New Jersey Slaps $40K Penalties on Firms for Sports Betting Infractions — CDC Gaming

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey gaming regulators have imposed $40,000 in penalties on two sportsbooks and a technology firm for breaches that included accepting wagers on unauthorized events, as well as games that had already concluded.

In information disclosed on Monday, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement fined DraftKings $20,000. It also imposed $10,000 fines on Rush Street Interactive NJ and the sports betting technology firm Kambi.

According to documents made available by the state, Rush Street took 16 bets totaling $1,523 in November 2021 on a college basketball match between the University of North Carolina-Asheville and Tennessee Tech University after the game had already finished with a UNC win.

Kambi informed the enforcement division that a trader had neglected to manually withdraw that game from its betting options, stating that it had stopped receiving notifications from its sports data provider due to a connectivity issue. Kambi mentioned it has revised its policies and retrained its traders to avoid future incidents.

Kambi, headquartered in Malta, did not promptly reply to a request for comment on Monday. Rush Street declined to comment, and DraftKings had no immediate statements on Monday. DraftKings ceased utilizing Kambi in 2021.

In March 2022, Rush Street accepted seven wagers totaling just under $2,900 on three Magic City Jai Alai games after the outcomes were already confirmed.

Kambi reported to the division that it encountered a connectivity problem that permitted the acceptance of bets after the games concluded. An explanation of how Kambi addressed the issue was redacted in documents released by the division.

A month earlier, Rush Street processed 13 bets amounting to $8,150 with pre-match odds on a Professional Golf Association event after it had already commenced. In this case, Kambi informed the division that a newly hired trader did not enter the accurate closing time for accepting wagers on the match. The trader along with a supervisor received retraining.

DraftKings faced penalties for accepting wagers on unauthorized events, including Russian basketball for nine months during 2020 and 2021. Ultimately, it voided over $61,000 in wagers and refunded the sum to customers after state intervention.

In this instance, Kambi conveyed to the division that it wrongly classified this particular Russian basketball league as one that was approved for betting in New Jersey. DraftKings indicated to the state that it failed to identify the mistake as well.

In 2020, DraftKings accepted 484 wagers on unapproved table tennis events. Kambi inappropriately enabled these events for betting without fulfilling the conditions mandated by the state, according to the division.

In February 2022, the division stated that DraftKings accepted pre-season NFL bets involving specific players but did not provide the state with specific details regarding what information should be incorporated into the wagers, resulting in 182 wagers valued at nearly $7,000 that were subsequently voided and refunded to customers.