DraftKings Sportsbook can void contested Massachusetts sports betting wagers from an Oct. 24 NBA game, state regulators voted Thursday.
DraftKings Sportsbook would have been on the hook for just more than $575,000 in the Bay State from the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets matchup.
Instead, the operator will only have to give all 138 customers who placed the MA sports betting wager three times their initial bet stake back, regardless of whether it was in cash or a bonus bet.
The additional credit condition was attached to a 3-2 vote by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission in favor of voiding the wagers.
DraftKings Sportsbook error defined
DraftKings incorrectly posted first-quarter over/under totals as full-game totals, such as including LeBron James’ point total for the entire game as 8.5.
In all, 138 customers placed 178 bets for a total of $4,182, which would have paid out $575,436.
An error was made by the operator’s third-party vendor for same-game parlays, Sportcast. Word spread about the market via Reddit, and it was up for 13 minutes before being pulled.
Maynard: Should not game system
After a two-day discussion that spanned Nov. 16 and Thursday, commissioners Nakisha Skinner and Jordan Maynard, along with chair Cathy Judd-Stein, voted yes.
Commissioners Eileen O’Brien and Bradford Hill voted no.
“I can’t stomach enriching a group of people that were taking advantage of the system,” Maynard said.
O’Brien: DraftKings Sportsbook wrong
O’Brien made an earlier motion to deny the void that fell by a 3-2 vote.
O’Brien felt that DraftKings should be on the hook, with part of her reasoning being that DraftKings dealt with a similar mistake from Sportcast earlier this year, and failed to change vendors.
NBA props have since been moved in-house over the past month, DraftKings representative Jake List said.
States differ on their decisions
State regulators in New Jersey and Connecticut ($151,000 in payouts) both declined DraftKings’ request around the wagers. Meanwhile, 17 other jurisdictions granted the void.
DraftKings had given bonus bets to 14 of the 138 customers in Massachusetts. They believed those 14 had not intentionally abused the incorrect odds. Those cases were defined as “a customer’s parlay that contained less than 50% of the incorrect odds.”
Skinner, Maynard and Judd-Stein, however, wanted everyone treated the same way as part of their motion conditions.
MGC staff initially recommended that the commissioners void the wagers. DraftKings is the No. 1 sports betting operator in the MA market.
