I enjoy both online poker and daily fantasy sports. Neither is perfect – there are certainly issues with each that I would like fixed (hey sites: call me, my consulting rates are competitive) – but both pastimes are a lot of fun and should be legalized and regulated across the United States. And they both constitute gambling. Thus, it vexes me that DFS, despite being the much less mature industry, has been gaining acceptance from lawmakers at an astronomically faster rate than online poker. Case in point: over the weekend, the New York legislature passed a bill that legalizes and…

DraftKings and FanDuel stopped offering paid daily fantasy sports contests in Idaho on Monday after an agreement with the state attorney general, the second such agreement between a state and the top sites in a week. The sites pulled out of Alabama following a similar agreement. Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden issued a press release regarding the agreement with FanDuel and DraftKings, after “three months of negotiations.” The agreement took effect after May 1, per the AG’s office. Like many states before it, Wasden came to the conclusion that DFS runs afoul of the state’s gambling laws. From the release:…

Tennessee became the third state to regulate fantasy sports as an industry when Gov. Bill Haslam signed a bill into law on Wednesday. Tennessee joins Indiana and Virginia as state governments that have passed regulations overseeing DFS this year. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey also enacted DFS regulations this year. Tennessee becomes the first state where a negative attorney opinion about the legality of daily fantasy sports was rendered moot by the legislature. AG Herbert Slatery earlier this month opined that operating DFS contests constituted illegal gambling under Tennessee law, previously. Neither DraftKings nor FanDuel had announced that it would…

A senior Democratic Energy and Commerce source has confirmed to Legal Sports Report that the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade is planning a May 11 hearing on daily fantasy sports. That committee is housed within the Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Fred Upton (R-MI). Frank Pallone (D-NJ) is the ranking Democratic member. Both Michigan and New Jersey have considered legislative answers to the daily fantasy sports question in their state legislatures. Pallone has been vocal on the issue of DFS, using the explosion of interest in the product as a platform to draw attention to New Jersey’s efforts…

Indiana became the second state with a law formally legalizing daily fantasy sports after Gov. Mike Pence signed Senate Bill 339 on Thursday. Earlier this month, Virginia became the first state to pass such a law. States have taken vastly different approaches as they try to clarify the murky legality of the games. New York’s attorney general has declared them illegal and the industry’s two largest companies, DraftKings and FanDuel, agreed this week to stop taking bets in the state. In Maryland, a bill would put the question to voters in a November referendum. The Indiana law sets a minimum…

Federal investigations into the daily fantasy sports industry are open in three jurisdictions and may be exploring a variety of criminal questions, per comments made Thursday by an attorney representing unnamed DraftKings employees. The comments were made by Boston-based white-collar criminal defense attorney Paul Kelly during a public forum held at the University of New Hampshire School of Law where reporters were in attendance and audio recording was permitted. Near the start of his comments, Kelly said he represents “certain individuals, managers, from DraftKings.” A transcript of the speech is available below. DraftKings, FanDuel, and Mr. Kelly all provided statements…