Congress should act on 'scandalous' fantasy betting: Reid

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Politics | Tue Oct 6, 2015 6:51pm EDT

Congress should act on 'scandalous' fantasy betting: Reid

WASHINGTON | BY ANDY SULLIVAN AND DIANE BARTZ

The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate called on Congress to examine fantasy-sports betting services on Tuesday after reports that an employee with access to insider information placed bets in the unregulated multi-billion-dollar industry.

"There's absolutely scandalous conduct taking place through those programs, fantasy sports," Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid told reporters.

"I think it also should be a warning-shot to everybody that online gaming is a real scary thing and we ought to look at all of it," said Reid, who is a former Gaming Commission head in Nevada, a hub of the industry.

Reid's statement raises the prospect of congressional scrutiny and possibly new regulations for websites such as DraftKings and FanDuel that have drawn millions of users who pay a fee to compete for daily prizes by assembling teams that accumulate points based on how the players did in actual games.

Meanwhile, Representative Frank Pallone and Senator Bob Menendez, both New Jersey Democrats, asked the Federal Trade Commission to look into the fantasy scandal.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/06/us-usa-congress-gambling-idUSKCN0S02RY20151006

[former9thward]

1. Reid wants to protect his Las Vegas contributors.

[GGJohn]

6. That was my very first thought. eom.

[Z_California]

2. I'm sure the Nev. and NJ Sens

are are truly "concerned".

[shenmue]

3. Yes

[Puzzledtraveller]

4. The conflict of interest in this is IMMENSE

as teams owners and players are and have invested in these companies. They need to be shut down immediately.

[yeoman6987]

7. Maybe but I am not concerned with this getting priority

over real issues.

[Shandris]

5. Someone important must have lost some money.

Takes one day to attack illegal gambling. The rest of the problems? Meh, we'll get to those in a few thousand years. Remember to vote, your vote really counts!

[alcibiades_mystery]

8. A competition over who should fleece the suckers

Nobody on this board, of course. I'm sure you're all fantasy sports geniuses.

[Fumesucker]

9. True genius lies in knowing when not to play

[customerserviceguy]

10. Which is all the time for me

I've never, ever understood fantasy football, and it makes sense that with that much money flowing around, someone will figure out a way to siphon off a bit of it by criminal means.

"You can't cheat an honest man," is an old saying, it seems to be pertinent here.

[Fumesucker]

21. I don't even understand the attraction of regular football

[customerserviceguy]

24. Well, that I get. n/t

[Nuclear Unicorn]

11. As if this couldn't have been settled with a civil suit.

[NightWatcher]

12. Fuck gun control, there are people playing fantasy football for cash

Is there a swat team we can mobilize?

[hobbit709]

13. It's nice to know our congresscritters are dealing with the real problems in the country.

[malaise]

14. Amazing how the networks

including ESPN and NBC and owners of teams all have shares in this scam.
This is insider trading on steroids.

[DinahMoeHum]

15. This weekend on the NFL: the "Draftkings Scandal Bowl". . .

. . .featuring the New England Patriots (owner Robert Kraft) vs. the Dallas Cowboys (owner Jerry Jones),
to be played Sunday Oct 11 at AT & T Stadium, Arlington, TX (aka "Jerry's Crib" and the "Boss Hog Bowl&quot




Meanwhile, keep your seatbelts fastened, folks. Sportswriter Dave Zirin says this is just the tip of the iceberg:

https://twitter.com/EdgeofSports/status/651545033729028096

[malaise]

16. I watched him last night

and agree with him 100% - I'm amazed that folks don't think this is a major scandal,

[trumad]

17. Because some here think that we should focus on one thing at a time.

A government should be the protector of its citizens. This is clearly a serious scandal and should be immediately looked at.

[malaise]

18. Well they can walk and chew gum

I think. Have to wonder if the friends of some of the teams with shares are also involved.
That would be very interesting and might explain the silence. I'll be looking in those high end boxes this weekend

[trumad]

20. I've always looked at online sports betting with a weary eye.

You ever play a game online and see it hacked? It renders the game unplayable.

I see it happening to online gambling.

Insider trading on Wallstreet puts people in jail and in Mho this is the same damn thing.

We're not talking a couple of bucks here...this is millions upon millions of dollars.

Street crime is chump change to shit like this.

[malaise]

22. And yet again

the 1% steal from everyone else - with impunity.

I don't play any of these games online, but I know many folks who love them. This appears to be more rigged than the casinos.

[oberliner]

19. Great point

You literally cannot watch a football game on any network without a barrage of commercials for these gambling websites - even during the game itself.

[yellowcanine]

23. This from the Senator who represents Las Vegas?

Come on Harry. That is way too cynical, even for you.