Draftkings Sports Betting National Championship
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- Draftkings Sports Betting National Championship
A class-action civil complaint filed Thursday in New Jersey alleges sports betting provider DraftKings operated with negligence and in an arbitrary manner while running a $2.5 million handicapping contest that ended in controversy this past weekend.
Covers betting expert Patrick Everson sits down with DraftKings director of sportsbook operations Johnny Avello, to discuss the inaugural Sports Betting National Championship in New Jersey this.
- DraftKings Sports Betting National Championship The 2020 national sports betting championship is also not yet finalized, although we expect a similar format like the spring and fall championships.
- NJ sportsbooks + National Championship game From an NJ sports wagering perspective, bettors have a number of options, including a number of different props. At DraftKings, Alabama quarterback Mac Jones is expected to throw at least three touchdown passes. The over 3.5 was paying -103 and the under was -125 as of early this morning.
Plaintiff Christopher Leong, a participant in the DraftKings Sports Betting National Championship, claims in the complaint that bets of similar size and on similar events were arbitrarily accepted and rejected by the contest operators and that winning wagers were settled at varying times, which caused a significant issue for the leader on Sunday.
The contest was the first of its kind. Contestants each started with a real-money $5,000 bankroll and were allowed to wager on anything offered at DraftKings' New Jersey sportsbook on Friday and Saturday. Among sports events on Sunday, only the two NFL playoff games were available for wagering in the contest. The contestant who ended with the largest bankroll was deemed the winner.
More than 200 contestants entered the $10,000 buy-in tournament that was headquartered in Jersey City.
Contestant Rufus Peabody moved into first place Sunday with a successful bet on the New England Patriots to cover the spread against the Los Angeles Chargers in the earlier of two divisional-round playoff games. However, Peabody's funds were not credited to his account until after the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints kicked off, preventing him from placing a bet on the final game in the contest. There were only four minutes between the end of the Chargers-Patriots game and the kickoff of Eagles-Saints. Some participants did have their bets from the Chargers-Patriots game settled in time to wager on Eagles-Saints.
DraftKings sent emails to contestants, reminding them that no more bets would be accepted after kickoff of the second NFL game on Sunday.
Peabody, who finished in third place, told ESPN on Thursday that he was not a part of Leong's suit at this time but had spoken to legal representation and was still considering his options.
He is not referenced directly in Leong's suit.
Leong said in a phone interview Tuesday that he also experienced issues with one of his wagers not grading in a timely manner, preventing him access to his full bankroll for over an hour and a half Saturday.
According to contest data published on the DraftKings website, Leong placed a $1,500 bet on Indianapolis Colts running back Marlon Mack to score less than 18.5 fantasy points against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional round Saturday. The game ended at 7:44 p.m. ET, with Mack scoring less than 18.5 fantasy points, but Leong's wager was not settled until 9:22 p.m., after he went to the contest headquarters in Jersey City and asked for assistance at the help desk. The wager was then graded 'within a matter of minutes,' according to the complaint.
Roughly an hour after Leong's bet on Mack was settled, DraftKings sent an email to participants stating that 'bets on fantasy props take longer to settle than other wagers.' Fantasy prop bets on the Eagles-Saints game were graded less than 20 minutes after the game was complete, according to contest data.
DraftKings said it does not comment on pending litigation, but a spokesman told ESPN on Monday that 'absolutely no SBNC competitors had their bets graded/paid out on-site with the help of (DraftKings) members.' The company says its backend system that grades wagers worked correctly.
Second-place finisher Daniel Steinberg said he had his wager on over 61.5 rushing yards by Patriots running back Sony Michel graded midway through the second quarter of New England's win over the Chargers. Michel eclipsed the 61.5 rushing yards on a 40-yard run in the second quarter. Traditionally, however, sportsbooks have not settled bets until the completion of the game. Steinberg told ESPN that he did not contact anyone at DraftKings before the bet on Michel was settled.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement said Monday that it was looking into the issue, but did not respond to a request for an update made by ESPN on Thursday.
Leong, who is represented by attorney Maurice VerStandig, is seeking the return of the $10,000 entry fee, treble damages under the New Jersey consumer protection statute, attorneys' fees and punitive damages potentially in the range of $334,000.
'It is truly disappointing to learn so many people lost their time and money on a contest that was seemingly operated in an arbitrary and capricious manner,' VerStandig told ESPN in a statement. 'We expect more from our licensed gaming establishments and, frankly, we expect better from DraftKings and Resorts. So we look forward to pursuing our case in court, and it is our hope to help bring justice to all the players who have been wronged.'
Draftkings Sports Betting National Championship Leaderboard
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Randy Lee, a New Jersey poker dealer, won the contest, capturing the $1 million first prize.
A national sports betting handicapping contest with a $2.5 million prize pool ended in controversy Sunday in New Jersey, after the Day 3 leader was prevented from making his final wager before the NFC divisional-round game between the Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints kicked off.
Randy Lee, a New Jersey poker dealer who played under the username rleejr86, ended up winning the first DraftKings Sports Betting National Championship instead, grabbing the $1 million first prize with a final bet of $47,500 on the Eagles +8.5.
The Saints won 20-14, but the Eagles covered the spread, boosting Lee's bankroll to a contest-winning $101,474.
More than 200 bettors from different parts of the country entered the $10,000 buy-in contest and combined to wager nearly $5 million during the three-day event that was headquartered in Jersey City.
However, it was the bets that couldn't be placed by the leader before the final game in the contest kicked off that were the source of dispute.
Professional sports bettor Rufus Peabody, competing under the username Opti5624, was leading the contest heading into the Eagles-Saints game, with a nearly $82,000 bankroll that he compiled after winning an all-in wager on the New England Patriots -3.5 against the Los Angeles Chargers in Sunday's AFC divisional-round game. The Patriots won 41-28.
The high-scoring AFC affair ended at 4:37 p.m. ET, just four minutes before the Saints game began. Peabody told ESPN he repeatedly refreshed his browser during those four minutes, waiting for his winnings from the Patriots bet to be credited so he could make what he says would have been one last all-in bet on either the Saints at various point spreads or under 52 points.
The only problem? His winnings weren't credited to his account until after the NFC game kicked off. He was locked out of making his final bet.
'I had spent the last 2.5 hours running over all the numbers,' said Peabody, the co-founder of football analytics site Massey-Peabody and a former ESPN employee. 'And, as it goes at the end, I was going back and forth: 'Which one am I going to do? Am I going to pull the trigger?' It was going to be a Saints bet of some kind or the under. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance.'
According to data posted on the DraftKings' website, some players were credited their winnings from the Patriots game before Peabody, allowing them to get their final bets in before the NFC game started. Several other contestants also didn't get their bets from the AFC game credited in time to make a final play on Eagles-Saints. On Sunday, the final day of the contest, bettors were allowed to wager only on the two NFL divisional-round playoff games. No more bets were allowed after the NFC game began.
Peabody posted a screenshot to social media of his DraftKings contest account with a $0.01 balance and the time on the computer showing 4:41 p.m., right as Eagles-Saints kicked off.
'We recognize that in the rules the scheduled end of betting [kickoff of the NFC divisional-round game] coincided very closely to the finish of the of Patriots-Chargers game,' James Chisholm, a spokesman from DraftKings, said in a statement. 'While we must follow our contest rules, we sincerely apologize for the experience several customers had where their bets were not graded in time to allow wagering on the Saints-Eagles game. We will learn from this experience and improve upon the rules and experience for future events.'
DraftKings did not immediately respond to a follow-up question regarding why some accounts were credited their winnings from the Chargers-Patriots game before others.
New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement said Monday that it was reviewing the incident.
The DraftKings Sports Betting National Championship was the first of its kind since states outside of Nevada began authorizing legal sports betting after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in May. It was held in a nondescript building in Jersey City. In the rented venue, tables, couches and chairs were spread out in front of dozens of TVs. There were also strobe lights, two open bars and plenty of cheering and groaning.
Peabody said overall he enjoyed the format and understood that it was a tough situation for everyone involved. He ended up in third place and will be taking home more than $330,000.
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'It doesn't feel like it,' he added. 'I felt like was in position for a 50-50 shot at the million [dollars].'
Draftkings Sports Betting National Championship
Asked whether he had contacted legal representation, Peabody declined comment.