How is fantasy sports considered legal by the government?

[No coincidences]

The acute knowledge gained from a fantasy approach pays off much better in the bigger picture.

Agree. You're going against other squares, not the books. Fantasy way more +EV than gambling.

[TheMoneyShot]

I'm going to disagree with this billy and coin because... I played fantasy in 3 leagues last year (first time in 10 years)... it totally effected my capping style on NFL games during the wagering season. I thought I'd have fun doing it just to take an edge off. I spent more time capping the damn fantasy which I was only playing for $200 in one league 1st place $300 in another league and $500 in the 3rd league. Big deal. I walk away with $1,000 if I'm lucky enough to win all 3. I wager 500 a game typically... that's just my style. My point is... if you're really serious about sports wagering... it's a hazard to cap fantasy. Capping fantasy and sports odds are 2 different things. I'm not in any online or local fantasy leagues. Waste of time. Just my opinion. No offense.

[jjgold]

Too much time
Little return

Pass

[The Giant]

I'm going to disagree with this billy and coin because... I played fantasy in 3 leagues last year (first time in 10 years)... it totally effected my capping style on NFL games during the wagering season. I thought I'd have fun doing it just to take an edge off. I spent more time capping the damn fantasy which I was only playing for $200 in one league 1st place $300 in another league and $500 in the 3rd league. Big deal. I walk away with $1,000 if I'm lucky enough to win all 3. I wager 500 a game typically... that's just my style. My point is... if you're really serious about sports wagering... it's a hazard to cap fantasy. Capping fantasy and sports odds are 2 different things. I'm not in any online or local fantasy leagues. Waste of time. Just my opinion. No offense.

This is what I always thought, too. The thing is they now have these DAILY fantasy games, you can put $500 or $1000 on any specific day. These aren't season-long fantasy leagues, they are literally one day excursions. It's basically the same as betting on a game.

I play in these games where you get a $50,000 fictitious all salary cap, and every player has a salary. You pick and choose two pitchers, and then one position player at each position. You can play against another opponent, heads up, and wager anywhere from $1 to $1000. This all happens in the span of a few hours. I'm just mind boggled that this is legal, and is accepted by PayPal.

Its way more time-consuming than gambling, and the rake is awful. I love that it's legal though, and you can filter money into it so easily. This must be what it feels like to live in Australia.

[ChalkyDog]

I'm with Billy on this one.

I start my prep for football season with fantasy. I find it to be a valuable tool. Get to know more about the players than simple numbers, which helps with the bigger picture.

[The Giant]

I think using one in order to learn more about the other is a good tool, but actually doing both simultaneously would drive me insane. Having money on one side, while having my starting quarterback on the other team on my fantasy team just seems like a conflicting nightmare.

[ChalkyDog]

I think using one in order to learn more about the other is a good tool, but actually doing both simultaneously would drive me insane. Having money on one side, while having my starting quarterback on the other team on my fantasy team just seems like a conflicting nightmare.

Not as bad as betting against "your team". Awful shit, especially if it's competitive.

[bubblebuttluv]

I agree that regular fantasy sports are just a nuisance. Daily fantasy baseball is awesome though, and I assume weekly fantasy football will be too. When they made the law "banning" sportsbetting outside of Vegas they did not include fantasy sports because they argued that fantasy sports that took place over the course of the season took actual "skill" (U.S. government wordage) and not luck. That is why fantasy sports are legal. The gov't. never assumed daily fantasy sports would exist. People should get in on daily shit while it is still around, it is basically legalized sports betting.

I have also found that the average sportsbettor is far more knowledgable than the average fantasy sports person. There sure are some major donks in fantasy, but then of course there are some very legit guys.

I prefer pick-em and snake over salary cap for my fantasy, but it just depends.

I think all of you guys should try out daily baseball fantasy just once, I am almost positive you will get into it like I have, when I found out about it a few weeks ago. They have FREE fantasy leagues that you can use to get the hang of it. The free fantasy snake leagues are legit.

I use www.draftstreet.com

[bubblebuttluv]

Pick'em lets you pick a player from a list/tier, then I believe your options for your next pick are generated based off of the quality of the person you picked in the previous tier. For NFL, it lets you pick one QB (at least mine did), then just WR's, RB's, and TE's.

For example here is my roster for a weekly NFL pick em for week 1: Drew Brees (they give you a choice of 6 QB's), Adrian Peterson, Calvin Johnson, Jimmy Graham, AJ Green, Frank Gore, Danny Amendola, and Vernon Davis.

I mean, who is going to stop that shit?

Also here is my roster for a NFL week 1 salary cap (salary cap works like you think it would, you have a max amount of money you can spend and each player in the league has a monetary price): Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Frank Gore, Adrian Peterson, Calvin Johnson, Jimmy Graham, and the Seattle Defense are my heavy hitters. Then I still had spaces, so to get all those top level guys I had to get some scrubs like David Reed, Alex Silvestro, and Jason Avant (who isn't really a scrub I don't think).

For baseball the general advice is to pick pitchers first, and FYI I have found closers are overrated. I have picked Kimbrel too many times to end up seeing Braves blow out people so bad that he didn't even play.

I think I will enjoy fantasy basketball wagering a lot more than betting on the actual games.

[stevenash]

The acute knowledge gained from a fantasy approach pays off much better in the bigger picture.

This.


Fantasy sports are considered games of skill – not chance – if they can be won by successfully utilizing superior knowledge of the players involved.

[bubblebuttluv]

Here's an example of a daily Baseball fantasy pick'em.

Here is my roster: Matt Garza, Shelby Miller, Hanley Ramirez, Jayson Werth, Andrew McCutchen, Buster Posey (Now while I don't like Posey as much as my favorite all-time athlete, DEREK JETER, Posey is my boy), Adrien Gonzalez, and Yasiel Puig.

[stevenash]

Buster Posey (Now while I don't like Posey as much as my favorite all-time athlete, DEREK JETER, Posey is my boy)

I can't stomach Posey either, but if anybody does their homework would know he smacks LHP hard, and should have no trouble tonight with Lester (LHP)

[The Giant]

It's still amazing to me that this is legal.

MLB has even teamed up with some of these sites, making it that much more legit.

Anyway, in honor of opening day, I copied some chick on ESPN and submitted a team today:

David Price.
Henderson Alvarez.
Mike Zunino.
Michael Morse.
Martin Prado.
Xander Bogaerts.
Ian Desmond.
José Bautista.
Giancarlo Stanton.
Corey Dickerson.


Playing at Draftkings.

[High3rEl3m3nt]

GL Giant.

I am rolling with

P		D. Hutchison P	10.5	lock
P		D. Price P	8	lock
C		S. Perez	0	swap out
1B		C. Carter	0	swap out
2B		J. Altuve	0	swap out
3B		L. Valbuena	0	swap out
SS		J. Iglesias	8	lock
OF		R. Davis	5	lock
OF		A. Gordon	0	swap out
OF		A. Rios	0	swap out

[The Giant]

Nice start for your pitchers, Higher.

Good luck, man.

I played a lot in 2013. Didn't play at all in 2014. I was up early today, so figured what the hell.

[Smoke]

Good Luck The Giant

[The Giant]

Thanks, Smokey.

Do you ever play?

[Smoke]

Thanks, Smokey.

Do you ever play?

No, not a fantasy type guy The Giant.

[The Giant]

No, not a fantasy type guy The Giant.

Me either.

Way too much work involved.

I'm already winded today.

[The Giant]

Corey Dickerson just went deep! I love fantasy baseball!

[Smoke]

Me either.

Way too much work involved.

I'm already winded today.

Same here buddy

Opening day is draining on the mind

[Wrigley]

I never understood the difference both forms of gambling

[shaunovery]

Think because sports betting is gambling on teams to win

Fantasy is genrally players to perform

[Auto Donk]

you're all going to hell.... in about 15 minutes

[KVB]

Think because sports betting is gambling on teams to win

Fantasy is genrally players to perform

A fine line...think about certain player prop bets.

[jtoler]

I've wondered this myself its prob more of a raffle.

[KVB]

I've wondered this myself its prob more of a raffle.

Probably a good point. Fantasy could be considered parimutual. Everyone is eligible for the moneys thrown in the pot. Not unlike the friendly poker game.

[The Giant]

I have a hard time believing there is any skill involved, but apparently there are people that make money at it.

I played a 30 man double-up, where all I had to do was come in the top 15 to cash.

My first two guys of the day were David Price and Corey Dickerson, they combined for 56 points.

The remaining eight guys put up a total of 25 points. I came in 18th place. It's addictive, and fun, but there's no way this isn't gambling.

[Otters27]

It's probably starting to level out where only the good players still play at the daily sites. Just like the poker boom

[High3rEl3m3nt]

Black Friday killed the poker boom.

All of the major sports leagues are or have already partnered up with the major DFS sites. It's not hard to transition people who have played regular fantasy sports into giving DFS a try, even though they are as different as Omaha is from NL hold 'em. It takes newer players a while to figure out that they are facing a different animal and until they start to utilize some basic strategies, their entries are pretty much dead money.

[brooks85]

Disney just bought into draftkings for $250 mil on a $900mil valuation. Expect draftkings to explode.

[JoeyBagels]

Of course fantasy sports is gambling. It has a skill component just like poker though. But fantasy sports is just the precursor to sports betting being legalized. When they implemented the UIEGA back in 2006? in the USA the primary lobby that excluded fantasy sports in the bill belonged to the NFL. NFL realized that fantasy was a large component of why footballis watched. NFL owners aren't stupid either and realize that gambling is the other half of that coin but it's a hard topic to get behind politically. Rest assured they will get their paws on gambling revenue in the end. And I always laugh when people advocate for the legalization of sports betting. How about betting sports at -145 ATS? Would you still like that? It's never the gambler who profits in these scenarios. If you're a punter just hope it's never legalized (fat chance).

[BarkingToad]

For the reason why it's legal to bet on horse racing at TVG or Twinspires.

[pavyracer]

You are betting on stats that's why is legal. Same reason buying and selling stocks is legal.

[Deep_Rest]

DFS will be dead in a few years. It's just a matter of time before some computer wiz writes a program that spits out the optimal team. Once said computer wiz sells that program, it's all over.

That being said, I think it's great fun and I'm glad MLB season is finally here!