tuscl

OT: Poker vs Fantasy Sports

LeeH
Georgia
Monday, March 23, 2015 11:57 PM
Someone recently brought up the topic of funding his SC outings through online Texas Holdem. Back during the Holdem boom, more than half the states in the US made these sites illegal. They got around the fact that many of the companies are based on an unknown island in the Pacific (and therefore not under the states' jurisdiction) by making the law actually read that the states' residents could not pay the site a deposit. My state was one of those. Over the last year, I can't swing a dead cat without hitting a commercial (on sports radio) for sites that let you play fantasy sports -- for money, with a deposit. With the exception that fantasy sports is totally dependent on someone else, the two concepts are identical. Anyone know how they're getting away with this shit?

11 comments

  • motorhead
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    9 years ago
    I wondered the same thing so last fall I posted a similar question in a sports forum I belong to. Fantasy sports, including the dailies like Draft Kings and Fan Duel, are considered "games of skill" not "games of chance" so legally it's not gambling in most states.
  • Clubber
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    9 years ago
    motor, Seems to me getting a beautiful woman to bed down with you is a skill, so maybe only bedding a fugly should be prostitution. Sound good?
  • LeeH
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    9 years ago
    By whom? 100-year-old Baptist ministers who think that even Old Maid cards are the devil's instrument? Fantasy sports: You pick a bunch of guys and then take the *chance* that they won't have an off (or even mediocre) day, after taking the *chance* that they even have opportunity to score you points, after taking the *chance* that the coach plays them a lot, after taking the *chance* that they're not on the DL because they strained an oblique while blowing their nose 15 minutes before the game. Poker (esp Holdem and its relatives): While there is some chance in it, 90%+ is skill. And more like 98%+ for those who are really good (and can win hands with crap cards). I can understand other casino games (e.g. there's no real skill to roulette and little to craps). But not poker.
  • tumblingdice
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    9 years ago
    I stick with the NFL for earnings,a sport I know.I picked the Pat's and Seahawks to be in the Superbowl with the Hawks to win.Remember that Jordanian that got burned alive in a cage?I wish that was Pete Carroll.
  • shailynn
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    9 years ago
    None of this online stuff makes sense! Lol I'm not a big fan of online poker but sometimes that's the only option so I play very conservatively. I never could understand how I use visa or American express branded giftcards to deposit money which would never work, but my regular visa works. The charges are funny, they look like they come from legit businesses, I remember one time the charge said it was from a "hardware store" er yeah right!
  • georgmicrodong
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    9 years ago
    Re: "Game of skill versus chance." Somebody should tell the lawmakers about the high profile poker player, I think it was Doyle Brunsen, but won't swear to it, who *successfully* argued to the IRS that his poker winnings were regular income rather than gambling income, and so taxable at a lower rate, because poker, at least Hold 'Em, is a game of *skill* not chance. I personally just *love* playing poker with people who believe it's all chance.
  • motorhead
    •
    9 years ago
    Lee and George, I totally agree with you about Hold'Em being a game of skill. I love the Matt Damon movie Rounders. And when he is arguing with his girlfriend about gambling, he says: "Why does this still seem like gambling to you? I mean, why do you think the same five guys make it to the final tabje of the World Series of Poker every single year? What are they, the luckiest guys in Las Vegas! It's a game of skill Jo" Note- the movie was made before the popularity of on line poker. So you never see those same 5 guys anymore at the WSOP.
  • skibum609
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    9 years ago
    Having done both the simple fact is that those running the poker site can cheat and players can enter a game as a group and cheat using cell phones so they got banned. Fantasy sports is based on what others do and the sites cannot control the games.
  • LeeH
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    9 years ago
    skibum, none of what you said jives with the "skill vs chance" excuse, though. Not to mention the fact that there are "bad" people in all walks of life -- I'm not 5 -- I don't need my government's protection.
  • skibum609
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    9 years ago
    In a rigged game neither skill nor chance applies. I am telling you why the poker sites were shut down. Live poker is skill. On line is not. Fantasy is skill as well, especially on sites such as fanduel where you go up against people who make fantasy sports their lives. You don't need your Government's protection? So you are against traffic laws? Being scammed by consumer fraud? No need of a fire department? They shouldn't check the blood supply for HIV? No workplace safety laws? Ok I believe.
  • LeeH
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    9 years ago
    skibum, you really like to talk in gross over-generalities, don't you? "In a rigged game neither skill nor chance applies" -- true enough. And as soon as every last game is rigged, that will actually be relevant. By your logic, because there are drunk drivers out there, we should all have to forfeit our cars. Regarding your response to my gov't comment, I'm not sure which is more terrifying: the fact that it was overly-obvious that I meant I don't need their protection IN THIS INSTANCE or the fact that you capitalized "government" as though it was something holy. Just go back to licking your congressman's scrotum.
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