Georgia state may refuse to sports betting

Recently, Hawaii, Mississippi, Texas, Illinois and other states have banned online sports betting services.

US.- Whilst yesterday Atlanta was celebrating the approval of casino regulation for four further casinos throughout Georgia, the Atlanta Journal Constitution suggested that “daily fantasy sports are not authorized under the law.” The official decision of the congressmen has been jammed by both Georgia prosecuting Attorney and the defense of daily fantasy sports suppliers.

The controversy is the same as in every state. FanDuel an DraftKings –leading companies of the sports betting industry– determines that customer’s bets are based on skill and not chance, so its an entertainment activity and not illegal gambling. But Georgia Attorney highlights that in the state, bets that “depend upon chance even though accompanied by some skill” are illegal. That means that if a player can lose just because of the “action of the machine,” in this case, computers and mobiles, it is not a total skill activity.

Georgia will have to wait until the legislation is voted against or in favour of Daily Fantasy Sports, while FanDuel and DraftKings keep fighting the battle in other states. On the contrary, Nevada legalised them with the condition of the presentation of licenses and California is studying a soften way of approval that would not interfere with land-based casino businesses.