Gambling Or Skill? Md. Mulls Daily Fantasy Sports

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- It's the new wave of fantasy sports. Millions of people are playing DraftKings and FanDuel, including right here in Maryland.

Now the state's comptroller and delegates are speaking out on whether they consider the sites legal.

Rick Ritter has more on the gaming that's being banned in some states across the country.

One of those states, for now, won't be Maryland. Daily fantasy sports have been at the center of controversy for months over whether it's gambling or a game of skill.

Grab your phone, set your lineup, and you're good to go.

FanDuel and DraftKings are at the fingertips of hundreds of thousands of Marylanders. One of those players is Amene Jennai.

"You can control the odds in a way. The more you know about a player, the more you know about a team." said Jennai.

A bartender at the Greene Turtle, he's watched the games become the new weekly norm for customers.

"At least half the people are watching football are constantly looking at their phones, watching their stats," said Jennai.

But many are questioning -- is it gambling or is it a game of skill?

"If you call daily fantasy sports gambling, you have to call the Stock Market gambling. It works on a similar model," said Maryland Delegate Eric Luedtke.

Luedtke says the state needs to focus on regulating, not banning.

"The reaction of government needs to be to figure out how to regulate these new industries," he said.

In 2012, the state legalized fantasy sports and gave the comptroller's office authority to regulate. He says big casinos in Las Vegas have asked the state to shut down the sites, but he's going in a different direction.

"To regulate them, make sure that whatever taxes are owed are collected from the winners and make sure there are basic consumer protection guidelines in there," said Peter Franchot, Maryland Comptroller.

Something players in Maryland seem to be echoing.

The comptroller says those regulations could come fairly quickly.

The attorney general in Texas banned daily fantasy sports there on Tuesday. No word on how quickly it will be taken away from players.