[BSPN] Texas says daily fantasy is gambling and therefore illegal

That's right.

Not only that, it's also pretty much dummies giving their money to the sharps

 

Why do you feel that way?

 

Then those dummies will lose money. Just like the dummies that play the lotto every day. I'm not normally the Libertarian type, but I think this should be the individuals risk to take. Of course this is all about money, so they should just come to an agreement to tax it and move on.

 

So everyone agrees that daily fantacrap is actually gambling, right?

Some people agree that gambling should be legal in the State of Texas. Some people think gambling should still be illegal? I would like to hear from the "illegal" side.

 

Yeah, I understand the argument from people that claim it is technically gambling. It does also involve skill, but I don't know if that alone disqualifies it from being classified as gambling. It's a somewhat gray area, I just think it's a weak move to make it illegal and unavailable to our state's residents. Hopefully those that disagree with the AG will make their voices heard at the polls eventually.

 

I guess it's more of a D&D topic, but I'd like to hear the rationale for keeping gambling illegal in Texas. In this day and age, I just don't get it.

 

The law is pretty clear:

(1) "Bet" means an agreement to win or lose something of value solely or partially by chance. A bet does not include:

(A) contracts of indemnity or guaranty, or life, health, property, or accident insurance;

(B) an offer of a prize, award, or compensation to the actual contestants in a bona fide contest for the determination of skill, speed, strength, or endurance or to the owners of animals, vehicles, watercraft, or aircraft entered in a contest; or

(C) an offer of merchandise, with a value not greater than $25, made by the proprietor of a bona fide carnival contest conducted at a carnival sponsored by a nonprofit religious, fraternal, school, law enforcement, youth, agricultural, or civic group, including any nonprofit agricultural or civic group incorporated by the state before 1955, if the person to receive the merchandise from the proprietor is the person who performs the carnival contest.

The issue is more the with the law than the AG.

 

I'm undecided on my views of legalized gambling in Texas. I don't have a problem with gambling in of itself, but more worried about the baggage. The reasons that I am against gambling are the increased crime, bankruptcy that typically comes with casinos. Also, I don't like the idea of letting casinos prey on gambling addicts.

Online gambling seems a better option to me than casinos as it doesn't concentrate people with money, people that are drunk, and people that are desperate.

 

These are my thoughts as well. I used to be on board with gambling and wanted Galveston to be the south's Atlantic City.

Then I went to Atlantic City and found out it was a pretty terrible place. Now, I went in February, which isn't the best time for that area, but it still just looked pretty run down. A lot of those casinos are going bankrupt. That is primarily due to AC not being the only show in town anymore (other states have opened up gambling up there), but its also just riddled with crime. When I saw that, I kind of wondered if I really wanted that for Galveston. I feel like everyone always sees that fancy lights in Vegas and figures "why not Galveston?" but I don't think Galveston can be that destination.

People already don't want to go to Galveston because it is dirty. I feel like casinos will make it dirtier.

Side cool story bro moment - when I was in AC, we were driving around and accidentally got lost. Before I went, I read up on the history of the city and found out the monopoly board game was based on the city (Boardwalk is the casino area). When we got lost, I started reading the road signs. We ended up on Baltic Avenue pretty late at night, and it was still actually projects. Not much to tell, just funny that the board game is true.

 

I feel the same way and that's why I think gambling is better off banned. After moving from Texas and living in multiple states that have casinos, they always turn into just really run down and seedy places. None of them are like Vegas. As you mention, even AC which at one time had some nicer casinos is no longer very good.

Galveston won't profit from casinos. If anything, casinos will hurt the island in the long run if they fail because the government and the local community will foolishly bank on their success and drive away other tourism opportunities in the process. Casinos wreck cities as quickly as they helped them.

Additionally, all of the tax revenue gains only work in a world where the state government wisely uses it. For example the lottery is supposed to provide a boost in education funding but in reality the state just cut education funding to compensate for the gain in lottery funding. So schools didn't benefit at all. The same would happen with casinos and Texas's current government shows no inclination to responsibly use gambling tax revenue to actually help the state.

Lastly, Galveston would probably end up selling its soul to bring casinos (like other cities). That means property tax exemptions, probably bond measures to subsidize starting casinos, etc.. Hell the casinos will also probably demand infrastructure to protect them from hurricanes and the taxpayer will be stuck paying for that as well. And all of this in a community that can't afford any of this. The tax payer loses in that scenario and only wins if the casinos actually sustain themselves and bring in revenue in consistently for years. The track record for that actually happening is quite terrible as casinos go under rather quickly (particularly if the economy goes south) which then has a disproportionate impact on the local community so the local economy collapses even faster. Every failed city in the US resorted to casino gambling at some point and guess what, they failed anyway. Casinos are not economic engines. They prey on poor cities that are desperate. Galveston is better off without that.

And finally, my own personal thoughts but casinos prey on the poorest and most vulnerable. Go drive around Oklahoma and just watch the plethora of gambling and how it just drains money from people who can't afford that. I know its easy to say caveat emptor and just pass the buck but I just find it depressing to walk into a gas station in Oklahoma and watch people just piss away what little money they have on the machines in the gas station.

 

Cuban is probably thinking big picture.

DraftKings is currently setting up shop in the UK. NBA and NFL DFS will flourish over there, and they'll probably be able to carve out a decent chunk of soccer too.

 

There is no better evidence of government corruption.

It's absolutely and irrefutably illegal to bet on the numbers...

... unless it's the government's lottery numbers. Then, of course, it's totally legal.

 

Of course it is gambling, and of course it is illegal.

Gambling should be legalized though (why exempt the lotto if so concerned about taking advantage of people?).

 

Didn't you just describe the internet?