Gambling for Entertainment – Fantasy Sports

 By Chris Dyer “Dirty”

The hypocrisy of the United States Federal Government and its citizens on gambling, especially online sports gambling, gets worse every day. The only thing worse than the lottery on the hypocrite meter is fantasy sports. Last time out I focused on the lottery and today I will tackle fantasy sports. The way the DOJ and Congress approach certain things and treats online gambling.

Every major sport and the players associations embrace fantasy sports. Fantasy Sports has an estimated $3-$4 Billion economic impact and is played by almost 30 million people across the country in 2007. The Fantasy Trade Association estimates that almost 75% of players that play fantasy sports play in leagues where there is a buy-in. All the major sports networks offer free and paid leagues with prizes into the tens of thousands of dollars.

In 2006 the Unlawful Internet and Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed to make banking transactions illegal to online gambling sites. They carved out Fantasy Sports under this fallacy:

“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.” — Forbes.

Saying fantasy sports is a game of skill is crazy. No one can tell what an athlete is going to do on a particular day. Sure you can study the stats and players and the teams they are playing against, but that doesn’t mean anything. There is no difference in doing this than people learning how to play poker, black jack, roulette, and other casino games. A good poker player has a better shot of winning money (and more of it) than anyone playing fantasy sports. There are too many variables in sports that determine how well a player does. That doesn’t happen in poker and other card games. Sure in black jack when you are playing with more decks it gets harder, but you don’t have to worry about injuries, weather, and other things that happen in professional sports games.

The US government picks and chooses what Word Trade Organization (WTO) laws and rulings they want to follow depending on the country and the trade that is involved. They pick on the smaller countries that win cases against them and go after China and Russia for human rights violations when their worldwide monopoly on something gets threatened. Antigua and Barbuda has had the WTO issue three rulings (They can be read about in detail here, here, and here). This also includes fantasy sports as the government exempted fantasy and horse racing in the UIGEA. Antigua and Barbuda are going to start redirecting intellectual property rights monies earned on things that are copyrights in the US like movies and film. The only way to wake our hypocritical tyrannical government up is hit them in the pocket book.

I love to play fantasy sports just like I love to gamble on them. I have played enough of each to know that gambling on card games and sports is just as much or more of a skill than fantasy sports. You cannot put a line up in for the whole season and let the computer/commissioner put in the best available lineup and you could do very well. You can’t do that in poker, black jack, and other casino games.

I have really about come to realize on this topic with fantasy sports as being a game of skill is many lawmakers must have won money in playing in fantasy leagues and are like Clark Griswold in “Vegas Vacation” when they go to Las Vegas.

Marty the Dealer to Clark:

“You don’t know when to quit, do ya Griswold?… Here’s an idea: Why don’t you give me half the money your were gonna to bet, then we’ll go out back, I’ll kick you in the nuts, and we’ll call it a day!” IMDB

The UK just passed a law where online gambling companies will pay a rate of 15% tax and I am sure US operators would be happy with even a high number like that as in the UK most places were offshore in Gibraltar and paid a 1% tax. The 15% seems steep now, but is really nothing compared to being shut down, arrested and treated like pariahs like online gambling owners/operators are in the United States.

The only way to turn the tide on online gambling is to bug our representatives to death, don’t vote for the status quo, and keep fighting for freedoms. There is no excuse in not allowing regulated online gambling in the United States.

http://www.askthebookie.com/gambling...-sports-91688/

Gambling for Entertainment – Fantasy Sports