OT: Poker vs Fantasy Sports

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.

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?

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.