Suddenly... It's Gambling!

[oldecapecod11]

The nfl has certainly changed its tune and it now appears to be telling the world gambling is a good thing.

It seemed as though every other commercial was aimed at getting the viewers to gamble.
(Of course, with only limited time allotted for television, perhaps it was just coincidental?)

It will come as no surprise when FanDuel has betting windows in every stadium.

What a message to send to kids

http://www.nfl.com/schedules

Edited for spelling: maybe coNincidental was not that far off...

[Reaser]

Fantasy Sports are considered a skill game and not gambling, which is why it's allowed. Though of course in reality it's glorified gambling. The amount of fanduel and draftkings commercials Thurs-Sun (college and NFL) was ridiculous.

[Bob Gill]

That's true. I'd never heard of either of those sites before, and I must've seen a dozen commercials for each over the weekend. I didn't realize they were two different things until maybe Sunday afternoon; they sound so similar that I thought it was all the same company until then.

[oldecapecod11]

Gambling - with or without adjectives - is gambling.
When one blows the mortgage payment, or the car payment, does the bank say "That's okay. It was glorified?" Hardly!
Reality is where we live and living in the real world requires a tad more than skill.
Too bad we can't get an opinion from Judge Landis.

Meanwhile, please don't think those commercials are paid for with money people win.

As an aside... what happened with the old football cards? Are they still around?
Every place of business (and school) always had a guy with football cards. There weren't too many winners there either.

[ChrisBabcock]

Fantasy Sports are considered a skill game and not gambling, which is why it's allowed. Though of course in reality it's glorified gambling. The amount of fanduel and draftkings commercials Thurs-Sun (college and NFL) was ridiculous.

Agree with the first sentence.

The amount of Draft Kings and Fan Duel commercials yesterday were absolutely ridiculous. I've played fantasy football since 1995. When these "one week leagues" started a year or so ago (or at least that's when I found out they existed) I vowed to never give any money to those sites. Managing a fantasy football team over the course of a season is just that. You're the manager. From the draft itself to evualating whether a trade is going to benefit your team or not to whether to pick up a player off waivers if you're only allotted 10 roster moves on the season to do I start this guy this week or leave him on my bench.

[JWL]

FanDuel began around 2007. At least, that is about when I recall hearing commercials for that company. Unless you get extremely lucky, you will not win big playing at these sites. There are professionals doing this and they use bots and scripts and predictive analysis.

But, hey, if you like a little action and you wager $1 to try to win $2 or so in a 50/50, then go right ahead. I did that a half dozen times with baseball this year at Draft Kings. The last time I played was in late May, I suppose. I wagered $1 in a 50/50 contest. I finished 25th. That was good enough for $1.80 in winnings (in 50/50s, if you beat half the field you win). If I was more adventurous, I could have joined a $20 50/50 in an effort to win $30 or so and make $10 in the end. The problem is, I do not like this type of gambling. I also do not like casinos. This one day fantasy stuff reminds me of playing slots. There is a reason why the casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas look really nice. A $5 weekly football pool and a $50 season-long fantasy league interest me more and that is basically as far as I go.

Anyone else want to put a picture of Dave Gomes on a dartboard?

[MatthewToy]

I've never done fantasy football because it takes time that I don't have and feels too "dungeons and dragonsy" to me. But I tried Draft Kings this week and I like it. Haven't won anything yet but I have AP tonight against the lousy 49ers so hopefully I'll at least get my deposit back and try again next week. I'll still probably never join a real league. But I get it more now.

[mwald]

Fantasy Sports are considered a skill game and not gambling, which is why it's allowed.

If you have money riding on it, picking games against the pointspread is certainly gambling by definition. It also requires a great degree of skill to be successful.

Some folks display their knowledge by talking. Problem is, talk is cheap. Others prefer objective validation. If you forecast every NFL game against the pointspread for a season or two you will learn something about what wins football games that you can learn in no other way. I highly recommend it. (Plunking money down isn't necessary; you can do it on paper.)

Careful, though. You might find your most cherished beliefs suddenly exposed as poppycock. And that's a bigger wound than losing some jingle.

[BD Sullivan]

Fantasy Sports are considered a skill game and not gambling, which is why it's allowed.

If you have money riding on it, picking games against the pointspread is certainly gambling by definition. It also requires a great degree of skill to be successful.

Some folks display their knowledge by talking. Problem is, talk is cheap. Others prefer objective validation. If you forecast every NFL game against the pointspread for a season or two you will learn something about what wins football games that you can learn in no other way. I highly recommend it. (Plunking money down isn't necessary; you can do it on paper.)

Careful, though. You might find your most cherished beliefs suddenly exposed as poppycock. And that's a bigger wound than losing some jingle.

You mean the ones that brag about how they hit 70-80 percent of their picks, when even the best are lucky if they come CLOSE to 60 percent? The commercials are amusing, especially the guy who turned $35 into $2 million.

[Reaser]

If you forecast every NFL game against the pointspread for a season or two you will learn something about what wins football games that you can learn in no other way.

You learn more about winning football games by winning football games (as a player or as a coach) but sure, not everyone played football ...

My friends and I do pick'em groups for NFL (since 2000) and college (since 2007) and I find picking games easy. Watch football, know what you're watching, pick who will win.

I went 5-0-1 last week in vegas (via my parents), won all 5 college games and got money back taking the Pats +7 (was 6.5 when I saw it but wherever my dad went it was 7) ... They keep trying to send me the money I won but I don't care about money plus I don't really like betting on football, doesn't do a whole lot for me. Just did it for them since they were there and I figured I could give them free spending money.