or less deniably veiled, distinguishing it from the more direct act of extortion.

Dwailin where are you from?

Make a practical example?

If I control the waste racket I do racketeering, if you have a company and I tell you that you must give me $ 10,000, for example, if you want operate in the waste business or I'll burn trucks of your company, then commit the crime of extortion.

I hope to be clear and useful.

The racketeer offers to solve a problem of his own making or that wouldn't otherwise exist.

I think Furio explained it pretty well.

I am from Russia, but live in Italy (Milan).

I understand what you are saying, but the question is: does racketeering ALWAYS imply extortion or are there crimes which constitute racketeering without committing extortion? Because the rackets seem to always imply paying money to solve a problem, and if you don't pay, the problems will continue, therefore it's always a threat, veiled or not. So I don't understand why lottery ticket frauds are sometimes called "rackets" since they don't constitute extortion, the person isn't threatened with possible "problems" he/she would have if he doesn't buy the ticket.

The confusion of me understanding the difference is probably caused by the wrong use of the word "racketeer" in Russian. In Russian there is the word "vymogatel" (extortionist), and the english word "racketeer" was adopted in the language and used as a complete synonym of that, probably modifying some connotations the word has in English.

^ This.

Legally speaking, extortion is one of several predicate acts that can be used to bring a racketeering (RICO) charge against a criminal enterprise.

Bruce Springsteen song "Atlantic City" talks about it in there as well.