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It looks, feels, plays and pays like sports betting, why is fantasy betting legal then?

When the US government signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) into law in September 2006, they “carved out” three sub industries: lotteries, horse racing and fantasy sports. They deemed fantasy sports to be contests of skill rather than those of chance or luck. This paved the way for people to be able to legally pay entry fees and collect winnings on their fantasy sports games, allowing fantasy betting to be legal, making fans very happy. And now that the government is being strict in betting and casinos, taking down all websites that go with it, it is expected that followers of online betting and casinos will definitely move on to fantasy sports.

The law set forth certain criteria that define what constitutes a fantasy sports contest. These criteria include a fantasy contest that must involve at least two “real world” events, and the prize must be pre-determined prior to entry and cannot be based on the number of participants. A contest can be set up in such a way that both the number of participants required and the prize awarded are predetermined. A good example is, “This will be a 12-person contest with a $20 entry fee and a prize of $200.” If that contest does not reach the required 12 people, then it can be canceled before it even begins.

UIGEA never detailed the length of a fantasy contest, although fantasy sports are considered season-long journeys, partial season leagues have been formed in recent years. What’s been done is daily and weekly fantasy sports websites reduced the length of a season to a single day or a weekend. In some cases, you will even find contests that only involve a portion of the day’s games. These kinds of games gather lots of followers too, as some people don’t want or don’t even have time for season-long commitments. They just want to have fun or win money in a short period of time.

So now, you can proceed with confidence that you are not doing illegal as a player. Play and win contests with the comforting thought that you are dealing with real legit people based in the United States. There are sites that run daily or weekly fantasy sports contests. If you are just new in the world of fantasy betting, then you should choose these kinds of leagues. You don’t have to be in a season-long commitment here. Select your game, and then draft your team using current active players. When the day is over, so is the game. The winners are paid after. This is a skill-based daily fantasy sports game, not gambling.





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