An employee with Draft Kings (which Patriots owner Robert Kraft has a stake in) used 'information' to rack up $350,000 in winnings while playing on rival site Fandual, a move described as akin to insider trading in a business that's also been described as Las Vegas-like gambling. From the NYT this morning: Scandal Erupts in Unregulated World of Fantasy Sports By JOE DRAPE and JACQUELINE WILLIAMSOCT. 5, 2015 A major scandal is erupting in the multibillion-dollar industry of fantasy sports, the online and unregulated business in which players assemble their fantasy teams with real athletes. On Monday, the two major fantasy companies were forced to release statements defending their businesses’ integrity after what amounted to allegations of insider trading, that employees were placing bets using information not generally available to the public. The statements were released after an employee at DraftKings, one of the two major companies, admitted last week to inadvertently releasing data before the start of the third week of N.F.L. games. The employee, a midlevel content manager, won $350,000 at a rival site, FanDuel, that same week. “It is absolutely akin to insider trading,” said Daniel Wallach, a sports and gambling lawyer at Becker & Poliakoff in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “It gives that person a distinct edge in a contest.” Continue reading the main story: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/sports/fanduel-draftkings-fantasy-employees-bet-rivals.html?_r=0
Hmmm, I might be being dense here, but what kind of knowledge could possiblly make something like this "akin to insider trading?" I'm not trolling, just legitimately curious what people think. Off the top of my head, that statement seems like it almost has to be an exaggeration. Edit: The only thing I can really think of is either: A) special knowledge about an injured player's status OR B) special knowledge about a coaching decision.
In another "the NFL is completely hypocritical" move the league continues to show these fucking commercials every fucking break despite the fact that it is gambling and it is 100% unregulated yet they continue to deny Las Vegas any affiliation with the league, the Super Bowl and treat the city as if it's some type of terrorist regime. Years ago when the show Las Vegas was on NBC they refused to allow NBC to show promos for the show during their broadcasts but this type of thievery is ok? Cmmmmmm
It's statistics, man! The guy had stats from King on which players are typically picked on King. Given sample size, players on Duel would have similar tendencies. What it gives him is list of players NOT picked very often, e.g. a pool of sleepers that when/if hit will make you real $ because very few people have them. All he had to do was compose entries that would incorporate those sleeper. Most of the entries won't hit, but the ones that do make him shitload of money.
He has knowledge of what is winning on his site so he just needs to have a few entries with what is winning on his site and all he needs is one of them to hit. He also has knowledge of what players are being picked up. The guys who win these things just like top handicappers study match ups and know injuries and who is banged up and who has a favorable match up against a 2nd string player. It can be a real job for some people. In fact having lived in Vegas I know quite a few guys who make 6 figures doing nothing but betting sports but it is a full time job.
The scandal has to do with percentages of players usage. That would def has its advantages but you still need to pick the right players to win. Even just 1 player off could be the difference from winning $100 or 350 grand like the guy did.
how is Kraft and his son, as owners of a football team allowed to have stake in Draft Kings? If they were gambling on their team wouldn't they be excommunicated from the league? but this is somehow okay? isn't this just the same thing? Belichick likes to play RBs on a whim. Suppose he tells Kraft the night before the game "Blount will get all the carries this week.." then the Draftkings brass with their software tools could adjust their lineups for all 8000 of their teams at once and fuck over the common man who doesn't get this knowledge. Thats one of the many things I see potentially wrong with this
You know, I was wondering why the sudden overwhelming push from Kings and Duel with full support of the league. Could it be because assistant commish is a part owner in one of them?
It is currently classified as a game of skill, not gambling, which is why it's even legal. Makes no sense to me - seems like straight gambling, but what do I know?
If I remember correctly, the loop hole is that Fan Duel and Draft Kings do not take pieces of the pot. They charge the users a service fee; more users = more service fees = more money. As for the users, they are essentially "buying" admission into a raffle. Also legally, I'm sure they can hide behind words like "fantasy" and "league" which they are sure to mention 60x in each ad.
is that supposed to be a shot at Woody Johnson or something? hahaha 1) Woody Johnson has nothing to do with Johnson & Johnson, that's his grandfather and father, Woody can't run anything. 2) We all pretty much hate Johnson anyway so go ahead, pile on, who gives a fuck 3) we aren't pathetic enough to care about the reputation of the owner of our favorite football team. certainly not enough to chase other fanbases to defend his honor, as that is as pathetic as it gets
They do take a piece of the pot. They take 10% from every contest. The reason it's legal is that it's classified as a game of skill, not gambling. https://www.draftkings.com/help/why-is-it-legal
