If you were anywhere near a TV during 2015 you likely saw commercials for daily fantasy sports from FanDuel or Draft Kings and wanted to smash your TV because they were on every five minutes.

You probably haven’t seen those commercials lately because both companies are in financial and legal trouble and are probably merging soon.

Well after more than a year of holding out and knowing exactly was DFS was, I decided to try it. It did not go well.

First off, let me just say this: It’s gambling. You risk real money to try and win real money. This isn’t like CentSports or any of those other sites where you get a nickle or whatever and advertisers will keep giving you more when you lose.

You put your credit or debit card in, deposit however much you want and off you go with the hopes of winning big. It’s no different than walking into a casino or horse track and plunking down money there. If it smells and looks like gambling, it’s gambling, no matter what Draft Kings or FanDuel try to tell you.

I repeat, it’s gambling.

In fact, I would say your odds of winning at a casino or horse track are far better than winning at DFS. At least at the blackjack table you’re playing against just one other person.

Based on my experience, this is like playing the lotto. Yeah, you might occasionally win small amounts, but the odds of you making it rich are astronomically small.

I had never played DFS prior to this because I lived in Montana for the past two years, where DFS is not permitted. Not because Montana thinks it’s bad or morally incorrect, but because the state runs its own DFS…through the state lottery. Play DFS for the kids and support the schools!

Well now I live in Texas, and they allow it, but only through Draft Kings.

So I decided to plunk down $25 and try my luck. If you look at the picture above, I lost every time, and not once did I come close to winning. I am down to $4 of my initial $25 and I may as well flush it down the toilet.

I decided to try hockey, I like hockey, I watch it often, I feel I know more about it than the large majority of the population. It didn’t matter.

I picked my team, just like you set a lineup in any other fantasy sport, only in this each player has a set value and you have a salary cap. You hit submit then you sit at home watching games, working, or doing whatever else while your team is supposedly racking up points.

They did not rack up points and I did not win. Nor did I come close. In a flash, $3-4 at a time is gone and not coming back.

And really that’s it. It’s gambling, but drawn out over a handful of days rather than all at once like a casino. My advice to you: don’t play, you aren’t going to win.