A new daily fantasy sports game that lets users hone in on a single NFL playoff game has some gambling experts wondering if the contest inches the industry closer to the territory of sports betting that remains illegal in most of the United States.

The ”Showdown” variant offered by leading fantasy sports company DraftKings allows users to pick six athletes from two teams playing against each other in a real-life football game http://www.lionsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-frank-ragnow-jersey , racking up fantasy points based on stats like touchdowns, receptions and yards passing, rushing or receiving. That means users playing ”Showdown” this weekend can wager on performances in the Jaguars-Steelers game Sunday without having to wait for the Saints-Vikings game to play out several hours later.

The 2006 federal law that effectively banned online gambling but gave rise to daily fantasy sports requires daily fantasy contests to be based on the performances of athletes in ”multiple real-world” sporting events – not just single games. That detail is leading some advocates to question how DraftKings and regulators operate.

”This new game continues the industry trend of trying to get as close as possible to single game betting,” said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, which is neutral on legalized gambling but pushes for strong regulations and consumer protections.

Whyte said the games ”further blur the largely fictional line between daily fantasy sports and sports betting.”

DraftKings says the federal law – the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act – only applies if there’s an underlying violation of state gambling statutes first, and, so far, no state has objected to the competition.

State laws vary widely, but policymakers in 18 states responded to the industry’s popularity by legalizing and regulating daily fantasy sports. Many of those regulations were developed with heavy lobbying from DraftKings and other industry leaders. Daily fantasy companies largely avoid another 10 states where laws are worded in ways that make it more difficult to operate.

”This act is basically irrelevant. Everything defaults to state law now,” said Anthony Cabot, the company’s outside legal counsel, referring to the federal law that the industry has long cited for justifying its existence. ”If it’s not in violation of state law, then there’s no violation of the federal act. It’s a big red herring.”

The Boston-based company has also offered contests for other one-off events like NASCAR races and golf tournaments since 2015 Adrian Clayborn Color Rush Jersey , without any complaints from regulators, he added.

Daniel Etna, a New York sports lawyer who closely follows the sports gambling industry, said the game appears to comply with most if not all new state laws approved in recent years to legalize and regulate daily fantasy sports.

”Contests like these push the very fine line between fantasy sports contests and general sports wagering,” said Jay McDaniel, deputy director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission. ”It does, however, fall within our law’s definition of a fantasy contest.”

In New York, the state Gaming Commission determined in December that the contest was legal because it’s based off how individual players perform in the game, and not the ”score, point spread or team’s performance,” said commission spokesman Brad Maione.

One key is that ”Showdown” requires users to pick at least one player from each team in a single game. So fans choosing from the Titans-Patriots game on Saturday can’t just stack their lineup with Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and other New England stars without any Tennessee players.

Jeffrey Ifrah, a Washington-based attorney specializing in online gambling Colton Parayko Jersey , isn’t convinced there’s much appetite to enforce the laws, even if there was a conflict. Many of the new fantasy sports laws don’t even require states to approve new contests.

”None of these states really thought about this,” he said. ”They were given these laws to pass and they did it. There wasn’t a lot of legislative debate.”

The U.S. Supreme Court is also weighing a bid by New Jersey to overturn the sports betting ban in effect in all but four states (Delaware, Montana, Nevada and Oregon). A favorable ruling this year could make handwringing over daily fantasy sports moot.

”We would only look into a particular game if we received a complaint about it, which we have not in this case,” said Edward Grewach, general counsel for the Missouri Gaming Commission.

”We do not require review of every new game, so no, we have not looked into it,” said Elaine Lidholm, a spokeswoman for Virginia’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which oversees the industry.

The single-game format could have implications beyond the early rounds of the NFL playoffs, where eight teams play in each of the first two weeks and four teams play during the conference championships. DraftKing’s chief rival Youth Mark Walton Jersey , New York-based FanDuel, says it has ”exciting plans” for the Super Bowl, the most gambled on single game in the world.

If successful during the NFL playoffs, variants like ”Showdown” could extend into the regular season next year and even potentially be offered for single games in other sports.

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Follow Philip Marcelo at — Saquon Barkley got an incredulous look on his face when asked if he was hoping to play in the New York Giants‘ preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns on Thursday.

Hoping was not an option as far as the second overall pick in the NFL draft was concerned. The halfback from Penn State wants to play, even though the Giants cut back his workload last week, leaving many to wonder if he was a little dinged after 10 days of training camp.

Coach Pat Shurmur put the injury speculation to rest when talking to the media on Monday. He said Barkley is physically fine and the team is just managing his workload.

It seemed odd, though, on Saturday when the Giants didn’t give Barkley a snap after limiting his carries a day earlier.

Shurmur downplayed it, saying the rookie has been getting plenty of work in drills not open to the media.

Barkley believes he is ready. He has worked hard, picked the brains of quarterback Eli Manning and veteran running back Jonathan Stewart, gotten to know his linemen and seems to have grasped the offense as well as can be expected for a newcomer.

Shurmur said the 21-year-old is making mistakes but learning from every one.

“Hoping? I plan to play,” Barkley said Monday. “That’s like I don’t know; I haven’t experienced an NFL preseason game yet, but I think that hoping would be like, I am hoping I am good to go for that game. I am more than capable to playing now. I am just happy inside to play in my first NFL game. Hopefully I can maximize every rep.”

Barkley said he never had this much time to take care of his body in college. He noted that in his final season at Penn State he had to juggle training camp with taking finals from summer school classes.

Being hit for the first time in the NFL is something Barkley wants to happen.

“The first hit is something that knocks everything out Morgan Rielly Jersey , whereever your nerve is, you are overthinking stuff. It definitely helps.”

Barkley isn’t looking to gain a specific amount of yards or touchdowns. He wants to maximize every chance he gets and to have no missed assignments.

Manning said the best advice he has given Barkley is to take what the defense is giving on each play and realize you are not going to score on every play.

“Understand that expectations are going to be high, and don’t worry about that,” Manning said. “That’s what you have a team for and you have a job to do. Take what they give you and when the opportunity comes and there is a hole and you get to the safety, that’s your opportunity to make a guy miss and make something special happen.”

Defensive coordinator James Bettcher said Barkley has been a good test for his defense.

“There’s no question,” he said. “I dealt with a guy of that nature and we’ve talked about it here at this stand before is (David Johnson), an Arizona guy that can split out and try to create mismatches, a guy that can run the ball extremely well between the tackles, and coordinators are going to have a fun time figuring out how they’re going to get their matchups right.”

Shurmur said he was still working on how much everyone will play Thursday at MetLife Stadium. He said he wants to see his whole roster since performance in games carries more weight than training camp in determining the 53-man roster.

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