Massachusetts Casinos Explain How They Allowed Illegal College Sports Bets

During an adjudicatory hearing held on Tuesday, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission reviewed evidence and listened to testimonies revealing that Encore Boston Harbor had violated state gaming regulations. The violation pertained to the acceptance of a wager on college sports that involved in-state schools.

Wagering was temporarily permitted for the Boston College women’s basketball game against Notre Dame on February 2, 2023. WynnBET, the sportsbook at Boston Encore, reported that only a single bet was made. However, this wager was canceled before the start of the BC game later that evening.

EBH took the initiative to report the incident and provided an explanation that the wager was made for $70 as part of a parlay, and it was placed at a betting kiosk.

How the illegal Encore Boston Harbor college bet happened

During the hearing, Jacqui Krum from WynnBET provided an explanation regarding the occurrence of the alleged incident involving Massachusetts sports betting.

Due to a mistake in the name of the Massachusetts-based school, a staff member of GAN Sports inadvertently allowed betting on the women’s college basketball game on February 2. Although GAN Sports had implemented automatic blocks for in-state sporting events, this particular game was overlooked and not included in the restrictions.

GAN Sports offers technology solutions to sportsbooks, assisting them in effectively managing data and sports wagering catalog information. The sports wagering catalog comprises a compilation of permissible events as per state regulations. In accordance with Massachusetts gaming law, betting on in-state college events is generally prohibited, unless such colleges are participating in tournaments.

WynnBET MA customers should not have witnessed any Boston College women’s basketball games due to their blacklisting by GAN. This decision was made 24-48 hours before the launch of sports betting on Jan. 31 in Massachusetts.

The system of GAN prevented any game associated with “Boston College” from being accessed. However, on February 2, the game was not blocked because GAN was unaware that the school could have multiple team names in the game list. For the game against Notre Dame, the school was identified as “Boston College Eagles” in the data feed provided by Genius Sports, a company that supplies game information.

How are things different moving forward?

According to GAN, there has been a change in the process for allowing games for sports betting. Instead of automatically allowing games from the data feed of sporting events, all games are now blocked and require manual activation by an employee of WynnBET at Encore Boston Harbor. GAN stated that it is highly unlikely for such an occurrence to happen again. The process fix was implemented by Feb. 12 at the latest.

The commission will hold a private meeting to assess the necessary course of action against WynnBET. Potential outcomes may involve issuing a violation or noncompliance notation, imposing a monetary penalty, or temporarily suspending their license.

In addition to Encore Boston Harbor, the state of Massachusetts hosts two other casinos, namely MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park Casino, both of which also offer retail sportsbooks.

Plainridge Park Casino accepted more than $6,000 on Merrimack college basketball

On February 2nd, the MGC conducted a review of Plainridge Park Casino for potential noncompliance due to their involvement in allowing betting on a prohibited event.

On that particular day, PPC received and acknowledged 33 wagers for a men’s college basketball match featuring the Merrimack Warriors and Long Island University Sharks. However, it should be noted that betting on games involving Merrimack, as it is situated within the state, is forbidden.

PPC representatives clarified that the error was due to incorrectly labeling the state field in the Merrimack data feed as Florida instead of Massachusetts. As a result, the game involving Merrimack, situated in North Andover, was able to bypass the blacklist.

Kambi, the sports data provider for PPC, supplied the data feed containing information on sporting events, schools, and related data. PPC disclosed that the game was available for around seven hours, during which a total of $6,848 was wagered. Among the 27 tickets, customers placed 33 bets and managed to win $4,270. Out of these bets, four were made through cashiers while the remaining were placed at betting kiosks.

Check out our comprehensive ranking of the live chat customer service experience at all six Massachusetts sportsbooks.

Commissioner Brad Hill expressed his concern over the fact that certain prohibited bets were placed directly at the cage, where sportsbook staff personally accept wagers.

PPC emphasized that due to the recent launch of sports betting in the state, they have intensified their employee training efforts. They have also reiterated to their employees that they must not accept wagers on any event if there are doubts about its legitimacy.

“Recognizing the significance of compliance, both PENN Entertainment and PPC acknowledge our failure to adhere,” stated Northscott Grounsell, General Manager of Plainridge Park Casino.

PPC added more layers of protection

Grounsell observed that PPC, with the help of Kambi, rectified the error in just 11 minutes and promptly reported it the day after the game, once the error became apparent. Grounsell stated that PPC has implemented a new protocol mandating a daily check, approved by management, to prevent any recurrence of such mistakes.

To enhance security measures, a blacklist was implemented for in-state colleges that do not participate in tournaments comprising a minimum of four teams. Consequently, future game blacklisting will no longer depend on the state field within the data feed.

The PPC acknowledged and rewarded the observant individual who identified the mistake. In response to this incident, PPC has distributed a comprehensive list to its staff members, emphasizing the importance of obtaining proper authorization for all bets.

If the MGC discovers that PPC has failed to comply with regulations, it has a range of options to address the issue. These may include imposing a civil administrative penalty or taking actions such as suspending, amending, or revoking PPC’s license.

During the launch weekend, MA was one of the top 5 busiest states for sports betting. Make sure to read this article.