DraftKings and White Hat Gaming must pay the state of Connecticut a total of $22,500 in fines after their online slot machine failed to deliver winnings to players for an entire week. reported that the state Department of Consumer Protection discovered the non-paying slot machine and issued the fines.
The sports betting and gaming website was fined $19,000 and White Hat Gaming was fined $3,500. The website promised its players that their Banking bonanza, with or without agreement The online slot machine paid out 95 cents for every dollar it took from players. However, a report from the Department of Consumer Protection found that the slot machine did not pay out a single cent between August 15 and August 21 of last year. A total of 522 players put nearly $24,000 into the machine over 20,569 spins during the period when the machine refused to pay out any winnings.
An incorrectly loaded file caused the machine to crash and not allow players to win the advertised amount. Once the faulty file was located and identified as the cause of the error, DraftKings and White Hat Gaming relaunched the game on August 22, 2023.
The report also found that DraftKings and White Hat Gaming did not disclose the faulty machine to state officials until the Department of Consumer Protection requested the information last year. One player told the gaming website that he played “a couple hundred spins” at 20 cents per spin and that the machine never paid out a “single winning spin or partial win,” according to the report. DraftKings officials responded to multiple complaints with messages like, “I understand it can be frustrating to have a small streak of bad luck, but I can assure you there is nothing wrong with the game itself.”
The slot machine continued to hold its winnings for another week until White Hat Gaming identified the flaw and patched the software a second time. White Hat also says in the status report that all customers received refunds “without any notification from DraftKings,” according to the report.
A spokesman for the Department of Consumer Protection also said NBC News White Hat Gaming “responded quickly” to investigators’ questions. However, DraftKings’ response was “not satisfactory,” hence the higher fine.
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