Over the weekend, CNBC posed the question: Which creates more winners, online poker or Daily Fantasy Sports while further wondering whether the later is truly more skill-based than Web poker.
Pro poker player and two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Andy Frankenberger relayed to CNBC that he believes Daily Fantasy is much more like gambling than online poker.
“A daily fantasy pro’s competitive edge over a beginner is nothing compared to the edge of a poker pro versus a first-time poker player. Your decisions in daily fantasy can’t be that bad when players’ prices are efficiently set by the sites,” he said.
Frankenberger elaborates further: “It’s similar to how there’s no bad pick in sports betting if the lines are set efficiently,” he said. “But in poker, players assign their own values to each hand, and as such, the skilled player stands to gain from making better decisions.” In addition to poker, he’s played fantasy sports since the 1980s, and daily fantasy for several years.
“It’s a joke that between online poker and daily fantasy, poker is the one that’s widely prohibited in this country,” said Frankenberger. “Anyone who thinks poker is not a game of skill probably hasn’t played much poker.”
He also suggests that the reason pros currently dominate the DFS scene has more to do with the number of entries they submit, noting that prize guarantees often exceed the total funds collected.
– Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com