Fantasy sports betting is a growing gambling phenomenon is the United States. Although the activity may not yet be as popular as regular sports betting, it does allow players to test their knowledge of the game in a more
practical way. Players who participate in fantasy leagues need to know how to draft a good team from players across famous sporting leagues. Those who are able to create successful teams win big real money prizes. Below we have a look at all you need to know about fantasy sports betting. This includes what it is, the bets you can make as well as top strategies to follow. We also list some of the best online casino real money with sports gambling options.
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What You’ll Find On This Page
- What is Fantasy Sports Betting?
- How to Bet on Fantasy Sports
- Best Fantasy Sports Betting Strategies
- Is Fantasy Sports Betting Legal?
What is Fantasy Sports Betting?
Fantasy sports are games in which players create virtual teams based off professional athletes in real-life sporting leagues. Athletes are given a price tag and fantasy sports players get a team salary cap which they cannot exceed when building their team. Players then compete with their team against other players. The performance of your team is determined by the real-life performance of the corresponding athlete. Players earn points if a specific athlete does well, but lose points if he or she plays badly.
For example, if you’ve created a fantasy football team that includes Tom Brady, and he throws four touchdowns in the Patriots next game, you can be assured that he is going to earn a lot of points. However, if he commits a foul, throws interceptions or fumbles the ball, he will lose points.
With fantasy sports betting, players place wagers against other gamblers who have created fantasy league teams. Essentially, the player who creates the best team wins the bet. Bets can run season long or last a singular match week – it all depends on what was selected.
Ultimately, fantasy sports betting is a fun way to put your knowledge of a sport to the test and compete against your friends or people around the world while doing so. Especially, as there is now several fantasy leagues for the world’s most popular sports, including football, baseball, hockey, basketball and soccer.
How to Bet on Fantasy Sports
At the best fantasy sports betting sites, there are a couple of different bets available to avid sports fans. Some of the bets that have proven to be most popular with American gamblers include the following:
- Prize Pools – these are leagues in which players pay a fee to join. The fee goes towards creating a big cash prize for the eventual winner. Members of the league essentially compete against one another in hope of winning the real money reward. With most of these leagues, there really isn’t a limit on how many players can join the league.
- Head-to-Head Bets – these are slightly more personal as these see two players going up against each other in a singular bet that may last one match week or the whole season. The player who is able to create the best squad wins a cash prize. If you’ve got a friend who you’re always arguing with about who knows more about a particular sport, this is a perfect way to end the argument.
- 50/50 – these are leagues in which players who end the “season” or “match day” on the top half of the league win cash prizes. The other players who land in the lower half of the table win nothing due to their unfortunate decisions.
Best Fantasy Sports Betting Strategies
As there are so many different fantasy sports leagues, it will be kind of difficult to provide specialised strategies for each league. Thus, we have compiled a list of general fantasy sports betting tips and tricks every American player should keep in mind before placing a bet on any sort of league.
- Try to focus on daily fantasy sports league bets rather than season long betting options. There are two major reasons for this. With season long bets, players need to keep paying close attention to their team and the real-life league. Some players may find this a little hard due to a short attention span or general life just getting in the way of you being able to watch the league. Then, there’s also the fact that daily games allow players to make bets on the fly and try take advantage of players with random spurts of good form without investing in fixing the team halfway through the season.
- Before joining a league, learn the rules and scoring options that have been set in place. It is important to note that not all leagues are the same, and some may use rules that you are unfamiliar with or quite simply don’t like. Make sure the fantasy league you join has a set of rules that does not dampen your overall gaming experience.
- Your strategy may differ based on whether you’re competing in a season long or daily fantasy league. Season long bets may see players try to seek out players who are more consistent in scoring. However, daily fantasy bets may see players take chances on players who put in sporadic stellar performances.
Is Fantasy Sports Betting Legal?
This really depends on the state you live in. Most states (as well as other countries around the world) consider competing in a fantasy league just to be another form of sports betting. This means that if sports betting is illegal in that particular state, there is a high chance that fantasy sports betting is too.
The nature of these games, although similar to gambling, was not fully covered under the federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. The recent decision to make the legality of sports betting a state matter has also further complicated the issue.
Ultimately, we can tell you that there are a couple of states that have legalized fantasy sports betting. These include Missouri, New York, Tennessee, Indiana, Colorado, Mississippi, Virginia and Massachusetts.
There are also four states that have definitely banned the activity, and these are Washington, Iowa, Montana and Arizona. It is important to note that these lists may change in future due to the laws surrounding online gambling changing all the time.
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