Fantasy Sports Gambling Becoming A Hit With Online Poker Players

The Department of Justice did its best to weed out online poker last year in the US when they indicted executives from three of the largest and most popular online poker sites in the world. That indictment, however, appears to have only shifted the poker players' allegiance from the felt to the daily grind of fantasy sports betting.

Already, before the indictment, the fantasy sports gambling industry was taking off. Many of the major sports leagues run their own fantasy leagues on their websites, and alternative outlets such as CBS Sportsline, Yahoo, and ESPN, all offer their version of fantasy sports leagues. These leagues come in both the free, and cash, varieties, and millions of Americans enjoy the leagues each season.

The latest craze that has taken aim at gamblers since last April is daily fantasy betting. Gamblers have the opportunity on a growing range of sites to pay an entry fee, and then pick a starting lineup for that day in the sport that is is season. The players are then matched up against each other, with the winner taking home a cash prize for their efforts.

The fantasy sites have been able to avoid scrutiny from law enforcement because of the way the games are structured. Players are not betting against the house as they would in a sports book, but instead, are playing against other gamblers. The head-to-head aspect of the game keeps it within the legal limits of Internet gambling.

FanDuel is considered to be the leader when it comes to online fantasy daily betting sites. Several other sites have joined the industry, and analysts expect that by the end of the year, dozens, if not hundreds, of these fantasy sites will be up and running.

"With the way that American sports fans have flocked to fantasy leagues in recent years, it would not be surprising for state lotteries to start offering some form of fantasy sports betting in the near future," said Gaming Analyst Brad Dawkins. "We live in an era where gambling has become widely accepted, and for many ordinary citizens, fantasy sports has become their gambling option of choice."

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 addressed payment processing restrictions for online gambling sites, but fantasy sports were given an exception to the law. The recent DoJ opinion regarding online gambling also opens the door to further remove fantasy sports from the discussion of what is, or is not, illegal online gambling.

"I play fantasy sports because I got sick and tired of worrying about whether I was breaking any laws when I played poker," said Marshall Neuton. "With fantasy sports, I get the same rush, and I'm able to pick my team fresh each day, so it gives me a sense that I'm in control. It's much more exciting than just betting on an individual team."

January 17, 2012
Posted By Tom Jones
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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