Shades of Black Friday! DFS Players Forced to Relocate
8 years ago28 Oct
Online poker players in the U.S. who wanted to keep playing at the industry's top sites had to leave the country to do so following Black Friday in 2011.
That predicament is now repeating itself for some Daily Fantasty Sports players. Nevada recently put the hammer down on DFS players, disallowing any such wagers to be made from the Silver State.
Nevada joined a handful of other states that forbid DFS, which may force some players to pack up their belongings and hit the road. They may not have to travel abroad to find a new home as U.S. online poker players did, with a run for the California border currently all that's required to keep playing DFS.
But it's a move all the same, an inconvenience forced upon them by lawmakers who have yet to definitively rule on whether DFS should be categorized as a game thats based on skill or luck. Of course it's skill, just as in poker, where the good players make a killing off of those who play recreationally and don't necessarily put the time and effort into it needed to excel.
It's somewhat ridiculous to call sports betting gambling and not daily fantasy sports gambling," DFS pro Assani Fisher told CNBC News. "Everyone really realizes it's gambling. It's a silly debate."
Fisher, a Nevada resident, is one such pro who will have to find new digs since Nevada put the kibosh on DFS. How can he not? In eight months of DFS wagering that began in February, Fisher parlayed $600 into $800,000. His weekend wagers during the NFL season routinely enter six-figure territory.
Fisher is ranked 7th worldwide as a DFS player by RotoGrinders, a popular fantasy site. He's no stranger to grinding, having previously made his living playing poker. His 10-year poker resume is dotted with online poker tournament scores of over $600K, coupled with another $69,000 in live cashes, including $32,871 at the 2012 WSOP Main Event for finishing 317th.
But his game now is primarily DFS, so residence in a new state is required. Hopefully, Fisher will choose a state that doesn't also soon rule DFS betting off-limits.
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