Online Games for Sports Enthusiasts

For years sports enthusiasts kept their betting options compartmentalized. Fantasy games that tested luck and gaming skill were played at online gaming sites. Sports contests could be wagered upon at sportsbooks and through sports betting sites. Today, the lines are blurring as increasing numbers of sports fans combine Croco Casino gaming entertainment with sports activities as they play fantasy sports for real money prizes.

 

Fantasy Sports and Daily Fantasy Sports

 

There are two types of fantasy sports, Traditional Fantasy Sports (head-to-head) which is played for several weeks or months during a season or a tournament and Daily Fantasy Sports, which is a shorter form where you pick players and then follow the competition for a day or a week. In both types of Fantasy Sports you, as the owner, form your own team that is made up of real players (NFL players if you’re playing fantasy football, NBA if you’re playing fantasy basketball, etc).

 

There are additional subcategories including Cash and Tournament for Daily Fantasy and redraft and dynasty leagues for season-long fantasy. There’s also a new type of league that’s gaining popularity called “Best Ball” where you compete in a season-long league with the goal being to score the highest number of fantasy points in your league during the regular season.

 

In Head to Head (H2) fantasy sports, owners select players based on positions – running backs, wide receivers, quarterbacks and tight ends. There are also leagues where placekickers, defensive players and team defenses are picked but that’s not common. Once players have been picked they compete against each other and the team that has the most points wins based on the stats that the players accumulated during the game. Teams compete for a place in the playoffs based on standings.

 

Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) is similar to season-long fantasy sports the format is condensed. The contests range from day-long events to events lasting up to a week, depending on the sport. Like with H2H fantasy, participants draft a player roster with the athletes on the roster earning points based on their in-game performance.

 

Online Gaming Draws Sports Fans Through Fantasy

 

Sports fans are increasingly turning to fantasy gaming as a way to combine gaming, sports and betting. Fantasy sports are both engaging and lucrative because many participating players place wagers on their predictions of how their team will perform in fantasy competitions.

Attraction

 

There are a number of reasons that playing fantasy sports is attractive to online gamers and sports fans. For one thing, just as playing at online casinos is a competitive activity, sports fans can get involved in the competitive aspect of sports through fantasy games. With fantasy sports, participants face off against each other to compete for prizes and rewards.

 

There’s also the element of being in charge.  When you play fantasy sports you take charge of what’s happening. You draft or buy players, determine strategy, set lineups, make substitutions as needed and adjust your team according to needs and strategy changes throughout the season.

 

Fantasy sports are among the most social type of gaming because the team that you are organizing is part of a league of other teams and the competitions in which you are engaging involve other team owners. You need to interact with other owners during drafts, trades and games and the various fantasy portals make it into an interactive and social experience for everyone.

 

Succeeding in fantasy games requires a high level of knowledge and experience. It’s a step up from online gaming where the games are relatively simple and there aren’t a lot of decisions to be made. With fantasy sports, you have to stay updated on every aspect of the real-life teams and players as well as the fantasy teams’ players and events. You need to know which players you need to build your team and stay updated on the real-life players’ health and physical conditions.

 

You need to figure out which positions you have filled successfully and which ones need to be changed in order to keep your team performing at the top level. It’s a step up from other types of online gaming but if you do it correctly, it’s a totally satisfying hobby.

 

Who Plays Fantasy Sports?

 

Most fantasy sports players are male but increasing numbers of women are playing. Almost half of fantasy sports gamers are between the ages of 18-34 so the industry sees significant potential for future growth. The most wagered-on fantasy sport is football followed by basketball, baseball and college games. Even professional players play fantasy games though they are limited regarding how much they are allowed to bet.

 

You can play fantasy games as a hobby but if you’re serious, it can become a time-consuming activity. There are numerous websites,  podcasts, magazines and other publications that keep subscribers up to date with stats, game theory and dates that keep them competitive. If you’re playing to win you need to know about coaching styles, weather patterns, injuries, prospects, stats for home and away games and much more in order to successfully manage a team. But hey…you’re managing your own sports team!  Every sports fan’s dreams come true!