The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC), the state’s gambling regulator, said it was “frustrated by DraftKings” betting violations.
DraftKings notified the Commission that it had placed bets in the Tennis UTR Pro-Series, an event not approved by the state.
The MGC’s Investigations and Enforcement Bureau investigated the case. The wagering occurred over a period of 12 days, from March 10 through March 22.
In this period, 864 bets were placed on three events, resulting in a total of $7,867. DraftKings stated that the error occurred due to a “miscommunication between their trading and trading compliance departments”.
The operator made the mistake after copying a list from another jurisdiction of tennis events without checking if they were approved in Massachusetts.
DraftKings refunded all stakes placed by players, removed any winnings, and credited any losses.
The operator removed the UTR Pro-Series markets from their platform and informed its trading team that any new market requests should be sent to the compliance team first.
Commission “frustrated by violations
While acknowledging that DraftKings had self-reported the incident, several commissioners expressed concerns about the operator’s behavior.
Commissioner Eileen O’Brian said, “I’m a bit frustrated when I read that we copied the book from someone else and I didn’t verify it in Massachusetts.” “I don’t know if that was benign negligence or if that was something other.”
Cathy Judd Stein, Massachusetts chair of committee, shared the same view. “Like you, Commissioner O’Brian I’m a bit frustrated and would love to ensure that this practice does not continue. We’re just sure that operators know that this is taken very seriously by the Commission,” she said.
She added, “I acknowledge DraftKings’ self-disclosure. I appreciate it, we have acknowledged this in the past. I want to acknowledge this here.”
