Massachusetts Fines Three Casinos for Unauthorized Wagers

The offenses have to do with in-state college betting which the three sportsbooks accepted without a formal go-ahead by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. The wagers involved in-state university teams which are currently prohibited in the Bay State.

March Madness Proves Difficult to Track Even for Bookies

According to the regulator, the MGM Springfield, Plainridge Park Casino, and Encore Boston Harbor, all accepted such wagers during March Madness and were fined over the violation as part of a decision reached on Tuesday.

Plainridge and MGM would have to pay $20,000 each whereas Encore Boston will only pay $10,000. These penalties are much lower than the $45,000 issued to one of the operators in May. The current fines are proportionate to the seriousness of the violation in each case, says the watchdog. In the case of MGM Springfield, the operator was fined over two wagers on Harvard men’s basketball games. A total of 28 tickets were sold from betting kiosks.

The casino said that it mistakenly designated Harvard as a Connecticut and there was no intention in the company’s actions. Plainridge Park too ended up accepting 33 wagers from 27 tickets on a game between Merrimack College and Long Island University. Customers were allowed to bet in a 7-hour window before the mistake was discovered and rectified.

Once again, a backend error had made Plainridge Park mistakenly believe that Merrimack College was in fact based in Florida.  “Kambi, PPC’s sports wagering vendor, has addressed the issue and corrected Merrimack College’s location to Massachusetts,” the commission clarified, but still the offense remains.

Improving Measures to Avoid Future Incidents

Not least, there is also Encore Boston Harbor which was handed down a $10,000 penalty as it allowed a bet on a women’s basketball game between Boston College and Notre Dame.

A money line bet was placed on the selection. The issue stemmed from the fact that Encore Boston Harbor had the team listed under two names on its platform, but only one of the names was blacklisted at the time, thus causing the confusion. WynnBET has begun running audits twice a day to ensure that no more college sports wagers are accepted.

Massachusetts is in the meantime debating potential penalties against DraftKings over unauthorized tennis wagers.