Is Dream11 a scam?

It IS gambling. And it needs external regulators.

Dream11 needs an external regulator for every mega contest.

Firstly, kudos to the legal team of this firm for being able to convince the Court that the game requires more skill than luck.

TL;DR: Dream11 IS gambling and due to lack of regulation, Fair Play might just be a marketing ploy.

The Court, in its ruling, stated that playing the Dream11 game involves considerable skill, judgement and discretion and that success on Dream11 arises out of users’ exercise, superior knowledge, judgment and attention.

The Court also held that ‘the element of skill’ had a predominant influence on the outcome of the Dream11 game.

On this basis, the Court adjudged that playing on Dream11 constitutes a ‘game of mere skill’, which makes the Dream11 game exempt from the provisions of the Public Gambling Act, 1867 (PGA).

After playing my first ever Dream11 contest, I have no doubt in my mind that this is indeed gambling and it is not just “a game of mere skill”.

3 reasons why I know Dream11 is gambling

NCHAN317JK ended up winning 1 crore in one of the IPL contests.

1. If it were more skill-based, then the winners would show consistency by having a better track record. I haven’t even come close to the top 60th percentile in any match, yet I won 5 out of 10 against this user NCHAN317JK.
2. There is no limit to the number of predictive analysis a dream11 contestant can do from pattern recognition to how teams match up with one another, venue statistics, batting or bowling first…but at the end of the day, luck trumps everything. It all boils down to correctly predicting the highest and second highest scorer to get 2x points for captain and 1.5x points captain. This is the only way to win a mega contest and rank 1st against 4–6 million players, on top of getting atleast the top 8 out of the 9 remaining DT players.
3. “You know it when you see it” — just like you know what separates art from porn. Dream11 is 💯 gambling where you end up selecting players similar to picking your lucky numbers in a game of roulette. Analyzing the frequency of the yellow DT badge for players from past matches is similar to finding a pattern in the frequency of red or black. (hint: there is no pattern)

You need more skills to win a game of poker than to win a Dream11 contest.

I am all for legalization of nationwide gambling. In a free country, one must be allowed to do whatever they desire. (in respect with basic laws)

Legalization = Regulation

Are there fake winnners?

Transparency, Trust and Responsibility are the 3 pillars of Dream11’s Fair Play!

Why do I think Dream11 needs to be regulated?

Besides the fact that it is clearly gambling, I am very skeptical about Dream11’s authenticity and feel there might be fake winners.

“The teams cannot be updated/edited post the deadline of the respective match.”

Are we just taking their word for it?! How is the above statement verified? Is there anything in place to make sure Dream11 adheres to Fair Play? Are there any external teams/firms/regulators to check their codebase and algorithm?!

They need external regulators. Perhaps the entire contest needs to be on the blockchain using smart contracts.

With smart contracts, users can be sure that indeed no teams have been updated or edited post the deadline of the match!

This way we only need external regulators to make sure nothing is tampered with in terms of Dream11’s data structures, codebase and algorithm.