“Well, there goes my parlay” — a common phrase within the sports betting sphere, meaning that a student’s hopes of correctly foreseeing a sports game outcome have just been crushed. Recently, sports betting games have risen in popularity among students and teachers alike at Cupertino High School.
The practice of sports betting was modernized in 2006. Fantasy sports is one category of sports betting, a form of betting that involves predicting the results of games.
There are two types of betting — one that utilizes real money and one that does not, allowing high schoolers to participate. Every week, a typical fantasy football player bets on a certain number of touchdowns, or more commonly, the number of passing or rushing yards. Then, depending on whether the requirement is met, “fantasy points” are assigned to the player that round.
Each bet is known as a parlay, and bettors can deal several parlays per week. For example, a bettor can put in three parlays of yards rushed for a player, number of touchdowns for a player and number of sacks for another player. Bettors group together in their own leagues, whether it is with their friends or users online. The bettor who scores the most fantasy points in the league wins.
From selecting an adequate and flexible roster of players to listening in to National Football League game predictions every week, participants develop various tactics to give them an edge over others in their league.
A typical fantasy football player selects their team of NFL players on an app, an action that is known as the draft. For some, this comes with a great deal of preparation. Sean Bui, CHS’s law teacher and an avid fantasy football player, describes the process as exciting.
“I’m in a family league, which includes my mom, my step-dad, my father-in-law, my best friend from elementary school [and more],” Bui said. “That league is what is called a ‘redraft’ league and we engage in a ‘snake draft.’ This means that every year we rebuild our teams by going in order and then reversing that order.”
Bui once had a player on his team named James Cook, who performed quite well. Said Bui, “One week he scored 27.5 points […] I was texting with my good friend to talk and celebrate the success and he said, ‘You’re COOKing in both!’ That made me laugh out loud.”
Bui’s passion for fantasy football led him to a unique prize. Adding out, Bui stated, “There is a teacher group. They are all very strong. I won it last year: I bought a Fantasy Football [World Wrestling Entertainment] Style Championship belt to memorialize my victory.”
Why is fantasy football fun? A mixture of competitiveness and the adrenaline rush that comes with a successful parlay.
Said Bui, “I think it’s the nice Venn diagram of football, which I love to watch, engagement, because all games that include my players are now super interesting to me, competition, because I’m competing with other human beings and community — I’m in leagues with friends and families.”
