Why is Fantasy sports for money legal but I can't play online poker?

[JirinPanthosa]

I'm trying to figure this out.

Guess which athletes are going to put up good stats next week. Spend money for the chance to win money: Legal.

Play poker online: Not legal.

...Why? Playing poker is more skill based than fantasy sports. One is illegal gambling and one is okay?

It's bad enough that I have to hear about ****ing fantasy sports while I'm watching real sports. No, I don't care how many points Andrew Luck would have gotten that week, and it's annoying to be subjected to hearing people analyze this when I'm trying to watch a football game. Fantasy sports actively makes my life more annoying. It is CLEARLY gambling, and any claim to there being skill involved is pure delusion.

Yet this is legal and I'm not allowed to play a game that actually involves skill online for money because it involves playing cards and the other involves a statistical system where the random variable happens to involve human beings.

Screw fantasy sports, screw ESPN for forcing you to hear about them while watching real sports, and screw all the hypocrisies of our legal system.

 

[Taylirious]

Re: Why is Fantasy sports for money legal but I can't play online poke

http://abc7.com/sports/class-action-lawsuit-filed-against-draftkings-and-fanduel/1024097/

The suit claims that daily fantasy games put forth by the two companies are misrepresented as fair. That case is made mainly through the recently revealed policies of the two companies that allowed employees to enter contests on the other's site for cash prizes, along with the rest of the population.

Is another problem.

ETA:

Both sites said this week they would permanently ban the practice of employees competing on the competitor's site, or any other daily fantasy site.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Re: Why is Fantasy sports for money legal but I can't play online poke

I'm not saying fantasy sports should be illegal, I'm saying neither should online poker and it's hypocritical that one is legal and the other isn't.

But also, people who aren't into Poker never have to hear about it, but people who aren't into fantasy sports are constantly forced to when watching sports.

Yeah, the ads are pretty sleazy too. Trying to convince everybody that they're the guy who can break the system. It's EXACLY the same as how casinos try to draw people in. Make them think for a second, they're the guy who has the perfect system that they can't lose. It triggers the exact same pleasure center and draws people in the same way. Draft Kings says "Over one billion in prizes!" Just like casinos have those meters for how much money the slot machines have given out that day, but fail to mention how much money was spent to make that money.

And in casinos, the house advantage is between maybe 1-5% depending on the game, with perfect player strategy. Just did the math on the top Draft Kings tournament. 400000 entries for 20 each, 8 million dollars. 7 million in prizes. That's a 14% rake. No casino would get away with that.

And I bet if I tried to start a nonprofit fantasy sports league where all the entry money became prizes, I'm the one who would get sued out of business.

So basically, all sports fans are continuously bothered with this sports metagame while they're watching sports which is legalbespite being exactly the same in every way as something illegal except with greater percent profit.

 

[Taylirious]

Re: Why is Fantasy sports for money legal but I can't play online poke

I am okay with any type of gambling as long as it is "fair" lol with no one having an inside advantage.

I am not into sports as much as I was growing up so the fantasy league stuff is unappealing, was never good at card games or casino type games. The only gambling I do now is lottery.

 

[Kor]

Re: Why is Fantasy sports for money legal but I can't play online poke

It is illegal in certain states.

I just looked it up, and apparently there's various rigmarole on the state level about the degree of chance involved, etc., and what constitutes "gambling" according to each state's laws.

Kor

 

[Starbreaker]

Re: Why is Fantasy sports for money legal but I can't play online poke

Most of the Poker sites were shut down several years ago because they were basically fronts for money laundering.