DraftKings threw together a sports betting contest last weekend and one entrant has already filed legal action.
A class-action civil complaint filed Thursday in New Jersey alleges sports betting provider DraftKings operated with negligence and in an arbitrary manner while running a $2.5 million handicapping contest that ended in controversy this past weekend.
Plaintiff Christopher Leong, a participant in the DraftKings Sports Betting National Championship, claims in the complaint that bets of similar size and on similar events were arbitrarily accepted and rejected by the contest operators and that winning wagers were settled at varying times, which caused a significant issue for the leader on Sunday.
The contest was the first of its kind. Contestants each started with a real-money $5,000 bankroll and were allowed to wager on anything offered at DraftKings’ New Jersey sportsbook on Friday and Saturday. Among sports events on Sunday, only the two NFL playoff games were available for wagering in the contest. The contestant who ended with the largest bankroll was deemed the winner.
More than 200 contestants entered the $10,000 buy-in tournament that was headquartered in Jersey City.
The New England Patriots are an underdog against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game.
The Chiefs opened as 3-point favorites over the Patriots at the SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas.
New England had been favored in its past 12 playoff games, a streak that dates back to the 2013 AFC Championship Game. The Patriots were road underdogs against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos and lost 26-16 in that game.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker is pushing for legalized sports betting.
The Baker administration announced Thursday it will file “An Act To Establish Sports Wagering in the Commonwealth” before Friday’s deadline. The act would allow sports wagering lounges at the three licensed casino operations in the commonwealth as well as permitting bettors within Massachusetts to place sports wagers from their phones and laptops.
In a press release, the Baker administration estimated the bill would generate $35 million in tax revenues in Fiscal Year 2020.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called for legalized sports betting this year in his State of the State address.
“Let’s authorize sports betting in the upstate casinos,” Cuomo said Tuesday early in his State of the State address. “It’s here. It’s a reality, and it will generate activity in those casinos.”
New York passed a 2013 law that authorized four upstate casinos — Del Lago Resort, Tioga Downs, Rivers (Schenectady) and Resorts World Catskills — to offer in-person sports betting, if permitted by federal law.
Maryland is also trying to fast track sports betting.
Maryland lawmakers are exploring a faster way to approve sports betting this year, but it’s unclear if they will be able to do it without voter approval in 2020.
Voters endorsed a constitutional amendment allowing casinos in 2008, but further commercial gambling expansion requires another voter referendum. Lawmakers failed to pass legislation to put sports betting on last November’s ballot, but momentum appears to be building to act this year.
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