DraftKings and White Hat Gaming Penalized $22,500 for Slot Machine Malfunction in Connecticut
DraftKings, alongside White Hat Gaming, has been ordered to pay a combined penalty of $22,500 to the state of Connecticut due to a significant fault in their online slot machine. This malfunction resulted in players not receiving any winnings for an entire week, as reported by the state’s Department of Consumer Protection.
Fines Imposed Following Major Outage
The penalties were distributed with DraftKings facing a hefty fine of $19,000 while White Hat Gaming was fined $3,500. The popular slot game Deal or No Deal Banker’s Bonanza, which is designed to return 95% of bets back to players, failed spectacularly during its operation from August 15-21 last year. During this time frame, around 522 users played more than 20,569 rounds without receiving any payouts after investing close to $24,000—this incident poised serious concerns regarding operational reliability.
The Cause of the Glitch Revealed
An investigation revealed that a wrongly loaded file instigated this glitch preventing expected payouts on the game. Once identified as the root cause of the issue on August 22 while addressing player concerns about their losses during that period prior; both companies quickly restored functionality by re-launching the application post-repair.
Lack of Transparency from DraftKings
The Department’s findings indicated that neither DraftKings nor White Hat Gaming proactively informed officials about this damaging situation until they specifically sought details last year. Accounts from affected players expressed frustrations; one individual remarked how they performed “a couple hundred spins” at just twenty cents each but ended up with no wins whatsoever throughout their attempts.
Poor Customer Service Response Draws Scrutiny
Despite numerous reports filing complaints regarding lackluster winnings—DraftKings’ reaction was deemed inadequate by several disappointed users who received responses stating: “I understand it can be frustrating…but I assure you there is nothing wrong with the game itself.” This feedback fell flat amidst growing distress among customers as troubles continued well beyond initial notifications.
Subsequent Repair and Refunds Issued
The ongoing malfunction persisted an additional week before engineers at White Hat successfully pinpointed and rectified software issues related again toward their program integrity. Interestingly enough—the company’s report indicates all affected customers were reimbursed automatically for losses encountered without ever being directly notified by DraftKings themselves concerning possible compensation measures leading forward.
A representative from Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection informed NBC News that investigations witnessed rapid response efforts exhibited by White Hat Gaming; however highlighted dissatisfaction lay with DraftKings due primarily towards delays ensuing regulatory queries which ultimately led penalization discrepancies observed through fines handed out accordingly.
