Within 48 hours of launching the online slot Deal or No Deal: Banker’s Bonanza on Connecticut DraftKings Casino, the online gambling operator started investigating possible payout issues. A DraftKings spokesperson also told Bonus on Sept. 3 that affected online casino bettors also received refunds within days of the conclusion of that investigation.
However, Connecticut gaming regulators also fined DraftKings (DraftKings 35,11 -1,74%) $19,000 for not reporting the August 2023 incident quickly enough for them, reported John Moritz for CT Insider on Sept. 3. The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Bonus.
Moritz wrote that the White Hat Studios slot was advertised one way but paid out another:
[An] investigation by state gaming regulators showed that a computer glitch affecting the game’s launch had rendered it incapable of generating a win, despite advertising average payouts of nearly 95 cents on the dollar.
Instead, the odds had been set to zero.
On Sept. 3, a DraftKings spokesperson told Bonus:
Our customers’ satisfaction and the integrity of our products are central to our success. We have robust measures to monitor potential payout issues, and we investigate any concerns promptly. In the event of a game not functioning as intended, we ensure impacted customers are appropriately refunded.
The issue in Connecticut arose from an error on the game developer’s side. We identified a possible issue within 48 hours of launch and immediately escalated it for investigation. All impacted customers were fully refunded within days of concluding there was an issue, and we have not encountered any similar issues with this vendor.
White Hat Studios didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Bonus.
DraftKings Among Many With Deal or No Deal
DraftKings competes in Connecticut with Mohegan Sun Casino, which is powered by FanDuel Group technology.
Bonus reported in May 2023 that White Hat provided games to both Connecticut online casinos.
The studio is known for pop culture titles that include the following:
- The Goonies
- Peaky Blinders
- Deal or No Deal
- Ted
DraftKings Casino and Mohegan Sun Casino generated more than $42 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR) in July.
However, White Hat also serves multiple operators in every US online casino state.
UPDATE: 09/06/2024
Bonus submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on Sept. 4 to DCP for the records related to the DraftKings ($19,000) and White Hat ($3,500) fines.
The same day, DCP provided 13 files detailing its investigation that began on Aug. 31, 2023.
The DCP files detail what happened:
- On Aug. 15, White Hat’s slot game Deal or No Deal: Banker’s Bonanza launched on DraftKings
- The files submitted to DCP contained nine bettor complaints about the game not paying out. The complaints began on Aug. 15, 2023, and the last one was dated Aug. 20, 2023
- On Aug. 31, 2023, DCP requested information from DraftKings and White Hat because neither had notified the regulator about the problem because both companies thought the other had done so
- On Sept. 11, 2023, DCP found, “From 8/15/23 through 8/21/23 a White Hat Gaming online slot game was live to Connecticut patrons on the Draft Kings platform with a 0% RTP.”
- From Aug. 15, 2023, to Aug. 22, 2023, no gamblers won money from the game
- On Aug. 22, 2023, the game was fixed and relaunched
A DCP Activity Report dated Sept. 11, 2023, found:
The root cause of the game going up with a 0% RTP was determined to be a file, DONDBankersBonus.db, which was able to be deployed without a version being selected, thus leaving the file empty. Further, the investigation determined the reason why gameplay was allowed is the game was designed to check if the file is present and display an error if it is not, but if the file was present but empty, no error was shown. In short, the file passed inspection because it was not loaded properly and was empty.
So, 522 bettors lost $23,909.60 from 20,659 spins.
On Aug. 29, 2023, DraftKings refunded the online casino players all of their money “without any notification.”
DCP and DraftKings agreed to an additional game-testing checklist as a result.
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