Gambling, or Skill?

[IronEagle]

To me stuff like fantasy fiootball or NCAA brackets is flat out gambling, simply because the person who bets does not have any control of the outcome.

To me "skill" implies you have some control over the outcome. For example, things like bowling or even poker.

I'm not against this stuff but you can't deny it is gambling of a sort.

http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...e_players.html

[slag]

So is the stock market.

Poker has been unsuccessfully arguing that the game is sufficiently a skill due to percentage analysis, and "people reading" to bluff, to be taken out of the gambling category.

I get it that playing percentages is not the same as valuing the financial health of a company to invest in its future performance. But it's still out of your control once you invest the money.

As for fantasy sports, I do not see how it is not gambling when horse racing is. Both are handicapping based on the relative merits of the competitors in the event.

And once you make the bet you have no control over how the players will play or the horses will run.

But the powers that be have decided that fantasy sports is sufficiently akin to the stock market and horse racing isn't.

[Dim Bulb]

It's conceivable

That a person could predict tendencies of a game plan. For example, if a team is playing a bad defense against the run, then one might expect the opposing team's RBs to do better that week (unless the team is coached by FF). But the variables involved (which RB will get more carries, which will get the ball at the goal line) seem too varied to be predicted.

I'll bet you that daily FF and even Basebore become very big though. That's the safest bet, I think.



http://blog.dimbulbreport.com/2015/04/04/

[IronEagle]

So is the stock market.

Poker has been unsuccessfully arguing that the game is sufficiently a skill due to percentage analysis, and "people reading" to bluff, to be taken out of the gambling category.

I get it that playing percentages is not the same as valuing the financial health of a company to invest in its future performance. But it's still out of your control once you invest the money.

As for fantasy sports, I do not see how it is not gambling when horse racing is. Both are handicapping based on the relative merits of the competitors in the event.

And once you make the bet you have no control over how the players will play or the horses will run.

But the powers that be have decided that fantasy sports is sufficiently akin to the stock market and horse racing isn't.

Ok but if we accept the premise that betting on fantasy sports is skill why isn't aggregating the knowledge of two teams and betting on a single game as the winner skill?

[slag]

If you're talking about a football game, I agree that it's as much a skill as picking a horse.

[slag]

It's huge already.

[art vandelay]

I think that it is skill. While you don't have control over the outcome of a game, you have control of your knowledge and whether or not you bet like a dumbass.

I recall a state that legalized betting losing money because of faulty linesmaking. To me this is proof that betting on a game between two teams is not just chance. It takes skill to bet on the right side of a line. It also takes skill to set lines so as not to take a beating.

[TRENT]

as long as you have all the information available

as to injuries ect,,its a skill...but luck is involved,,if your Qb gets hurt in the 1st series it changes everything..

Poker or Black jack is a definite skill.

But there is still a degree of chance that is inherit to Playing, what other players do can change the cards. Ect ect

[IronEagle]

I think that it is skill. While you don't have control over the outcome of a game, you have control of your knowledge and whether or not you bet like a dumbass.

I recall a state that legalized betting losing money because of faulty linesmaking. To me this is proof that betting on a game between two teams is not just chance. It takes skill to bet on the right side of a line. It also takes skill to set lines so as not to take a beating.

Ok so I am gonna flip the question around.

So why isn't betting on the outcome of a game considered skill?

You have control of your knowledge and the skills of the respective teams.