DraftKings, White Hat Fined for Unwinnable Connecticut Online Slot Game
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Connecticut DraftKings customers have been refunded nearly $24,000 after a Department of Consumer Protections study found an online slot game in the state was unwinnable.
The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) fined DraftKings $19,000 and White Hat Gaming $3,500 after the Connecticut online casino game Deal or No Deal Banker’s Bonanza was found to be unwinnable.
From Aug. 15 to 21, 2023, 522 Connecticut customers played the game to the tune of nearly $24,000 in bets, with no wins in return.
Investigation Reveals Unwinnable Game
An investigation by the DCP revealed that the game was unwinnable, despite advertising a 95-cent return on every dollar played. The investigation revealed that the win probability of the online slot game had been accidentally set to zero by game developer White Hat Gaming.
DraftKings returned $23,909 in total bets to players on Aug. 29, 2023, more than two weeks after the issue was found. However, in the official DCP report, the department was not made aware of the incident until two days after the refund occurred.
“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. The issue in Connecticut arose from an error on the game developer’s side. We identified a possible issue within 48hours of launch and immediately escalated it for investigation. All impacted customers were fully refunded within days of concluding there was an issue, and we have not encountered any similar issues with this vendor,” a DraftKings spokesperson said.
CT Insider was the first to report on the incident.
Fine for DraftKings, White Hat Gaming
The DCP fined DraftKings $19,000 for the error and White Hat Gaming $3,500.
In the DCP investigation, it was revealed that a number of customers contacted DraftKings about the game and the impossibility to win. DraftKings responded to many of them with the message that its online casino games are random no matter how long or how much money has been wagered.
Robert Linnehan
Covering regulatory developments in online gambling. Editing/writing/creating a newsletter for readers across all formats.
