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Fantasy Sports Sites Ordered To Stop Taking Bets In New York State (nytimes.com)

Posted by Soulskill on from the sorry-about-your-luck dept.

HughPickens.com writes: The NY Times reports that in a major blow to a multibillion-dollar industry that introduced sports betting to legions of young sports fans, the New York State attorney general has ordered the two biggest daily fantasy sports companies, DraftKings and FanDuel, to stop accepting bets from New York residents. He said their games constituted illegal gambling under state law. "It is clear that DraftKings and FanDuel are the leaders of a massive, multibillion-dollar scheme intended to evade the law and fleece sports fans across the country," says NY attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, "Today we have sent a clear message: not in New York, and not on my watch."

Fantasy sports companies contend that their games are not gambling because they involve more skill than luck, and because they were legally sanctioned by a 2006 federal law that exempted fantasy sports from a prohibition against processing online financial wagering. "Fantasy sports is a game of skill and legal under New York state law," says FanDuel. "This is a politician telling hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers they are not allowed to play a game they love and share with friends, family, co-workers and players across the country." The attorney general's office also said that ads on the two sites "seriously mislead New York citizens about their prospects of winning." State investigators found that to date, "the top 1 percent of DraftKings winners receive the vast majority of the winnings." Schneiderman's investigation was spurred after reports arose that a DraftKings employee used internal data to win $350,000 on rival site FanDuel, which the operators denied. While both companies had allowed employees to place bets on the others site, they have since banned such practices.

12 of 125 comments (clear)

  1. He can order all he wants by mveloso · · Score: 5, Interesting

    He can order all he wants, but unless a court of law compels them to stop his order is just an opinion.

  2. Play the State Lottery Instead by Tokolosh · · Score: 3, Funny

    The odds are so much better!

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    1. Re:Play the State Lottery Instead by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 4, Informative

      I know you were sarcastic, but the odds are actually better. Fantasy sports leagues aren't like the standard $50 on the outcome of the game. They are, by federal law, arranged more like a poker tournament, where the top N positions in the league (determined ahead of time) get money. Unlike poker tournaments (or the state lottery) the payouts are fixed ahead of time. So, the percentage of monies in that become monies out are frequently lower than in casino gambling or the state lottery. So the odds (payout adjusted) are worse.

      And, if it truly is a skill game, than the odds for those skilled are much better, but everyone without a degree in stats has worse likelihood, and far worse odds, than Powerball.

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  3. NY voters are about to send a clear message by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "Today we have sent a clear message: not in New York, and not on my watch."

    Mess with football betting, and the Democrats will finally be put out to pasture.

  4. Re:Tip for New Yorkers by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's worked for the Mafia for decades.

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    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  5. I don't get it by fustakrakich · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How is it that Wall Street gets to operate? If we can't call it gambling, it's because it's rigged.

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    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:I don't get it by Cytotoxic · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The AG is pretty incoherent here. He's saying that it is illegal gambling, but he's also claiming that it is a problem because the top 1% of players win the lion's share of the money. Well, that'd be the case if there was a great deal of skill involved, rather than relying mostly on luck. Which was the entire point of the "it isn't gambling" position.

      Schneiderman probably should have edited his remarks better so he wasn't making the argument for the other side. I suppose prosecutorial immunity extends to mouthing off to the press so he isn't liable for slander and libel.

    2. Re:I don't get it by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The AG is pretty incoherent here. He's saying that it is illegal gambling, but he's also claiming that it is a problem because the top 1% of players win the lion's share of the money. Well, that'd be the case if there was a great deal of skill involved, rather than relying mostly on luck. Which was the entire point of the "it isn't gambling" position.

      Part of the problem, and the reason this whole kerfuffle started, was that a significant percentage of the 1% of players who were winning worked for the fantasy gambling site and were getting inside information.

      It was the equivalent of casino owners getting to shoot craps in their own joint using loaded dice. There's a long history of corruption and crime surrounding legalized gambling. These fantasy sports sites are only a few years old. If they're this corrupt already, it's probably better for them to be shut down.

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  6. Re:New York by clovis · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's only a movie dude. Not real.

    It did happen, but you're too young to remember.

  7. Re:Fantasy sports is like horse race betting by gl4ss · · Score: 3, Insightful

    horse racing is regulated and defined as gambling in pretty much any country that regulates gambling though.

    or put in other way, if betting on sports straight up is gambling then fantasy sports betting is gambling too. exactly same amount of 'skill'.

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    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  8. Re:Typical... by rockout · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Arizona, Montana and Nevada banned FanDuel and DraftKings long before NY did. How you got modded insightful is beyond me.

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    I've learned that they're worthless, so I don't read AC comments anymore.
  9. Re:Typical... by Aereus · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'll just be happy if I don't have to see their stupid adds shitting up TV constantly. 50% of all commercials being for Draft Kings or Fan Duel during NFL games is rather much...