ONW
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2011
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"The question doesn’t really apply to leagues with friends or coworkers, similar to how there is no real concern around friendly bets on games of poker or golf. Rather, it pertains to the new trend of daily betting sites like FanDuel, Fanball and DraftDay that host millions of dollars in transactions between players who organize and bet on new lineups each week.
So to raise the question once more, should betting on fantasy football be legal? To be honest, I’m not totally sure.
We should start by clarifying that it is currently legal to bet on fantasy sports. The Unlawful Internet Gambling and Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA), which establishes the legal guidelines for online gambling, carves out a safe haven for any fantasy or simulation sports game that:
“has an outcome that reflects the relative knowledge of the participants, or their skill at physical reaction or physical manipulation (but not chance), and, in the case of a fantasy or simulation sports game, has an outcome that is determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of sporting events…
In other words, fantasy sports are considered games of skill – not chance – if they can be won by successfully utilizing superior knowledge of the players involved. The Act adds that the game in question cannot have a prize that is determined by the number of players or amounts paid (think betting odds on game picks), but rather is established in advance of the game’s start."
How is this any different than online poker?
So to raise the question once more, should betting on fantasy football be legal? To be honest, I’m not totally sure.
We should start by clarifying that it is currently legal to bet on fantasy sports. The Unlawful Internet Gambling and Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA), which establishes the legal guidelines for online gambling, carves out a safe haven for any fantasy or simulation sports game that:
“has an outcome that reflects the relative knowledge of the participants, or their skill at physical reaction or physical manipulation (but not chance), and, in the case of a fantasy or simulation sports game, has an outcome that is determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of sporting events…
In other words, fantasy sports are considered games of skill – not chance – if they can be won by successfully utilizing superior knowledge of the players involved. The Act adds that the game in question cannot have a prize that is determined by the number of players or amounts paid (think betting odds on game picks), but rather is established in advance of the game’s start."
How is this any different than online poker?