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Nevada Shuts Down Fantasy Sports Sites: Apply For A Gaming License Or Face A Decade In Prison
Earlier this week, the FBI and the Justice Department announced they were investigating whether the business models of daily fantasy-sports sites violate a Congressional exemption around the legality of transfers from financial institutions to online gambling sites.
Effectively, sites like DraftKings and FanDuel rely on a loophole for “games of skill.” Here’s WSJ with the explanation:
The probe is in the preliminary stage, two people said. It is part of an ongoing discussion within the Justice Department about the legality of daily fantasy sites, in which customers pay entry fees to draft virtual sports teams that compete against each other for prize money based on the real-world performances of athletes. Congress in 2006 prohibited financial companies from transferring money to online gambling sites and several were shut down. But so-called games of skill were exempted. Fantasy-sports sites have since operated under that exemption.
The idea, we suppose, is that betting on the “skills” of others is itself a “skill.” That is, if I know more about how the skills of say, one NFL player stack up against the skills of another NFL player, well then I too have a “skill”, and so therefore, sites which pay me to play my skills against the skills of other fans can exploit the above mentioned exemption.
Obviously, that’s to a certain extent ridiculous, but whatever the case may be, the game (no pun intended) appears to now be up. Or at least in Nevada where you can gamble, but like the mob bosses who once ran the casinos, the state wants its cut of the action. Here’s AP:
Nevada regulators have ordered daily fantasy sports sites like DraftKings and FanDuel to shut down, saying they can't operate in the state without a gambling license.
The decision comes amid growing backlash by investigators and regulators over the sites, which have grown in popularity in the past year.
The sites insist they are skill-based games and not chance-based wagers, and are therefore not subject to gambling regulations.
The state's Gaming Control Board issued a notice Thursday saying the sites must stop offering their contests to Nevada residents effective immediately. Operators face felony fines and 10 years in prison.
So there you have it FanDuel and DraftKings. Pay your protection money to run your gambling racket like everyone else.
Of course with a federal investigation looming, this is just the start of what, in sports terms, is likely to be a prolonged and deep slump for the industry - you can bet on that.
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Fantasy sports....
is it wonder why this country is as fucked up as it has become...?
NO.
When I see fantasy nude womens volleyball, then I might be interested. Until then, I have better things to do, like watch paint dry.
While playing the markets I'm a Fantasy Bull Rider. FPBR
fd
Something tells me the casino folks have captured the regulatory folls in NV.
It takes a gambler to know a gambler.
I'm surprised they haven't done this to Wall Street.
They would if Wall Street was in Nevada!
Hey, there's an idea. I'm sure there are ETrade babies living in Nevada gambling in the Wall Street casinos!
"That's gambling! Stop or face 10 years in prison!"
What isn't a crapshoot?
This is funny though...one set of crooks getting pissy when another set is cutting in on their action.
LOL!
I could not agree with you more. I have to laugh at any diehard sports fans that, when they're talking about their favorite teams, always say "We have to do this or that".
And I can't for the life of me understand the attraction of fantasy leagues. I watch some sports on TV, but I surely don't invest my life in it. If a team I like loses, big deal. But with some of these people, you'd think their entire family died if "their" team loses.
A fucked up country indeed.
Humans are tribal like that everywhere on this planet, in most places to a greater degree than here. Be thankful. It could be a lot worse.
Yeah BAG, when I run into morons that say "we did this or that" I just laugh at them! Most have never even played on an organized sports team in their pathetic lives! END THE FED!
I can't stand the "we" bullshit. I know to not waste a second of my time on anyone who says that shit.
Federal elections are a fantasy sport.
Someday soon you will be arrested for posting that.
knock, knock
bang, bang
Is it still a sport when the game is rigged?
here in australia, there is a scripted tv show of people sitting on their couches, watching tv shows. i shit you not.
We've got you boys beat. Here in the land of the free & brave the news is girls's asses & the horrible sex-attacts that occur because of it. Oh, we do cover Hatii every now and again.
I retired from the gambling business in 2007 before the financial crisis.
The house makes lots of money. 90%+ of players are losers. That's how gambling works.
There's a sucker born every minute, and fantasy sports betting is something only a sucker would fall for.
yeah, welcome to the club DK/FD... us poker players have been banned from making their living online for 6 fucking years... and poker, unlike betting on a bunch of juiced up clowns IS actually a game of skill. It is you vs the other person. You all get dealt from the same 52 card deck, you all pay the same rake, the same blinds, and have an equal advantage/disadvantage of position, EVERY FUCKING HAND. So picking a group of 11 people to perform, on random teams, on random games, is skill? Fuck off.
You can still evade the ban, can't you? Do players find it hard to figure it out?
Well, yeah. But it either means moving to Mexico/Canada, renting a server in one of those countrys. etc. with the knowledge of knowing that if, at any point, you are caught operating inside the US on these sites, they will confiscate every fucking nickle and ban you. Kinda sounds like drug running, without the jail time, all for playing a game against another person, whcih was completely voluntary.
There has to be a better way nowadays. How can the US gov confiscate money held by a foreign company? They can probably extort their bank and get it that way. I'm sure there are Poker sites that can, or already do operate without keeping any money at a bank. You should only need TOR or a VPN/proxy to access such a site from within the US and to privately access your money (Bitcoin wallet or whatever). And yes, it may mean gambling on the price of bitcoin at the same time (by holding BTC on the site), but at least you are not playing rigged poker with the FED by holding USD. Then it shouldn't be too hard to safely convert your profits into whatever you want.
gotta agree with ya
r
we want a taste and you're gonna give it to us.
-You're loving state Government
C'mon now. Us sports fan knew that shit was gambling. It was only a matter of time before Uncle came calling for his cut.
I'm still irritated that ex Sen. Frist from TN appears to have had the hypocrisy to trade his $100mm+ HCA stock on insider information (allegedly), and yet found it unacceptable to allow the peasantry to gamble online.
I had a blast on 'Pinny' back in the day...
good point
r
p.s. very good point
the media participants know exactly what to fixate the public on
As usual, all about money.
Once upon a time it had a much different meaning. Wink Wink.
Is picking stocks a skill?
Depends on who you work for.
Blue Horseshoe loves the Indianapolis Colts.
Not for the insiders who make them go the direction they want. For rest of us...predicting which direction they want is skill.
Yeah, the irony that critique was drenched in was apparently unintended. Wow, how could you not be woozy with cognitive dissonance?
Fantasy Teams and inherently speculative "investing" in corporate businesses in fraudulent markets. What's the crucial difference?
That's right. All FANTASY betting and proceeds are to be directly funneled to Wall Street and not the shysters in Nevada. Damn it.
Oh, that's a " hedge". Ok. Like insurance, right?
But you get to hedge someone else's property?
I'd like to insure the wino who sleeps under the bridge.
Oh, I can't do that?
It's ONLY ok if the Government or the government's chosen do it.
If the billionaire owners of the NFL knew what was good for them, they would make sure this doesn't get snuffed out. They should donate the vig for the prospective licensees and let the sheep put an ever rising %age of their incomes into your game in a derivative manner.
Well Nevada has no NFL football team...
Fuck Nevada.
Harry The Motherfucker Reid hails from that desert state. That alone is enough to make it Puke-worthy.
91% of it is owned by the goverment.
Other than Vegas and Reno, the state blows.
Now now,Harrys working a suit again exercise company for his fucked up eye.
Now now,Harrys working a suit against a exercise company for his fucked up eye.
I think I'm seeing double
I think I'm seeing double
I retired from the gambling business in 2007 and got the hell out of Nevada.
Both Vegas and Reno are shitholes.
Including Vegas and Reno, the state blows.
There. Fixed it for ya.
Reid is a world class douchebag. The state is also a shithole too [wink wink, gotta keep the losers from buying into it and turning truly into a freedom hating shithole, so, the downside just can't be negated by the lack of a state income tax, 50 + cent cheaper gas than CA, absurdly low property tax, anything you want firearms laws, the fact its practically made of silver and gold and a low people per square mile figure ... ]
And yet manipulating stocks and precious metals that have an effect on global markets is just hunky dory.
Oh, I forgot, revenue for the State is all that matters.
Does this mean Paddy Power will need to purchase a 50 state permit, so the Government can advise fundamental Google false results by Eric Schmidt under trending graphs??
Illinois will take that action....
/s
They only take the bets, payouts are illegal !!!
I'm loathe to support government regulation but, on the other hand, anything that cuts down on the ubiquitous "Fan Duel" and "Draft Kings" ads is a good thing.
Spoken like a true advocate of open markets, Mr. Hayek.
Hear, hear! I'm sick of the constant commercials. The first one, with the moron, wearing his baseball cap backward and chewing his nails, while waiting for the 'big check', was utterly stupid. Then the big check gets produced and the whole room erupts in 'bro love'. Whoa! Bro! Now you can afford a Ho! Let's Go!
congress hates online gambling but you can buy all the FAZ you want bitchez
What the hell business is it of the government to tell adults what they can spend their Federal Reserve Notes on? Is this in Article 1 Section 8? (To hell with SCOTUS' commerce clause ruling btw)
Way to go Neveda! We wouldn't want to see any gambling in your state.
At least, no competition to the big crooked casinos.
The old Moonshine/Marijuana tax scam .... if government doesn't get a piece of the action .... put people in overcrowded jails ?
Fantasy Baseball was invented by a bunch of Hedge Fund guys on Wall Street at a bar called The Rotisserie. (thus: Rotisserie Baseball). My son introduced me to the game, which I entered with great reluctance.
It blew me away! You guys don't know what you're missing! Unfortunately, I now live in Nevada!
Does this mean we have to build a new stadium somewhere? That San Diego field is terrible yet classic. I often am looking at the turf and not the sportsing.
Anything that dips into Nevada's casino revenue will be attacked as if it were one of those fake Al Qaeda/ISIS beheadings. The regulators are controlled by the big casinos. Face 10 years in jail? Bullshit, people face less time for murder. Time to tell the big casinos to go to hell.
there is a plethora of excellent comments in this thread;-)
r
a plethora?
I'd like to see these FBI and DOJ faggots investigate where the Feds get any authority to be involved in this. Same with the mobsters "regulating" shit in Nevada