Draft Kings, Fan Duel and Fantasy Football--What do you think?

[XLIX]

Once the money is paid in, the outcome is irrelevant. Fanduels profit is a percentage of the entry fees for facilitation of wagering, not the outcome of games.

The same is true for the casinos in Vegas, with a properly balanced line.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Gambling plain and simple. They should be regulated like gambling. More oversight is required. Lots of sketchy stuff going on too with the owners of each winning money from the others company. I would not expect this to last for very long.

 

[deters]

I signed up just now for fanduel, just for the Indy game. Maybe the hopeful ass whipping the Pats lay down will win me some money.

 

[TheBeers]

I like draft kings. I have won some decent cash there. I don't think fantasy sports is ruining the game, the commish is and his cronies are.

 

[deters]

Most of the contestants have no idea how heavily stacked the odds are against them.

I put up $10 to play and have entered 2 games and have $3 remaining. I know i have little chance of winning anything, just like the lotto and i still drop $10 on that when it gets large. No way i would constantly do this, or invest hundreds of dollars.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

To each his/her own from a betting side of things but, what I can't stand is, the proliferation of football analysis done online/TV from a fantasy perspective. It irks me, about as much as the "dumbing down" of football news to video (instead of writing) .... as if the readership can't, or is too lazy, to read.

 

[raduray]

Notwithstanding Mr. "Integrity of the Shield" himself, DFS is gambling. Just as I'm in favor of legalizing pot, I support the legalization of gambling. Regulate it, tax it and get the criminal element out.

Interesting article today: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...t-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

 

[raduray]

Speaking of Mr. "Integrity of the Shield",

After learning of Pallone’s push [for Congressional hearings], the NFL’s D.C. office — which recently hired a onetime aide to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) — began contacting House members to try to ward off a hearing, according to another House Energy and Commerce aide. The NFL is reeling from other confrontations with Congress on issues ranging from player safety to domestic violence. A league spokesman did not comment for this story.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/fantasy-football-sports-gambling-lobbying-blitz-214814

Also, Kraft better be careful here as he's getting tainted as well.

 

[sambam94]

I put up $10 to play and have entered 2 games and have $3 remaining. I know i have little chance of winning anything, just like the lotto and i still drop $10 on that when it gets large. No way i would constantly do this, or invest hundreds of dollars.

I see this so often and would love to hear your reasoning. So with a 10 million jackpot it's not worth playing, but when it goes to 50 million, it is?

 

[SalemPats]

I've made some good money on draft kings so i love it. I'm fine with gambling, do it in moderation. I don't want the government trying to come in and monitoring what i am doing.

 

[Bobsyouruncle]

I don't care, I don't get why people can't just not play if they don't like it. I'm far more bothered by the nosy people that want the government to come in and apply their special level of corrupt incompetence to fix something that has no effect on themselves. And hasn't shown its any more corrupt than the state lotto.

Fantasy sports aren't ruining anything, people have been picking players and analyzing numbers forever. That's like saying Hipparchus corrupted shapes when he invented trigonometry.

 

[raduray]

I see this so often and would love to hear your reasoning. So with a 10 million jackpot it's not worth playing, but when it goes to 50 million, it is?

I buy $5 worth of tickets when the jackpot exceeds $100M. Not rational, I know, but the daydreams are worth $5.

 

[Dr Pain]

"owners Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft have invested in FanDuel and DraftKings". http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/07/upshot/the-big-winners-in-fantasy-football-and-the-rest-of-us.html

I heard someone say that Bob gave in to the NFL to protect the NFL Fanduel relationship.

 

[deters]

I see this so often and would love to hear your reasoning. So with a 10 million jackpot it's not worth playing, but when it goes to 50 million, it is?

I rarely buy any tickets so when its large its just a splurge type thing. When Powerball is 100+ its incentive for me to buy and while i get a PB, i buy tickets for all lotto.

 

[Kontradiction]

Not a fan of the one day leagues. I don't like having any more than 2-3 leagues but it does make things at least somewhat interesting for teams and players that you otherwise would not watch.

 

[XLIX]

I don't care, I don't get why people can't just not play if they don't like it. I'm far more bothered by the nosy people that want the government to come in and apply their special level of corrupt incompetence to fix something that has no effect on themselves. And hasn't shown its any more corrupt than the state lotto.

It seems to me that the government is getting involved to ensure that the people who do play are getting a fair deal, something which is highly questionable when one group of people use inside info to make money at the competitor's website.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the civil suits play out.

 

[Mr. Plow]

When you play a game at a casino (e.g., roulette) you know what your chances of winning are. If you want, the casino can give you a card listing the chances of winning in the various games they offer. All of this is regulated by a gaming commission. They come in and look at the roulette tables, the slot machines, et cetera.

When you play fantasy gaming online, you have no idea of what chance you have of winning. Some players seem to have a much greater chance of success, especially those with insider information. You're not just playing against the odds, you're playing against other fans, and a premium is placed on selecting good players not picked by other fans. In this context, knowing what other fans are doing is huge, which is why FanDuel and Draft Kings employees are cleaning up.

I saw one ad for Draft Kings that claimed that over 1.5 billion dollars in winnings will be awarded this season. Does Draft Kings have that kind of money on hand? No way.

The money for the winnings has to come from somewhere. That money will come from the wallets of suckers who place small-time bets and watch their money disappear.

Just enter promotional code: SUCKER. That's SUCKER.

 

[Bobsyouruncle]

It seems to me that the government is getting involved to ensure that the people who do play are getting a fair deal, something which is highly questionable when one group of people use inside info to make money at the competitor's website.

Fraud is already illegal, and at this point that's an accusation. But anyone who thinks they got screwed can certainly take them to court, with no new laws necessary.

Once Uncle Sam steps in you can be sure that their business will be profitable as long as they give to the politicians. And the politicians will squeeze anyone out of the market to protect their donors. As usual with regulations what you'll end up with is a limited market of large cronies working with the regulators to squeeze out any competition. It's also usually good for making sure those that may get screwed have no recourse since they can now just say they followed the new regulations they helped write, and that makes screwing people legal.

I don't hear a lot of complaints from users of the sites so I still don't see who we'd be saving. The users seem to be perfectly happy with their purchases.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Nothing signifies "integrity" like making money off gambling on your own sports league.

 

[Fixit]

Fraud is already illegal, and at this point that's an accusation. But anyone who thinks they got screwed can certainly take them to court, with no new laws necessary.

Once Uncle Sam steps in you can be sure that their business will be profitable as long as they give to the politicians. And the politicians will squeeze anyone out of the market to protect their donors. As usual with regulations what you'll end up with is a limited market of large cronies working with the regulators to squeeze out any competition. It's also usually good for making sure those that may get screwed have no recourse since they can now just say they followed the new regulations they helped write, and that makes screwing people legal.

I don't hear a lot of complaints from users of the sites so I still don't see who we'd be saving. The users seem to be perfectly happy with their purchases.

I'm sensing that you're anti-everything that government does, because its track record with regard to fraud, collusion, and monopoly abuse is pretty good. If you want a recent example, see DOJ vs. Apple/Big 5 publishers regarding ebook price fixing.

Your second paragraph is way off base, to say it kindly.