MGC: MGM Springfield Accepts $1,200 in “Illegal Bets” on College Games

According to a meeting held on Thursday by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC), MGM Springfield had indeed accepted wagers incorrectly on two specific college games. The mistake happened after the property listed the university involved as an “out-of-state institution” which tricked its own systems and led to $1,200 in wagers placed on the outcome of the games.

MGM Springfield Reports Wrongful Wagers on College Games

The infringement was reported last week and it’s part of a string of similar issues related to regulated gambling companies mistakenly accepting “illegal wagers.” To clarify, none of the three properties, to wit MGM Springfield, Encore Boston Harbor or Plainridge Park Casino was aware that the bets were taking place. MGM senior enforcement counsel Kathleen Kramer provided the MGC with the details of the exact dates of infringement.

Kramer said that the wagers were placed over two days and within 21 hours of each other. The wagers involved the Harvard Yale’s men’s basketball game on February 3, and the Harvard-Brown men’s basketball game on February 4. The bets placed on both games stood at $1,150 and $80 respectively.

Total winnings stood at about $1,106 approximately. Kramer also explained how the mistake had occurred, explaining that the college was incorrectly listed under Connecticut, not Massachusetts. This is important because betting on in-state college competitions is prohibited under state law – betting on other states’ college games, though, isn’t. Kramer explained that this miscategorization had led to the problem.

To move past this situation, BetMGM, which is the operator of the MGM Springfield has confirmed that it would seek to now conduct daily audits of all available wagers in a bid to ensure that all listings are based on approved and whitelisted events. The details about the infringements at MGM Springfield were examined as part of the same hearing that also found irregularities with Encore in Everette.

According to the MGC, the game that Encore offered wagers on had to do with Boston College’s women’s basketball game. The company explained that this was caused by a glitch in the backend system, which led to the wagers being mistakenly accepted.