The Massachusetts Gaming Commission met Tuesday to hear from Encore Boston Harbor and Plainrdige Parkcasinos about their violations of the in-state college gambling ban. Since Jan. 31, retail sports betting was launched in Massachusetts, all three state-licensed retail sportsbooks reported violations.
Encore Boston placed bets on BC women’s basketball
Encore Boston Harbor today informed the MGC that its WynnBet retailer sportsbook had accepted a wager on Boston College Eagles female’s team due to a mistake in its naming system.
Encore/WynnBet received a parlay wager on Feb 2 from a customer at a betting kiosk. One leg was on the Boston College Eagles basketball team.
Encore claimed it was an issue with the GAN’s sportsbook supplier, which didn’t recognize that Boston College’s men’s and ladies basketball teams had different names within its platform.
Jacqui Klam, Encore’s General Counsel, spoke of the urgency in getting the platform ready to launch retail on Jan 31. The bet cost $70 and was worth just over $22.
Rob Lekites was the VP of North American Sportsbook Sales & Operations for GAN. He gave evidence before the MGC to support the firm and said that the banned bet was an “anomaly”. He said that GAN didn’t know there were two distinct team names for Boston College’s men’s and ladies’ teams.
He stated that it was the only Massachusetts college team with two names for it in their system. As you can see, women’s basketball is a highly wagered market, as we have our sportsbook. The team didn’t know that Boston College had two names in our system. So, when we searched for the team name, Boston College – blacklist, disabled – was not available (to place bets on).
“Unfortunately, there were two names in there. This is how the information got through from the data provider to the environment to be wagered. We didn’t know there was another name for this team in our system.
WynnBet implements manual audits in order to prevent future mistakes
Encore took steps to prevent this from happening again after the prohibition bet. GAN has now fixed it so that the Boston College Eagles women are on the prohibited wagers’ list.
They also conduct manual audits twice daily of all bets to ensure that they are from the approved list.
Jennifer Roberts is VP/General Counsel at WynnBet. She explained the process to Commission by stating that “Our WynnBet Trading Team is responsible for reviewing markets that are published to patrons. We were informed about the first incident and had given the trading team the task of conducting daily audits twice daily, once in morning and one in the evening. This was to ensure no Boston colleges are being performed.
They will review all the information being made available to the public and go into the system. They’ll look at it and review it when it arrives from GAN.
Encore and WynnBet concluded by expressing regret at the error and reiterating the steps they are taking to prevent future ones.
Plainridge Park stated that Kambi error caused Merrimack College’s betting error
Plainridge Park Casino was infraction like Encore Boston Harbor. However, the issue with an operator of odds led to Plainridge Park Casino using Kambi rather than GAN.
Plainridge Park General Manager Northscott Gruunsel said that both Penn Entertainment and PPC understand the importance compliance. The team provided details about how and why the mistake was made.
Plainridge Park’s testimony states that Merrimack college was incorrectly entered into GAN as a school located outside of Massachusetts. The school is located in Andover MA, approximately five miles from New Hampshire’s border.
Commissioner Bradford Hill wanted to know how wagers on this event could be placed at the window. This is where the person entered and processed the wager. Grounsel said that although one employee questioned the wager, the bet was still placed. Later, he praised the employee who raised the concern and kept compliance in mind.
After the game, a patron who wanted to cash their ticket at the counter reported the problem to the sportsbook. Kambi was also notified through the company’s internal systems. Plainridge Park also reached out to Penn Interactive to report the issue. Plainridge Park also reported the issue directly to the MGC.
Kambi conducted an audit of its internal controls in response to the incident. Plainridge Park distributed a list of all state college sportsbook employees. New procedures have been implemented that require sign-off by sportsbook managers.
Plainridge Park, like Encore Boston Harbor must wait for the five commissioners, who will then deliberate in private and issue a written decision.
Jessica Welman also contributed.
