Iowa is one of just a handful of states where it isn’t legal to cash out an online fantasy sports bet. Rep. Jake Highfill, a Republican from Johnston, presented legislation that would legalize revenue prizes for getting involved in the online games online.
“Last year the Senate passed costs that would have enabled fantasy sports in a very big method Iowa. That costs came over to your house and didn’t go any further, most likely because we lacked time. Mostly, those of us in the House that are supporting this legislation have an interest in making certain we have a great handle on control of it.”
Vander Linden states that, while there may be skill included, dream sports are still clearly gambling. Others in the market say the amount of ability needed takes it out of the gambling world. Ed Miller is a video game design expert in Las Vegas.
“This is certainly an online game you can be proficient at,” he says. “The ability of the video game is sort of multi-layers of complexity. There’s the capability to anticipate which gamers are going to be excellent, then there’s another layer of the game which is, it actually is to your advantage if you can anticipate how the other players of the online game will have the tendency to play.”
The question of whether it’s a video game of ability or opportunity plays into everything from whether it should be taxed the like casinos to issues over its addicting properties. On this River to River, host Ben Kieffer and Statehouse Correspondent Joyce Russell talk with Rep. Vander Linden and Ed Miller. Rep. Dan Kelley, a Democrat from Newton, Eric Preuss, supervisor of Iowa’s gambling treatment program, and Peter Schoenke, chairman of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, also sign up with the conversation.