- In 2009, FanDuel reimagined the concept of fantasy sports, giving fans the ability to play one-day fantasy sports for real cash prizes. And despite many imitators, there’s still no better place to play. After launching in 2018, it didn’t take long for FanDuel to become America’s go-to for sports betting and the #1 online sportsbook.
- It has been over a year-and-a-half since the United States Supreme Court delivered a landmark decision to strike down the federal ban on sports gambling that prohibited betting on sports in most.
Every week, at least one player becomes my fascination of whether he’s worthy of a fantasy football start or bench. The decision can be a mental wrestling match, but for the purpose of brevity, only one player can be chosen as the fantasy football gamble of the week.
The Best Fantasy Football Betting Sites: Fantasy Football Betting Explained In this guide, we will show you the top fantasy football betting sites around. We will also demonstrate how to get an account, the rules for playing, how to get points and pick a team, and the reasons why you should use it. While gambling money against the possible real-world games’ outcomes is illegal in all states except Nevada, the fantasy football gambling games are legal because they do not connect to this same type of gambling. Basic Introduction to Fantasy Football Betting Football generates a lot of excitement among fantasy players. In fact, fantasy football is so popular across the US that a TV network broadcast a comedy based entirely on the game, which lasted for six seasons. Fantasy football has completely changed the way players watch football games on TV.
The best fantasy football gamble for Week 15
Tracking my predictions: 4-9-1
Win: Player produces ≥ 80% of projected fantasy points
Loss: Player produces >80% of projected fantasy points
Tie: Player is ejected or leaves with an injury
Seven straight wrong picks … put me out of my misery. Last week’s was the icing on the cake, because my selection, Cincinnati Bengals RB Giovani Bernard vs. Dallas Cowboys, fumbled for the first time in 830 carries — the longest active streak in the NFL — and was benched. He finished with three carries, three catches and 5.3 PPR points.
Barf.
Is Fantasy Football Gambling
Okay, moving on, because what else can one do after such a situation?! The next choice isn’t going to be for the faint of heart, and it’s probably not going to apply to many people in the fantasy football playoffs. It may be best reserved for those in two-quarterback leagues or select DFS action.
Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts at Arizona Cardinals
The Eagles turned over the keys to rookie Jalen Hurts last week, and he acquitted himself nicely vs. the New Orleans Saints. While most of the damage from a fantasy perspective came on the ground, he wasn’t entirely dreadful as a passer, and that’s about all one could hope for when surveying what is the Philly offense right now.
Hurts finished the 24-21 win with 17-for-30 passing (56.7 percent), 167 yards, one touchdown throw, and no interceptions. As mentioned, his ground work (18-106-0) is what paved the way for a 23-point showing in traditional fantasy scoring.
A few takeaways that apply to the upcoming matchup: Hurts is not afraid to throw the ball vs. NFL coverage. His mobility was a boost, given the state of this offensive line, and he limited his mistakes to one fumble — hardly an egregious error considering he was sandwiched on the play.
WR Alshon Jeffery returned to the end zone, albeit on his only catch, but it is at least encouraging for a receiving corps that is starving for playmakers. Perhaps we’ll see Zach Ertz take a step in the right direction to look more like himself after a couple of weeks of substandard results since returning from an ankle sprain.
Finally, Hurts’ athleticism creates mismatch and decoy scenarios. The explosiveness of Miles Sanders was on full display — due, in part, to the defensive attention spent to spy on Hurts. It’s not something that necessarily pays off immediately, but repeated fakes, misdirections and setup plays put defenders on their heels, which eventually will create a huge mistake that benefits Hurts.
Arizona has given up five performances in the last seven games with at least 22.1 fantasy points and as many as 39.8. The two lowly efforts came from passing powerhouses Daniel Jones and Cam Newton. In two of those outings, Russell Wilson ran for a total of 126 yards on 16 carries. Newton rushed nine times for 46 yards, and Jared Goff plunged into the end zone in Week 13.
The Cardinals have regressed in recent weeks vs. the running back position. This matters because Sanders finding success on the ground opens the door for bootlegs and read-option plays for Hurts to find room of his own. Wide receivers have made enough noise to give even this lowly cast in Philadelphia a slight boost.
The game plan is likely to keep Kyler Murray off of the field. That means a bunch of running and controlling the clock. Don’t expect huge plays without there being either a breakdown in coverage or simply a spectacular display of athleticism.
However, this also works both ways in Hurts’ favor.
Let’s say the Cardinals jump out to an early lead, the rookie will be thrown into the fire as a passer and could do some damage with volume. That’s not what one should prefer to see as it likely to lead to more mistakes. The goal here is seeing Hurts maximize his efficiency as a passer and make critical plays with his legs.
My projection: 205 passing yards, 2 TD passes, 1 INT, 65 rushing yards, 1 TD (29.75 fantasy points)
If you have turned on the TV at all during the first few weeks of the current 2015 NFL season, you have no doubt been bombarded with advertisements for fantasy sports betting. These advertisements allow sports fans to pay small fees, create virtual lineups of players, and then potentially win big prizes if the chosen players perform statistically well.
These ad campaigns are predominantly tied to one of two companies: FanDuel or DraftKings. Together, the two companies (valued at over $1 billion each), spent over $27 million for 8000+ TV spots alone during the first week of the NFL season.
Fantasy Football Gambling
Why such a large spending outlay?
Because daily fantasy leagues have exploded in the US over the last year and are now estimated to be played by 57 million Americans. From soccer moms to college students to the Average Joe, daily fantasy leagues have provided an exposure to sports betting that most would never otherwise experience.
FanDuel and DraftKings currently provide the above exposure in 45 states. The only states in which they don’t provide their services (due to state-specific regulations against cash prize awards) include Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana and Washington.
And therein lies the question of this post: if sports betting is illegal in all states except Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey, how are sites like FanDuel and DraftKings able to operate so openly and in so many states?
The answer lies in the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act passed by Congress. The law, which arose as a response to online gambling sites PartyPoker, Poker Stars and others, shut down online wagering in the United States. However, it also left an exemption which covered fantasy sports games, and games of an educational or skill-based nature. That exemption states the following:
“…has an outcome that reflects the relative knowledge of the participants, or their skill at physical reaction or physical manipulation (but not chance), and, in the case of a fantasy or simulation sports game, has an outcome that is determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of sporting events, including any non-participant’s individual performances in such sporting events …”
In other words, daily fantasy sports games (and season fantasy leagues for that matter) are considered a “game of skill” and determined not by chance but by adherence to statistical analysis.
In the case of fantasy football, that kind of analysis may involve research on injuries, off-season training regiments, matchup histories, and past performance metrics. All of these things require “some” level of skill to make sure you choose the RIGHT combination of players for your own virtual team.
Bottom line: as long as your fantasy sports contest involves an outcome that is generated by the statistics of multiple athletes, of which all are not on the same team, and all of which are participating in real-world sporting contests, then that contest is legal.
However, a word of caution before you run out and sign-up yourself: most people DO NOT WIN daily fantasy contests.
Fantasy Football Money Leagues
Fantasy Football Gambling Legal In How Many States
Just as in poker, sites like FanDuel and DraftKings must have a lot of fish playing to pay the sharks. And to be a fantasy sports shark, expect to play hundreds of games a week and spend hours a day crunching numbers for predictive models that in turn spit out optimal lineups. And honestly, who has the time for that when you are trying to watch football on Sundays?