Page 58 - AVN January 2016

states, including New Jersey, have attempted to
legalize sports betting of late, but federal lawsuits
by the professional and amateur sports organiza-
tions (NFL, NCAA, etc.) have stopped them in their
tracks.
One important concept here is that betting on the
outcome of a sporting event is not always illegal. If
it were, professional sports would be impossible.
So, for example, there is no law preventing a golf
tournament where each participant pays an entry
fee—and the winners receive cash prizes. The result
is a function of the skill of the players who paid
the entry fee, not the skill of others over which the
investor had no control.
Given that Congress has exhibited no appetite to
repeal or modify PASPA (an approach that is wildly
embraced by Nevada), emerging industries have
attempted to turn gaming laws on their heads by
saying that certain games are of skill. When poker
became a fad in the early 2000s, they undertook to
establish poker as a game of skill, actually enjoying
some success. By the same token, blackjack arguably
is a game of skill, too—if you know “the book,” you
have a profoundly better chance of drawing a win-
ning hand. If you count cards, your odds improve to
the point that you may have an edge over the house,
which will unceremoniously escort you to the door
and request that you take your play someplace else if
your card-counting habit is found out.
That all brings on the latest wrinkle, fantasy
sports, which some now are claiming is a game of
skill. A few states have addressed the question head-
on, by ruling that fantasy sports are, to one extent
or another, illegal. Elsewhere, it begins as an open
question.
Think about this, though. If you place a bet that
Ohio State will beat Michigan by at least a touch-
down, it clearly is sports wagering. But clearly, skill
is involved. How will Michigan’s wide-outs match
up against Ohio State’s defensive backs? Studying
the teams is critical to learning that, along with an
infinity of other permutations. Slot machines are
pure luck: You push the button, whereupon a com-
puterized random number generator decides where
the electronic reels are going to stop. You win or
you don’t, having nothing to do with how you might
have gone about pushing the button.
Las Vegas sports books always have an array of
“proposition bets,” especially in the Super Bowl.
For example: Will the visiting team score on its first
possession? Will the home team be the first to score
a touchdown? Most common, Will the total points be
over or under 42½?
The question is how is it any different for a group
of people to each choose, say, a quarterback, a receiver
and a running back and the winner depends upon the
performance of each of them.
The resolution of this can be in the state legislature,
which can simply pass a law outlawing betting on
fantasy sports, as Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana
and Washington have done. The Nevada Gaming
Control Board analyzed daily fantasy sports (DFS)
against Nevada’s statutes and regulations, deciding
that the model was gambling under Nevada law. Of
course, Nevada allows gambling—if you have a license,
acquiring which is a tall order. Nevada gaming license
applications are hundreds of pages long, subject to
the intense scrutiny of Gaming Control. The popular
(multimillion-dollar) fantasy sports websites presum-
ably would be denied a license on the grounds that
they are engaging in illegal gambling in other states.
How this will play out will be interesting. Propo-
nents, putting forth their game-of-skill arguments,
will claim that fantasy sports betting, Super Bowl
pools and so on, which go on in offices from coast
to coast, would be better regulated than operated
underground. Opponents will point to the problem
of gambling addiction (and it is one, to be sure) and,
to some extent, the claimed immorality of it—or, as
cautioned by Professor Harold Hill:
An’ the next thing ya know,
Your son is playin’ for money
In a pinch-back suit.
And list’nin to some big outta-town Jasper
Hearin’ him tell about horse-race gamblin’.
Not a wholesome trottin’ race, no!
But a race where they set down right on the horse!
Like to see some stuck-up jockey’boy
Sittin’ on Dan Patch? Make your blood boil?
(Parenthetically, Music Man is an excellent movie/
play that wonderfully illustrates the hypocrisy of the
opposition to gambling.)
Over 40 states now have some form of casino gam-
bling. In fact, the only two states where all gambling
is outlawed are Utah and Hawaii. You would think the
proliferation of illegal gambling and the acceptance
of it will sooner or later influence Congress to change
things.
Now, enjoy reading in the newspaper every day
about the latest wrinkle in fantasy sports betting!
LEGAL NEWS
Kennston Productions, ImLive partner for new FTM webcam site
Kennston Productions has partnered with ImLive
models in a dedicated room.”
to create a webcam site dedicated to the FTM
Michelle Austin, co-owner of Kenton Productions,
niche market (female-to-male transgender).
said, “Trans men are beautiful human beings and
“Thanks to a partnership with Kennston
with the rise of trans people in the media, and the
Productions, ImLive is pioneering the way in
change of FTM porn we feel it is the right time for
the world of adult webcams,” said an ImLive representative. “We would
people to see trans men represent their niche properly on a webcam
like to welcome a new group of hosts to the ImLive family: our beautiful
F2M hosts. F2M, aka trans men (that is, genetic females transitioning to
men) now have the ability to register and work on ImLive. We’re taking
steps to represent the entire spectrum of genders on our site, giving
everyone the opportunity to explore themselves and work as webcam
site.”
The white label site through ImLive is TBoyCams.com. Anyone in
the trans- f2m category will pop up on the site even if they are not
one of Kennston’s models. FTM models can apply to Kennston’s site at
Kennston.com.
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