Connecticut's Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) has fined DraftKings $19,000 after an investigation uncovered a programming error in one of the company's online games that made it impossible to generate a win.
The Connecticut online casino game, Deal or No Deal Banker’s Bonanza, turned out to be the ultimate bad beat for players. Developed by White Hat Gaming and launched by DraftKings in August 2023, the game was advertised to return an average of 95 cents on the dollar.
But after roughly a week of play – and more than 20,000 spins – the game never paid out a penny.
The DCP's Gaming Division started receiving complaints within days of the game’s launch. DraftKings also received player complaints but initially didn’t acknowledge any problems according to CTInsider.com, which broke the story.
Eventually, DraftKings identified a problem with the game, but only after 522 players lost a combined $23,909. DraftKings returned the money to the affected players without explanation and quietly relaunched the game. The company only notified the DCP after the regulator contacted the online sportsbook and gaming provider about receiving customer complaints.
In a statement, DraftKings said, “Our customers’ satisfaction and the integrity of our products are central to our success. We have robust measures to monitor potential payout issues, and we investigate any concerns promptly. In the event of a game not functioning as intended, we ensure impacted customers are appropriately refunded."
For the breach, the DCP fined DraftKings $19,000 and White Hat Gaming $3,500.
“The response from DraftKings to the consumer complaints was not satisfactory," Kaitlyn Krasselt, a DCP spokesperson, told CNBC. "And as a result of the DCP investigation, [DraftKings] was instructed to implement greater internal controls for their products, submit regular reports for new games to DCP, and make improvements to their consumer complaints process.”
Krasselt also said that the issue was “a great example of something that, if we were not there to intervene, may not have been taken seriously until our investigators got involved."
Since launching online sports betting and gaming in 2021, Connecticut’s DCP has nearly doubled its regulatory staff to 62 people.
This isn't the first time DraftKings has run afoul of state regulators this year. In July, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement fined DraftKings $100,000 for providing the state with inaccurate sports betting data.
