DraftKings Designates Lori Kalani as First-Ever Chief Responsible Gaming Officer

1 Comment

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  Brian

  July 19, 2024 at 2:31 pm

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  My name is Brian and I am a compulsive gambler. I gambled away 290,000 to DraftKings, most of it just in the last year and a half. It was the stock portfolio my parents left me.

  My complaint is the fact that DraftKings has warning signs of problem gambling and how to spot it all over their platforms. They said they train new employees and conduct annual trainings on how to spot problem gambling. The founder and CEO Jason Robins has said in interviews that DraftKings has a responsibility regarding addressing this issue with their customers. My accounts screams of red flags regarding these warning signs.

  Draftkings uses deceptive practices regarding how seriously they take problem gambling and what they proactively/actively do to address it. Although I have been a compulsive gambler for years, I felt a sense of protection betting through Draftkings because of what they have on their platforms regarding problem gambling. They have all the warning signs of problem gambling and talk about how they train new staff and have annual trainings on how to spot these warning signs on user accounts. I also had an account manager assigned to my account that monitored my account regularly. I thought even if things got out of hand and I lose 10,000, 20,000, 30,000, at some point DraftKings would reach out about my account, spot the red flags and put measures in place. Never thought I would lose almost 300,000 in just a year and a half. Below are examples of warning signs DK has on their platforms. You could draw a straight line from each warning sign to countless bets on my accounts.

  Extensive and/or frequent playing sessions
  Regular credit limit increase requests
  Excessive credit card use (debit and credit in my case)
  Significant changes in betting pattern
  Never/rarely taking breaks
  Chasing losses

  At any time Draftkings could put in place any of the below measures for my account and others that had clear signs of problem gambling.

  Limit amount (terms of money) of deposits weekly/monthly
  Limit number of deposits weekly/monthly
  Limit number of bets weekly/monthly
  Limit amount of money one could put on a bet
  Temporarily suspend account
  Close account

  Despite all the warning signs that my account showed. Despite having an account manager who regularly monitored my account, Draftkings ignored the obvious red flags. I was losing so much my account manager gave me in upwards of 10,000 in free bets in just a few months. Its a strategy they have to keep you betting.

  My net loss in just the last year and a half is almost 300,000. The entire stock portfolio my parents left me. This included 2614 bets (that’s over 170 bets per month). That’s just through their sportsbook and doesn’t include my bets through their fantasy app.

  Draftkings founder and CEO Jason Robins was interviewed for the Legal Sports Report. The article was on problem gambling. Below are direct quotes from Jason.

  “It’s not this black-and-white line,” Robins said in the article. “There is some onus on the individual in these situations, too. But there’s a role we also have to play. We have to make sure that we’re both doing what we can to prevent it.”

  “People who have gambling issues, they’re going to have a gambling issue. And the job is to help identify those people and get them the help and get them to understand they need help. … It has to be on them to decide that they want to change that behavior.”

  He states “we have to make sure we are both doing what we can to stop it”. DraftKings did not do what they could regarding my account.

  “People who have gambling issues, they’re going to have a gambling issue. And the job is to help identify those people and get them the help and get them to understand they need help.

  In the first sentence he essentially admits that problem gamblers can’t stop gambling. The second sentence he states it’s in part Draftkings job to help identify these people. Again they simply ignored all the warning signs in my account.

  On October 17th 2023 I received an email from my account manager who wanted to ask me a few questions regarding my account. The topic was around safer (problem gambling) play. I replied he could call me Friday. He never followed up with an email or phone call asking me those questions. It’s another example that DraftKings doesn’t take this seriously.

  Their safer play/safeguards are just fluff and doing nothing for problem gamblers like me. I am in financial ruin now because Draftkings took advantage of my disease my ignoring all the red flags even though I had an account manager who regularly monitored my account. If I had another 300,000 they would take that too and it would never stop.

  Compulsive Gambler is well on its way to becoming the new opiod crisis.