Online Fantasy Sports Betting

Fantasy sports sites have taken a page from the online gambling playbook by offering deposit bonuses to new customers. Sign up for an account at any of the major fantasy sites and you’ll get a matching deposit bonus just like you’d get at a normal betting site.

Fantasy Sports has truly turned into a worldwide phenomenon. Fantasy sports betting comes in different forms and shapes. From betting on fantasy horse races and other such events to daily fantasy sports which are sweeping through the world as a form of skill based sports betting, fantasy sports betting has truly grown during the last couple of years.

1. Jun 23, 2014 Even better, most fantasy sports sites allow you to compete for cash without violating any gambling laws as long as your local regulations don’t prevent you from participating in online skill games. Betting Real Money on Fantasy Sports. The fantasy sports games offered by early sites weren’t all that different from their pen and paper.
2. DraftKings and FanDuel are among the leaders in the online sprots betting market, and some of that success could come from their early entry in daily fantasy sports.

As fantasy sports are gaining in popularity, so too are the prize pools of daily fantasy sports leagues and the numbers of punters participating in betting on fantasy sports. Today, dozens of online platforms accept competitive real money players who wish to compete in fantasy sports betting.

Legal Sports Betting Online

Keep reading for more information and details on the fantasy sports betting activities.

What Are Fantasy Sports?

Fantasy sports are a very interesting concept. Instead of classic betting on sporting events, fantasy sports competitions allow sports fans to compete against each other in their understanding of the sport. This is done by allowing each participant of the competition to select a team of real sports players. Every competition lasts for a certain period and it could be daily, weekly, monthly or seasonal.

Each play that a player makes during that period, whether we are talking football, basketball, hockey or any other sport, is recorded and rated. Once the competition has ended, all the points your players have accumulated are summed up and the player with the highest number of points is the winner.

Each fantasy sports competition comes with a buy in and competitions can have as few as two players or an unlimited number of players competing. The overall prize pool of the competition is distributed among a number of top ranking players, depending on the competition format.

It is important to note that the fantasy sports sites make their profit from the entry fee they charge and the rest of the money is distributed based on results. This makes fantasy sports truly a skill based game and many professional poker players have taken up fantasy sports in recent times due to a significant edge they saw in it.

As a skill based game, fantasy sports allow players to use their overall knowledge of the sport and any other means at their disposal to predict how each and every player will perform during a certain period. Even a layman will easily understand how many players will select players based on their preference rather than real statistical data, making fantasy sports a game where you can truly use knowledge to gain a significant edge over the playing field.

Making Money With Fantasy Sports Betting

Fantasy sports are one field where hundreds of players have been making money since the inception of the game. Unlike sports betting where the house will always leave itself an edge which is hard to beat, all you will have to do in fantasy sports is beat a field of oftentimes less than informed players. This makes your job much easier and the probability of walking away with a profit quite nice if you are patient enough to make your picks based on statistical data and actual player performance information.

Online sports betting and in-person sportsbooks are now live in Illinois.

Rivers Casino Des Plaines took the first legal Illinois sports wager on March 9, 2020. Online sports betting went live later in the summer of 2020, and for now, accounts can be created from anywhere in the state.

Legal Illinois online sports betting

Fantasy Sports Betting Sites

Here’s where we are right now with online betting in Illinois: You can sign up and wager from anywhere in the state at a number of sports betting apps. But it’s been a winding road to get there, and it may not stay that way.

BetRivers became the first online sportsbook to launch in Illinois on June 18, 2020. For a short time, people in Illinois could register an account online, make a deposit, and immediately start placing bets at BetRivers.

Gov. JB Pritzker responded to the realities of the coronavirus pandemic by issuing an executive ordersuspending the in-person registration requirement. The order superseded the law’s stipulation that people register for online sports betting accounts in-person for the first 18 months.

While he rescinded that order in July, it went back into effect in August, and it’s stayed that way ever since.

Best sports betting apps in Illinois

Online sports betting got off to an interesting start in Illinois in 2020. For now, here are the apps available in the state:

• BetRivers
• DraftKings Sportsbook
• FanDuel Sportsbook
• PointsBet
• William Hill

All are available for people in Illinois to place wagers, but you have to register for an account with the casino or racetrack associated with the sportsbook app.

As major sports start to get back underway in the US following the pandemic, additional Illinois sports betting apps are sure to come online. For now, the options for Illinois residents include:

DraftKings Sportsbook

Fantasy Sports Betting Websites

DraftKings Sportsbook inked a deal with the Casino Queen in East St. Louis in order to offer sports betting in the state; right now, sportsbooks must partner with a land-based entity to offer mobile wagering. You can currently register your account from anywhere in the state thanks to an order from the governor, instead of having to visit the physical DraftKings at Casino Queen. But that ability could end on Sept. 19, unless the governor renews the order allowing remote registration.

DraftKings has been one of the early leaders in the rapid expansion of US sports betting as it has launched online sportsbooks in a number of states.

FanDuel Sportsbook

FanDuel launched an online sports betting app in the summer of 2020 as well thanks to a deal with Par-A-Dice Casino in East Peoria. After looking like it may stay on the sidelines for a while, FanDuel quickly moved to launch and take advantage of the ability to sign up bettors remotely.

FanDuel is the top sportsbook in the country in terms of revenue and wagers taken.

PointsBet

PointsBet became the fourth app to launch in Illinois when it opened for business in September 2020. The Australian sportsbook opened its doors thanks to a partnership with Hawthorne Race Course, one of Illinois’ three racetracks.

PointsBet is unique in the sports betting landscape thanks to its signature product, the Points Bet. Players bet on an established mark, like a point spread or total, but are rewarded or penalized according to the distance the actual score is from the estimate.

Sports Betting Information

BetRivers

The first sports betting app in Illinois came from Rush Street Interactive, which is the online arm. Would-be bettors have to go to Rivers Casino Des Plaines near Chicago to register their BetRivers accounts under state law, although that is suspended by executive order at the moment.

BetRivers already offered online sports betting in a number of states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

William Hill

One of the most ubiquitous sportsbooks in the legal US market started up its app in Illinois in time to take advantage of wagering during football season. The William Hill platform will feature bonuses and offers competitive with the other mobile IL sports betting apps.

Latest Illinois sports betting updates and news

Daily Fantasy Sports Betting