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DraftKings and White Hat Gaming must pay a combined $22,500 in fines to the state of Connecticut after their online slot machines failed to pay out winnings to players for a week. The state’s consumer protection department reportedly discovered the unpaid slot machines and issued fines.
The sports betting and gambling website was fined $19,000, while White Hat Gaming was fined $3,500. The website warned players: Deal or No Deal Banker’s Bonanza Online slot machines pay out 95 cents for every dollar they receive from players, but according to a Consumer Protection Bureau report, the machine didn’t pay out a cent from Aug. 15 to 21 of last year. During the period when the machine didn’t pay out any winnings, a total of 522 players spun the machine more than 20,569 times and put about $24,000 into it.
An improperly loaded file caused the machines to glitch and prevent players from winning the advertised amount. Once the cause of the glitch was identified and confirmed to be a faulty file, 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 machines to state regulators until the Bureau of Consumer Protection requested the information last year. One player told a gaming website that he played “hundreds of spins” at 20 cents a spin, but the machines never paid out “a single spin win or partial win,” according to the report. DraftKings officials responded to some of the complaints with messages like, “We understand it’s frustrating when things go a little awry, but there’s nothing wrong with the game itself.”
The slot machines continued to withhold winnings for another week until White Hat Gaming identified the glitch and fixed the software again. White Hat also said in the state filing that all customers were refunded without any notice from DraftKings.
A Consumer Protection Bureau spokesperson said: NBC News WhiteHat Gaming “responded promptly” to investigators’ questions, but DraftKings’ response was “less than satisfactory,” leading to the heavier fine.
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