Gambling is a gamble. People go on hot streaks, cold streaks, and every streak in between. Regardless of one’s success, everyone expects to win a little something sometimes.
In August 2023, though, 522 DraftKings customers in Connecticut lost so consistently that they figured something had to be up. And it was.
Those 522 players spun the reels on the Deal or No Deal Banker’s Bonanza slot game at DraftKings Casino over 20,000 times from August 15 to August 21 of last year.
And in those 20,000 spins, not a single player won anything. Every spin came up blank. It wasn’t a case of, for example, a one-dollar spin “winning” 75 cents and thus losing the player 25 cents.
No, every spin resulted in zero payout.
Key Highlights
- Odds for the Deal or No Deal Banker’s Bonanza slots game were accidentally set to zero.
- One customer made a video proving that the game had a problem.
- Customers who contacted DraftKings felt their concerns weren’t taken seriously.
- DraftKings did not voluntarily report the problem to state regulators.
Cold Streak of a Lifetime
As it turned out, rather than the return to player (RTP) odds being set to about 95%, as they should have been, the odds had been set to zero.
The game, in effect, was accidentally rigged to make players lose each spin. DraftKings did refund every player who ran into the problem a total of $23,909, but never explained to them why.
Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) Gaming Division fined DraftKings $19,000 and game developer White Hat Studios $3,500.
Player Got Proof on Tape
Though many players alerted DraftKings that there may be an issue with Deal or No Deal Banker’s Bonanza, the most persistent was a customer named James, who told CT Insider that he had wagered about $3 million on DraftKings in the past three years.
“Honestly, the first 10 minutes I played, I knew something was wrong right away,” he said.
James contacted his VIP host at DraftKings, who told him to call the help desk. To prove that he wasn’t making it up or simply crazy, James and a friend recorded themselves playing DraftKings online slots.
James played eight different slots games before getting to Deal or No Deal Banker’s Bonanza, winning at least a little something — even if it resulted in a net loss — within a few spins in each game.
On Deal or No Deal, he spun the reels over 50 times at 10 cents a pop and won zilch every time.
He told his friend during the video that he previously had about 500 spins with the same game, same result.
James’ friend then tried it on his own account from a different location in the state – they were talking via Discord – and came up empty, as well.
I think it’s messed up when they don’t take player complaints seriously, and all they had to do was look into it.
James C. – DraftKings Player
DraftKings Fumbles Response
Losing over and over is frustrating enough, but James’ biggest complaint was that DraftKings seemed unwilling to take him seriously.
He told CT Insider that when he showed the company his video, they locked his account and told him to seek help for problem gambling.
“I think it’s messed up when they don’t take player complaints seriously, and all they had to do was look into it,” he said.
According to CT Insider, another customer who complained to DraftKings was told in an e-mail, “I understand it can be frustrating to have a bit of a cold streak, but I can assure you that there is nothing wrong with the game itself.”
Connecticut DCP, however, was much more responsive, and James was a major catalyst for the department’s investigation.
In fact, DCP Gaming Division Director Kristofer Gilman said that DraftKings’ comment to the second player above was “a completely false statement,” as it was made three days after the company had asked White Hat to look at the game because of all the complaints.
According to the regulator’s investigation, the glitch first presented itself within 48 hours of the game’s launch in Connecticut, after which DraftKings conducted its own internal investigation.
But though the incidents spanned August 15-21, neither DraftKings nor White Hat reported it to DCP until August 31, over a week after the problem was fixed.
It took the DCP contacting the two companies for them to say anything. Said DCP spokeswoman Kaitlyn Krasselt, “This is a great example of something that, if we were not there to intervene, they would not have taken it seriously until our investigators got involved.”
Sources
https://www.ctinsider.com/connecticut/article/draftkings-online-slot-zero-payouts-investigation-19607289.php
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BIO5hMfchRIU6DCdrREkpTV_FVgiPol_/view
